Without fail in Hull, a former city of culture, theatregoers flock to the theatre when the ballet is in town. And Thursday was no exception as Hull New Theatre was packed in anticipation of watching the Varna International Ballet company perform the classic, Swan Lake.
Founded in Bulgaria in 1947, the company has been playing to full theatres at home and abroad and brings its talents to Hull as part of a UK tour visiting 23 venues around the country.
As well as Swan Lake, the ballet dancers will perform Cinderella during their visit to Hull.
Classed as the greatest romantic ballet of all time, Swan Lake benefits from the musical compositions of none other than Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky.
And throughout Thursday evening’s production we were treated to his music played by the most talented bunch of musicians – the Varna International Ballet Orchestra. Conducted by Azat Maksutov, the tunes (many well-known) were played unashamedly loud; after all, no stage voices could be drowned out.
At the show’s end, the appreciative audience gave Maksutov equally loud, and very well-deserved, applause.
For those not in the know, Swan Lake centres around Prince Siegfried and his love, Princess Odette.
Unfortunately, Odette is cursed by evil sorcerer Baron Von Rothbart, to live as a white swan during the day and a human at night. Only a vow of true love can break the spell; a vow the black swan, Odile, the sorcerer’s daughter, is determined to destroy.
At curtain up, we find the Prince (Timofei Fedotov) sitting reading a love story, and as he turns the book’s pages, a huge moving backdrop at the rear of the stage, mimics the turns, showing us a beautiful lake with white swans gliding by. However, a darker bird (Rothbart in the guise of a kite) swoops in, adding a menacing vibe.
The backdrop is in perpetual motion, changing from calm water to stormy tempest as the story progresses.
The heavy blue “drapes”, plain and patterned, form a frame for the duration of the action.
Pressured by his mother into finding a bride, Siegfried meets and falls in love with the cursed Odette (Martina Prefetto), who reveals her curse as she transforms from a white swan to a beautiful woman.
But the course of true love never runs smooth and the evil Odile (a dual role for Prefetto), stunning in her black tutu, seduces the prince into vowing to love her – but will true love win the day?
The story is action-packed all the way, with ballet dancing of the highest standard by all concerned.
The corps de ballet, always in the most wonderful colourful costumes, are much of the glue that holds the production together. They are a constant and it’s easy to take them for granted as we focus on our star-crossed lovers. On Thursday evening they were absolutely superb, a highlight being four, playfully performing The Dance of the Little Swans.
Getting back to the costumes, this famous classic conjures up images of dancers in white, feathery tutus and this production has them in droves. Swan Lake is a battle between good and evil, and the black tutus worn by dancers faithful to the wicked sorcerer are just as visually arresting as the white ones.
All the above entertain us while allowing the principal dancers to showcase their amazing talents. Fedotov, as the prince, performed with a strength, grace and passion becoming of his principal dancer status within the company. He rarely showed any emotion on his face, but let his body do the work, emotionally.
Martina Prefetto is faced with one of the most unmissable technical challenges in her dual role of Odette/Odile with her iconic second act performance being an absolutely unbelievable exhibition of out-of-this-world talent.
I lost count of how many fouettés she performed in one go. I had to describe her feat on Google, learning the manoeuvre’s name and that it is French for “whipped” – the dancer performs a rapid, 360-degree spin on one leg (often en pointe or demi-pointe) while using a whipping motion of the free leg to maintain momentum.
It was an unforgettable and breathtaking highlight.
On the night, I noticed quite a few children in the audience, maybe seeing the classic ballet for the first time. I’m sure, with there being, costume-wise, a clear visual difference between the good and evil characters, they would have quite easily followed the story.
But Swan Lake is a spectacle for all ages and the Varna International Ballet dancers and orchestra did justice to Tchaikovsky’s musical compositions. Although the focus is on the woes of the star-crossed lovers, there is lighthearted fun, especially when the brightly-dressed jesters strutted their stuff. I laughed every time.
All in all, it was a night of sheer balletic magic. I couldn’t fault a thing.
Swan Lake runs until Friday, February 27th 2026, and a production of Cinderella runs on Saturday, February 28th 2026, at the Hull New Theatre with tickets available from (01482) 300306 and www.hulltheatres.co.uk
Reviewer: Jackie Foottit
Reviewed: 26th February 2026
North West End UK Rating:
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