The Sleeping Beauty, Bolshoi Ballet, Covent Garden, review Effects seem muffled and rushed, a tendency emphasised by Grigorovich's decision to split the ballet into two long acts. His choreographic interventions have mixed success as well: he tends to embellish rather than refine and sometimes the remnants of Petipa's original seem lost among his new ideas. I particularly mourned the alteration of the great mime encounter between the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse in the opening scene. The evil fairy becomes a pantomime villain, albeit one entertainingly danced by Alexei Loparevich, scuttling across the stage in his huge cloak like a demented Al Pacino. It would help the drama if the court reacted rather more strongly to his arrival, but they stand around looking as bothered as picnickers disturbed by a light shower of rain. In the middle of all this, it is hard for Ekaterina Krysanova to make much impact as Princess Aurora. She has a sweet presence and lovely unforced line. Her balances in the famous Rose Adagio are fleeting rather than sustained, but she never looks less than comfortable. In the grander sweep of the second act she displays an astonishingly fleet pirouette. But there's not much chemistry with her Prince, though I adore the unforced elevation of Artemis Ovcharenko's flashing jetes and the speed with which he covers the stage. Because this is the Bolshoi, there is always much to enjoy, including another of those lovely cameos from Anastasia Stashkevich. But all that glisters is not gold and this is a production where the beauty is only skin deep. Until Friday. Season continues until August 17 Tickets: 020 7304 4000; www.roh.org.uk. Returns only. Victor Hochhauser presents The Bolshoi Ballet at the Royal Opera House