Sir Derek Deane’s massive, spectacular Swan Lake is back at the Royal Albert Hall. With well over 60 swans (three times the normal number for a big company), jugglers, acrobats and throngs of courtiers, it’s a feast for the eye. Spectacle yes, but this is not just an over-the-top display; it’s a work of art in its own right.

The most striking parts are the ‘white acts’ by the lakeside. Because the audience almost completely encircles the action, Deane has found a way of moving the swans as if from a central hub. Basically faithful to the Petipa-Ivanov original, their role is expanded. A great mass of white tutus appears through a sea of dry-ice, followed, as if from nowhere, by the powerful Rothbart of Tamas Solymosi. He is one of the best I have seen in the role — menacing and scary among his captives, strangely alluring as he choreographs Odile’s dance of seduction. Chains of swans circle in opposite directions, giving an impression of terrific speed, or form a carpet of feathers through which Siegfried searches for his betrayed love. It is a stunning sight.

On the first night, director Wayne Eagling’s exciting discovery, 20-year-old Vadim Muntagirov, made a creditable debut as Siegfried, to much applause. He has an astonishingly strong technique for such a young dancer, and his beautifully phrased ‘lonely Prince’ solo, at the end of Act I, showed him to be a sensitive artist as well. He partnered the company’s leading ballerina, Daria Klimentova (pictured with him. She has always been impressive in the dual role of Odette-Odile, but has never looked more dramatic than picked out by a spotlight amidst a mass of whirling swans.

Deane has also augmented the casts of the national dances in Act III, in order to fill the huge space. We get eight princesses vying in vain for Siegfried’s hand, and a group of 24 in the Hungarian Dance! Peter Farmer’s costumes are sumptuous, and those not dancing sit or stand around the sides. By joining us as the audience they make us feel that we too are included in the proceedings. Another debut was that of Senri Kou and James Forbat in the Neapolitan Dance, in which Deane has stuck with the single pair of the original. She is an enchanting creature of exceptional lightness and musicality, radiating joy throughout.

Swan Lake is at the Albert Hall until next Saturday, June 19. Box office: 0207 5898212 (www.ballet.org.uk).