After the Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s impressive Giselle earlier in the week, my hopes were high, but their Sleeping Beauty turned out to be a curate’s egg.

It’s a severely cut version, and there is no interval after the prologue, when the baby is cursed; so the 16 years it takes Aurora to grow up are gone in an instant, and here she is at her birthday party. Aurora was the young Ekaterina Bulgutova, who dances pretty well most of the time, but without conveying or giving us much excitement. There is a kittenish quality here that doesn’t quite go with the daughter of a royal house about to meet four overdressed potential husbands. When it comes to the famed balances of the Rose Adagio, she completely cops out, looking more terrified while not doing them than most ballerinas do when tackling them.

Vyacheslav Kapushtin makes a respectable job of Prince Désiré. He was also billed as the Bluebird, which would require the fastest costume change in theatrical history and his appearance as both characters simultaneously at the close. Bluebird was, in fact, Ivan Karnaukhov and this was the outstanding performance — soaring jumps, clean beats and a likeable personality. The corps de ballet, so disciplined in Giselle, came over as a raggedy bunch, while Roman Kirkorov’s uber-camp Catallabute was an irritation from the word go.

But there were other good things. The four fairy solos in the prologue were very well done, and Natalia Bobrova gave an unusual and well-danced performance as the Lilac Fairy, giving us a gentle, winning version of the character, instead of the remote and snotty creature one often meets in the role. Anastasia Koreshnikova’s cackling, writhing Carabosse was the embodiment of malevolence. Christina Fyodorova’s sparkling, pastel-shaded sets and costumes were lovely.

The company is at the Wycombe Swan from Feb 2 to 4 with Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake (wycombeswan.co.uk) and at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (0844 871 7607 or visit www.ambassadortickets.com/aylesbury) on March 15 with La Fille Mal Gardée.