Rhapsody/ Sensorium/ 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café, Royal Ballet

A star is born - the next big thing is here, better than Baryshnikov

by Judith FlandersThursday, 17 March 2011

Sergei Polunin in 'The Sleeping Beauty': at 21 he has a dance lifetime of stunning performances to giveAll images courtesy ROH; photo, Johan Persson

For those in the know, Sergei Polunin has been marked out as “the one to watch” from his schooldays. Since he won the Prix de Lausanne in 2006 and joined the Royal Ballet the following year, he has been “the next big thing”. Well, I’m here to tell you, after last night’s performance of Rhapsody, he is not the next big thing. He is the big thing now.

What Baryshnikov did not have, which Polunin does, is an ideal shape for ballet - and he may not have been as musical

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