GEDIMINAS Taranda, a former Bolshoi ballet soloist and the founder of The Imperial Russian Ballet Company has no doubt at all that “Russians make the best ballet dancers.” 

Taranda’s Moscow-based company will be back in Canberra next week with the full, three act version of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty.”

You know the story. The bad fairy casts a spell on Princess Aurora, who is pricked with a needle, falls into a deep sleep then luckily, 100 years later, is rescued by a handsome Prince. It’s a foolproof plot, tailor-made for ballet, with anticipation, tragedy, rescue and finally celebration.

Originally an elite sportsmen, for 13 years Taranda was a principal dancer at the Bolshoi in ballets like “Golden Age”, “Giselle”, “Ivan the Terrible”, “The Stone Flowers” and “Spartacus,” forming his present company in 1994.

These days he’s an honoured figure in the world of Russian arts. In 1997, he was awarded the title “Man of the Year” and the “Silver Cross Award” and in 2008 was the winner of the Diaghilev medal for his contribution to art.

But he is most outspoken about restrictions he experienced before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, restrictions  that largely prevented him from going outside Russia. Worse, under the iron hand of Bolshoi director, Yuri Grigorovich, the ballet’s repertoire was never updated, so when Taranda joined colleagues in protest, he was sacked in 1993.

He now sees this as a blessing, for he was immediately able to set up the Imperial Russian Ballet, in collaboration with Nikolai Anokhine, a soloist from Igor Moiseyev’s Folk Dance company.

A workaholic, who says he used to practice his dancing 10 hours a day, he now leads a troupe of 40 dancers dependent on him — “it’s  a big responsibility.”

True to his origins, Taranda combines a love of pure beauty, seen in his classical ballets, with a long-time interest in linking sport and ballet practice. Gymnasts and dancers, he notes, use many of the same skills, “so it could be interesting for both disciplines.” Crossing the boundaries, he acted as a motivational coach for the Russian team at the Winter Olympics in Turinand, earlier, in Athens.

Although Moscow is the company’s home, the company spends most of its time on tour around the world, to Spain, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Dubai and of course Australia. Taranda belives his dancers bring not only discipline, but a unique quality, important in ballet.

“It’s true that Russians are rather emotional,” he says, “we are very romantic and poetic.”

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company, “Sleeping Beauty,” at The Canberra Theatre, August 22 – 23, bookings to 6275 2700 or www.canberraticketing.com.au