OF Tchaikovsky's three great ballet scores, The Sleeping Beauty has the least memorable music, some way behind Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

But it does enjoy the advantage of having the most compelling and popular storyline. In a nutshell, a curse, a kiss and love ever after.

The Moscow City Ballet production at Poole's Lighthouse was a superb spectacle, further cementing the company's already big international reputation.

Dazzling costumes and scenery and beautiful dancing and choreography, all very much appreciated by an all most full house.

Yulia Zhuravleva and Dzmitry Lazovik starred as Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund but the show stealer was Kiril Kasatkin as the fairy Carabosse, cursemaker and hammed-up pantomime villain.

Founded in the late 80s as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the privately funded MCB has had its greatest success in the UK and visits Poole often.

Founder Victor Smirnov-Golovanov died of cancer in 2013 and his pioneering work has been continued by his widow Ludmila Nurubashenko.

The last few years have seen a renaissance of interest in the ballet classics across Western Europe, in no small part due to the work of the MCB.

Local audiences are fortunate in being able regularly to share in that.

There were two performances of The Sleeping Beauty and two of Swan Lake at the weekend.