Dance: Light Steps from Leningrad

The Kirov Ballet is still a classical marvel

For ballet lovers, all roads lead to Paris right now. The attraction is a rare, eight-week appearance by Leningrad's Kirov Ballet, considered the finest classical troupe in the world. No other company in this century has produced talent as profligately as the Kirov, and certainly no foreign company has had so strong an influence on American dance. Pavlova, whose ceaseless touring virtually introduced ballet to the U.S.; Balanchine, creator of many of this century's choreographic masterpieces; Nureyev and Makarova, who set new standards for classical...