WITH Robert Tewsley’s abrupt departure from Covent Garden, barely two months after he arrived, and Johan Persson’s continuing recovery from knee surgery, the Royal Ballet is looking a little light in the man department these days. So much so, in fact, that the company is drafting in eight guest males this season to take starring roles in selected ballets.

Since some of the invited guests are former Covent Garden stars — Carlos Acosta, Tetsuya Kumakawa and Irek Mukhamedov — the dancegoing public may be delighted. But the acting director Monica Mason must surely be keeping an eye out for more permanent additions to the male principal ranks.

On the female side, though, it’s a different story. With more recent recruits like Alina Cojocaru, Tamara Rojo and Marienela Nuñez joining the established principal line-up of Darcey Bussell, Miyako Yoshida and Zenaida Yanowsky (not to mention the inestimable Sylvie Guillem), the Royal Ballet is spoilt for choice. And now Mason has added another strong woman to her team, by promoting Jaimie Tapper to principal.

Tapper, who trained and danced in Canada before joining Covent Garden in 1999, has notched up an impressive repertoire in London, including the title role in Giselle, Tatiana in Onegin and Countess Larisch in Mayerling. Now we have her Odette-Odile to add to that list.

The lead role in Swan Lake is something of a technical hurdle for many dancers, but not Tapper. She is equally at ease with Odette’s lush lyricism as she is with Odile’s explosive virtuosity. As Odette her dancing is shaped very exactly to the music and is seamlessly executed. Later, in her opposite guise, the creamy delivery of her dancing is nicely spiced by her sharp observation of Odile’s superior disdain for the purity of Siegfried’s love.

Though Tapper’s face is not the most expressive, her mime is very coherent and poignant, a real bonus in a ballet like this where too often the ballerina skims the surface of a key element in the storytelling.

Her Siegfried is Ivan Putrov, who was promoted to principal in the summer and has yet to prove himself on the big occasion. Theirs is an uneven partnership; she commanding, he tentative.

Putrov is the right age for Siegfried, but looks much younger and has a boyish sweetness to his dancing which cancels out the Prince’s darker mood. His affection for Odette is too fawning and lightweight, yet his style as a dancer is strongly expressive and one hopes more weight will be added to the mix later. Certainly there were signs in Act IV of Putrov’s potential for impassioned dramatics.

Other performances in Swan Lake impress. Genesia Rosato as Siegfried’s mother is worthy of note, as is Philip Mosley’s sozzled tutor. William Tuckett and Alastair Marriott, taking turns as the Evil Spirit, do their best to highlight a role which is underwritten in Anthony Dowell’s production. But someone should put a stop to the capering in some of the national dances in Act III.

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