The artistic director of the Russian State Ballet of Siberia talks to Viv Hardwick about his company which plays Darlington Civic Theatre on January 20-21-22. Tickets: £24-£29.50. Box office: 01325-486-555 darlingtonarts.co.uk.

How important is a tour like this to your company?

It is quite important because we bring our best dancers plus a live orchestra and we try to keep high standards to show off the art from our country. The English audiences are very educated and every time we come here we know the English people will expect higher standards.

You arrived in the UK during the big freeze in December, how does that compare to Siberia?

In Siberia it’s maybe five times colder than here, so we don’t pay much attention to the cold and snow.

Our houses are a little bit different and built for cold weather with heating systems to cope. When we go out, nobody complains but it can be hard to be out. It wasn’t pleasant for us when Europe came to a halt because of the snow but in Siberia nothing stops because we know what the situation.

Moscow did have a problem with snow this year.

Do people still come and see ballet in the theatre in Siberia when it snows?

Yes, they come and see us and we lead a normal life just the same as before it snows.

How stressful is it for you, as an ex-dancer, to watch others performing your steps as choreographer?

It can be frustrating to see young dancers jump and dance very high and do the things I can’t do now. I understand that my body can’t be young all the time and also my mind continues to create dance moves that I can express with the help of others. I can pass to them what I know and they can fulfil this on stage.

Are you like a football manager pacing the touchline during a performance?

Yes it can be compared to a football coach watching players but the difference is that everything comes from me here. In football, half of the game depends on players, but here everything depends on me because I choose dancers, sets, works and the tutors. So I feel everything is in my hands.

The three pieces presented at Darlington will be Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote and Swan Lake, do they all have new choreography by yourself?

Romeo and Juliet is completely new, Don Quixote is a reduction and Swan Lake is half my creation and half by Petipa. He created an amazing section which I can’t change because it would be a crime to do so. So I have changed little bits, but I left the best movements intact. Most of the audience will not have seen Romeo and Juliet before and I think this is one of my best productions because I’ve put all of my soul into it. I don’t think that the audience will have to worry about Shakespeare because I follow the lines that Shakespeare used in his play.

Were you tempted to introduce any of the bloodthirsty side of the stage production into your version?

There is of course the moment where Juliet kills herself but it is done in an artistic way and you don’t think about the dagger and her body being punched by the blade. But you see her feelings and the fact she has no other way than to take her own life. Here we are helped by the wonderful music of Prokofiev to assist the audience’s imagination.

How many are there in the company?

There are 45 dancers plus a live orchestra of 28 people.

That’s quite tight when you get to a theatre like Darlington.

I’ve heard dancers talk of the difficult rake (slope) of the stage in some theatres, is that something you teach or you just gain experience of on tour?

Normally we are taught to dance on the slope and, believe it or not, the flat floor is sometimes a problem for us. But we dance on different types of floor, so everyone in our company is experienced already.

How many years have been touring and do you have a favourite tour story?

We have been touring for almost ten years. Normally I tell stories when we are invited out to dinner by our friends, but what I can say about touring is that every time we come to England it’s something outstanding for us. Everyone looks forward to coming again and again because we love this country and its audiences.

Do you have any worries with the impact of the recession on future tours of the UK?

I can’t really talk about this. In Siberia, on the contrary, the Government gives us money more and more and supports our theatre because we are the state theatre. This allows us to create new productions and in comparison with England we are more lucky than you are because the Government pays more attention than it did before.

Who do you see as your inspirations. Is it companies like the Royal Ballet and Birmingham?

Sometimes yes, but the Russian State Ballet wants to be more like the Bolshoi Company of Moscow.

We can’t compare ourselves to companies like the Royal Ballet because we prefer to test ourselves against other Russian ballet companies. We try not to imitate them, but to have the same standards as them. We are trying to create our own style, our own image.

■ The tour continues to Sunderland Empire on March 6. Swan Lake. Box office: 0844-847-1660