"IN the splendid white tunic of the Tsar's Palace Guards, he looked so different, seated on his horse in the centre of the group of Irish army officers."
Ennis-born Michael Considine, patron and tour manager of the Ukrainian State Ballet Company, was explaining how, as a child, he had seen the photo he still treasures of Col Paul Rodzianko with the successful Irish Army Showjumping Team he trained in the 1930s and 1940s, which included Considine's Uncle Tommy. He dates his fascination with all things Russian from that moment.
Beginning by collecting Russian stamps, he went on to learn the language. Visiting Russia in the 1980s, he quickly found himself - as a Russian-speaking mechanical engineer - a niche in the Russian steel industry. Then he was invited to become Western European representative of an Irish-Ukrainian joint venture company, Medakom, of which he is now chairman.
Based in Dnepropetrovsk, a city founded on the banks of the River Dnieper in 1776 and birthplace of Leonid Brezhnev, Medakom has interests in manufacturing, corporate law, customs clearance, transport, telecommunications and two things which sound unlikely bed-fellows: a special kind of transformer developed in conjunction with the space programme, and the theatre.
In fact there is a connection. The mainstay of the Russian space programme was Dnepropetrovsk's principal manufacturing plant, UMZ, producer of engines for rockets, and the intercontinental ballistic missile. The city was closed from 1945 to 1990 to all but those with special passes, while talented people were drafted in to work there. The elite of the Communist Party, they expected high standards of entertainment and, so the Ukrainian State Opera and Ballet Company was developed for them, with Brezhnev as patron, a role now filled by Medakom.
With the Centre for International Co-operation at Shannon Airport, Considine also organises student exchange programmes between the Ukraine and Co Clare. Last year he brought a group.
In 1994 he also brought the Ukrainian State Ballet. It was the first time they had performed in the West, military sensitivities having previously prevented overseas travel, but the prolonged cheering which greeted the dancers in Dublin's Olympia Theatre encouraged Considine to plan another visit. This takes place later this month when the company returns to the places they previously visited: the University Concert Hall, Limerick on November 18th, the Olympia on 19th and 20th, the Cork Opera House from 21st to 23rd and Galway from 25th to 30th, this time at the Town Hall Theatre.
So popular was the full-length Giselle, which they danced in together with three other ballets, that they are bringing it back again, performed on alternate nights with the ever-popular Nutcracker. It might seem an unfortunate choice, since Nutcracker will be performed by the Russian State Ballet at the Point in December but, as that production is virtually booked out, it will give those unable to obtain seats at the Point a chance to see this ideal ballet for children, with its Christmas theme. Also, the more intimate surroundings of the Olympia will give a different perspective, especially for smaller children. Ballet enthusiasts, of course, will welcome the chance to compare the different versions of the story and the performances of two fine companies.
Discussing such matters with Considine, he denied any expertise in assessing the merits of dancers, though clearly he is extremely proud of his company.
"Oh, well", he said, when I suggested he must have gained some experience over the years, even though he leaves artistic decisions to his artistic director Alexander Sokolov, "I suppose you could say I've learned the nuts and bolts of ballet".
