THIS was one of five ballets in a week of dance at Malvern that promised much but delivered very little.
Stilted, unimaginative choreography that failed to utilise the potential of the corps de ballet, leaden sets, and a complete lack of appropriate, evocative lighting left me feeling utterly under-whelmed.
In fact, the whole enterprise would have been totally snowed under – pun intended - in an avalanche of mediocrity had it not been for a number of breath-taking pas des deux delivered by the principal characters.
The Snow Maiden herself was only narrowly outdone by her rival in romance Kupava who, together with the love-struck young merchant Mizgir, swept all before them in the only sequences worth a light.
These three were the best by a very long, ice-bound mile.
My disappointment was undoubtedly compounded by the fact that when you are going to see the Russian State Ballet of Siberia in action then the eagerness of anticipation is all the greater.
The problem is the ensemble work. It was no better than what one would expect in a local ballet school competition, the moves were hackneyed in the extreme, and the costumes looked as if they’d been run up on kitchen tables by their mums.
Tell me about it. I should know, having often trekked to Stourport in the past to see my younger daughter perform in festivals.
The inescapable reality is that the image of noble Russian peasants grinning manically with folded arms and kicking up their legs Cossack-style just will not do in the year 2016. 
And those wigs! One looked like the appalling rock ‘n’ roll rug I bought for a party that cost all of a fiver.
Nevertheless, praise must go to the excellent orchestra who did Tchaikovsky’s immortal music proud. The string and brass sections, underpinned by some truly moody double bass bottom figures, went a long way in shoring up what was a very leaky production indeed.
But sadly, this was overall a big let-down and a wasted opportunity that could have turned a classic story of doomed love into a night to remember. Instead, it perished in its own setting of frost and snow.