Fateev is at ease with such variations. His approach appears to be accommodating but not lax, given that he wants (supported strongly by Gergiev) to lure the iconic Kirov classicist Irina Kolpakova back as coach from America to re-establish shapes and lines. For well over a century, St Petersburg has regularly produced physically amazing dancers, the ones who redefine the "look", from Anna Pavlova and Olga Spessivtseva on, and Fateev adores Zakharova.

If dancers can do it, they should, he thinks - as long as it fits "the artist's vision and the choreographer's vision". So when Christopher Wheeldon comes to watch the company next month and to talk about creating something, when Alexei Ratmansky comes over next spring to create an ambitious full-length ballet, The Little Hump-backed Horse, and if eventually Wayne McGregor gets his return invitation for the work that he was supposed to make in 2000, Fateev aims to show that the Mariinsky contains dancers of the highest cosmopolitan skills and classical beauty anywhere in the world.