Literature's most fearless young lady of adventure, Lewis Carroll's Alice, returns to the city of her creation this week in an utterly enchanting full-length work from English National Ballet.

Created 10 years ago by the company's then artistic director, Derek Deane, this sumptuous and colourful show has only previously been seen here once.

Let me state straight away that no-one should miss the opportunity to share in the spectacle.

What is offered is not only - only! - a display of some of the best classical dancing to be savoured in this country, but a truly delightful two hours of story-telling, accompanied by music of breathtaking beauty.

Deane turned to ballet's greatest composer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to supply the aural magic of the evening.

His own three great dance works are very sensibly passed over in the main, in favour of familiar symphonic themes and other concert pieces. The major source - most appropriately - is his Album for the Young.

It is impossible to overstate the excellence in the title role of Maria Kochetkova. Through a long and arduous evening, during which she is on stage most of the time, she presents a well-rounded portrait of the feisty Alice with faultless technique.

We meet a heroine who is carefree, curious and, above all, joyfully unfazed by the very odd things that begin to happen all around her once she has followed Yat-Sen Chang's White Rabbit down into his burrow.

All of the great set-pieces of the novel are here and beautifully presented in impeccable character performances and Sue Blane's superb designs, which properly take their cue from Sir John Tenniel's unforgettable illustrations to the book. So, once more, we can enjoy our encounters with the hookah-smoking Caterpillar (Laurent Liotardo) and grinning Cheshire Cat (Van Le Ngoc), a glimpse of the Hell's Kitchen of the Duchess (James Streeter) and her Cook (Jane Haworth), and the comic chaos of the Mad Hatter's tea party with Ivan Dinev as the host, Yosvani Ramos as the March Hare and Simone Clarke as the narcoleptic Dormouse.

Elements of classical ballet are neatly fused into the story-telling.

Thus we see a well-drilled corps de ballet in the 16 playing card attendants paying court to the odious Queen of Hearts (Sarah McIlroy) and her dopey, drink-sodden husband (Michael Coleman). There is also a heart-stopping pas de deux from Dmitri Gruzdyev and the stately Daria Klimentov, as the Jack of Hearts and the Dream Alice.

During this, the real Alice lies slumbering in the wings, enjoying her vision of this thrilling encounter. The production runs until tomorrow.