Unlikely though it sounds, The Grand Theatre in Swansea is home to a genuine Russian Ballet company composed of graduates from the country's leading academies. They specialise in the Russian classics, and are bringing to Newbury La Fille Mal Gardée. It's the story of Lise, whose mother wants her to marry the simpleton son of a rich landowner, but who eventually triumphs in her determination to marry the boy she loves.

This is, of course, the story of Sir Frederick Ashton's much loved version which is now performed all over the world - the one with the famous clog dance - but it has a long history. The story was first presented in France to a selection of folk tunes in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. Through the years, productions have remained faithful to the original, detailed scenario. There have been a couple of changes of music, but in 1901 Alexander Gorsky produced a charming version in Moscow with music by Hertl. It was with this in mind that Diaghilev's great star Tamara Karsavina inspired Ashton to make his own hugely successful interpretation to music by Herold.

The Gorsky choreography is almost unknown outside Russia, but that's the version that's coming to Newbury. The company's director, Chika Temma, told me how they got it. "Our company's original artistic director was trained in Moscow, and knew this work from his days at ballet school, but we've adapted it for a smaller cast of 15, and we've been performing it since the company was formed in 1998." And how does it compare with the Ashton? "The story is very simply told, very understandable. Maybe the first act is not quite as pretty as in the Ashton, but there's a lot going on, a lot of acting skills on show. It's very detailed, and our ballet closely follows the original libretto. It's very lighthearted, very charming."

This is a story full of humour, but also a poignant love story. So far I've only seen excerpts on DVD, but if, like me, you can go, you should be in for . . . not a ballet history lesson - but a real treat.

La Fille Mal Gardée is at Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury, next Thursday and Friday. Box Office: 01635 244246 (www.arlingtonarts.co.uk)