BALLET
Doll dance
ROBIN YOUNG
Sad to think that there are still balletomanes who regard Petrouchka as the most moving piece of choreographic art ever created. It is a In the Festival Ballet's re-creation of it, the St Petersburg Butterweek Fair is a Technicolor porridge resulting in what colour television engineers term a moire effect of optic bafflement. One expects at any moment the arrival—heralded by stamps and flag-waving, curtseyed to by nursemaids, pulled by coachmen, danced over by grooms and ceremoniously accom- panied by the St Petersburg constabulary— of the kitchen sink. But if it ever did appear. it got lost in the general confusion. Three little puppets, anyway, get very lost in a crowd scene that looks—well, just crowded.
Nor, are the puppets well characterised. Petrouchka in his cell looks and sounds too much like a rat in the wainscotting to attract sympathy. The Blackamoor should be re- ported to the Race Relations Board at once. Clement Crisp, who used to write here, can- not understand why the Blackamoor persist- ently clamps his hand on the Ballerina's breast. I think I perceive the attraction of that—but even I cannot imagine why he should sniff and lick her candy-striped knickers. Especially with such a marked expression of distaste.
Even so, it is good to see the Festival packing them into the Coliseum by doing other people's old things--and I am honour- bound to admit that Petrottehka has been one of the most popularly received items. Myself. I am indebted to this season especi- ally for the breathtaking virtuosity of Samt- soya and Prokovsky in Don Quixote, and for the welcome chance to see a bright new star. Eva Evdokimova from the Deutsche
Just as the Festival Ballet are wedded to the traditions of the Ballets-Russes, so the London Contemporary Dance Theatre embrace the cult of Martha Graham, who provided Robin Howard with his inspiration, much of the tuition for his company, and his artistic -director. Robert Cohan Stages is the seventh ballet Cohan has given the group, and is described as his first full-length production. It falls, however, into two barely related halves.
Stage I, with performers costumed to look like flayed corpses writhing and posturing to concrete music, was disquieting, discomfort- ing, and ultimately uninteresting despite ingenious effects which included a strobe-lit weightless drop through space and a dis- integrating electric chair. But Stage 2 had good driving jazz from Bob Downes Open Music, and was enlivened by some adept gymnastics (the dancers trained by an Olympic coach no less) It also had some wry humour. The magnificent William Louther had his name, HERO, spelt out in the back of his cat-suit, and he stopped off for a smoke between encounters with monsters. The finale, in which Louther. Samson-like, brings the house down with an almighty bang, is a great and satisfying joke.
Thal is the Show, created for Ballet Rambert's new season at the Jeannetta Cochrane Theatre by their artistic director, Norman Morrice, is not accompanied by the pretentious programme notes of Stager. It is, however, a more complex and challeng- ing work—and probably a more important one too. The difficulty is that it is danced to a score—Luciano Berio's Sinfonia—which is demanding in itself, and will be unfamiliar to many. It is best to go with a well-stocked armoury of references—Levi-Strauss, Samuel Beckett, Martin Luther King.
Mahler. Bach, Debussy. Ravel. Wozz(;ek . . . for Sinlonia is a collage of quotations, both musical and textual, sometimes garbled, and mostly Swingle-sung. The accompanying ballet has some effective movements. Sandra Craig has a vaguely aspirant role and climbs up and down stair- cases of other people's backs. At times figures freeze, and are moved around the stage like statues. No meanings ever emerge, quite clearly. It is not the sort of show from which you can expect to get much at one \ loving. Sadly.. however, it is not so visually attractive or choreographically compelling that I can imagine there will be many people who want to see it i\s ice
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