16 AUGUST 1997, Page 25

Scottish dancing

Sir: The Kirov Ballet Company has been showing the classics to full houses over the past five weeks at the Coliseum in London (Arts, 2 August). The classics clearly have a huge following in England. Why should it be otherwise in Scotland? If the Scottish Arts Council cuts back the Scottish Ballet grant there will be no alternative but to

LETTERS

halve the size of the company, thereby pre- cluding the classics. Why should Scotland be so penalised?

The company would become yet another contemporary dance company of which there are several in Scotland already. These companies invariably end up offering works which try to address various social and political issues of our time: homosexuality, Aids and homelessness — subjects impossi- ble to sustain in the repertoire. Why should the Scots be deprived of their Giselles and Swan Lakes which they love and which uplift the soul?

Virginia Fraser

Lovat Estates Office, Beauly, Inverness-shire