22 NOVEMBER 1968, page 21

Rodney Ackland Arts

HILARY SPURLING `It's only the hairs on a gooseberry That stop it from being a grape,' as the pantomime dame said in Rodney Ack- land's Strange Orchestra. This time last year, I......

Mock Tudor

BALLET CLEMENT CRISP Looking backwards is a besetting sin with British ballet, reflecting a deep-rooted con- servatism in public taste; at Covent Garden last week the Royal......

We Never Close

MUSIC MICHAEL NYMAN Music is alive and flourishing in considerable opulence in London; there's an unprecedented 'we never close' atmosphere about at the moment, performances six......

Make Me An Offer

CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS Oh, ring-a-ring-a-roses, Ring for the dealers' prize And see the bidding closes Before the prices rise. They buy by nods and winking— The dodge the dealer......