BALLET
Ballets Jooss. (Sadler's Wells.) IT must be about six years since the Ballets Jooss last appeared in London, and then its fame rested chiefly upon two ballets—both composed in 1932—The Green Table and The Big City. By their side the rest of the repertoire appeared relativejy trivial and repeti- tive, and so one could not help being most curious as to whether the two fine works would still retain their power, and whether Jooss, since his return to Germany, would have been able to create anything of similar quality. Let us dispense with disagreeable matters first and briefly say that the two new ballets Song of Youth, and Colombinade, presented on Tuesday night, were boring, shapeless and eminently self-conscious. But further new ballets will be given during the season, and it may be that Jooss is saving the best of his fresh offerings for the last. In any case it is a great rarity for anyone to be able to claim that he has made a real and lasting contribution to his profession or art ; that in his own particular line he has created a masterpiece—and I use this word with the deepest respect for its significance. Jooss may, with every justification, claim this very thing, for The Green Table is a masterpiece, and, if he never again equals or even approaches it, its choreographer has earned our lasting gratitude and admiration.
The satirical comment of the ballet remains, unhappily, as topical today as when it was created, twenty years ago ; but the power and poignancy of The Green Table. are quite independent of this fact, for, like alfgreat works of art, it has the quality of timelessness. More- over, it demonstrates what all real ballet-lovers believe, that dancing is worthy of the most profound human themes, and need not neces- sarily be confined to mythological, romantic or light-hearted stories. Is it too much to hope that some rising choreographer will heed Kurt Jooss's lesson, and whether through traditional or unorthodox means, aim sometimes at a subject of such serious import.
LILLIAN BROWSE.
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