BALLET
" Ballet Imperial." (Covent Garden.) SINCE the announcement some weeks ago that M. George Balanchine would come to London to stage one of his works at Covent Garden, there has been a flutter of excitement in the ballet. world. For Balanchine, the greatest living choreographer of abstract ballet, in 1948 whetted the appetites of Londoners, and they were naturally anxious to see him in collaboration with their own dancers. The choice of Ballet Imperial was both a compliment and a challenge to the English public as well as to the Sadler's Wells Company, for it demands real perception on the part of the audience and an extremely high standard not only from the soloists but also from the corps de ballet. At the premiere on April 5th both rose to the occasion.
Ballet Imperial is a work of considerable magnitude in the typical Balanchine idiom. Abstract as Les Sylphides and in the " grand manner " of Sleeping Princess, it is yet contemporary in feeling, and choreographically reflects the stimulation and nervous speed of our age. M. Balanchine being a musician as well as choreographer, one of the ballet's main impressions is that of a, splendid correlation between the music—Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 2—and the dance-patterns. This does not imply a mere translation of the Concerto into balletic language, but an extraction and re-creation of its essence in terms of movement and moving design. It is full of invention, and if of late we have complained-of our own choreo- graphers' bias towards mime ballet, M. Balanchine has now silenced these murmurs. In fact, if we are churlish enough to look for faults in so noble a work, we might ask for slightly longer passages of tranquility in order more easily to digest its richness.
The company gave a gallant performance on the opening night, but it was evident that another week's rehearsals were necessary to bring the execution up to the standard of the creation. It was also evident, however, that even the youngest members were well able to cape with the difficult enchainements, so that under careful super- vision from the ballet mistress—M. Balanchine may not be able to remain himself—the production will soon become all that he could desire. • M. Balanchine apart, the evening belonged to Beryl Grey in her role of second ballerina. This dancer, though not yet back on form after her recent illness, showed once again the breadth of her range. Her technicalbrilliance accepted, she rose to the heights of magni- ficent command required by this work with as much assurance as she brings to her tender interpretation of Swan Lake or her cruel sharpness in Checkmate. She is the ideal interpreter of a Balanchine arrangement. The work did not suit Margot Fonteyn so well. Her delightful personality sparkles in a more intimate setting, like a fastidiously chosen jewel in a miniature. Moreover, it fell to her to execute some of the choreographer's less happy movements, for occasionally he allows his inventiveness to run away with him— which results in the loss of artistry.
It would be nice to see Ballet Imperial re-dressed. M. Eugene Berman's backcloth is superficial in conception and mediocre in colour, while the blue-tint wigs of the dancers, besides being un- becoming to wear, fail to strike the right note. The colour of Margot Fonteyn's tutu frequently makes her invisible against those of the corps de ballet, and the two green ones are horrible in tone. Admittedly abstract ballet is the most difficult of all to dress, and it is not possible to name one as having been completely satisfying. The challenge, therefore, remains for some designer to find the right formula, and no subject is more worthy of the effort than Ballet
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