BALLET
Ballet du Theitre National de L'Opern de Paris. (Royal Opera House.)
FOR the first time in its long history, the Paris Opera Ballet has come to dance in London; while they are here, the Sadler's Wells Ballet is paying an exchange visit to Paris. The premiere of the fortnight's season com- prised Suite en Blanc, a well composed and highly stressed pattern suite of dances by Lifar; Les Mirages, a theme ballet by the same choreographer, in which Yvette Chauvire, the outstanding personality of the evening, dances a beautiful pas-de-deux with Michel Renault; Tableau des Fleurs from Les Indes Galantes, Harald Lander's revival of the original created in 1735, which suffers by being removed from its context and is therefore little more than spectacular; and finally, the best item on eke programme, Le Palais de Cristal. This is the first time I have seen dancers performirig a Balanchine classical ballet with ease and pleasure. What might be lacking in technical precision is more than compensated for by flow and happiness of mood. In this, all the soloists are excellent, but especially Michel Renault, who gave a fresh and brilliant performance.
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