BALLET
Walter. Gore Ballet (Princes Theatre.) A NEW ballet formed by Walter Gore has made its London debut at the. Princes Theatre. For a long time one has hoped that some such project would eventually materialise, for, although over a period of many years Gore's ballets have appeared in various repertoires, it has been obvious that his opportunities were far too limited and that his talents, to a great extent, were being wasted. Now, with a small group of dancers led by Paula Hinton, he has made a promising beginning—an excellently rehearsed company, a highly gifted designer (Kenneth Rowell), a good conductor, and his own fine sense of theatre which tempts one to place him as the English Roland Petit.
On Tuesday night two out of the three ballets showed Gore's whimsical touch of humour and his own especial brand of under- statement, but the triumph of the evening was Crucifix, a witch drama of the Inquisition of almost unbearable intensity. A young girl, unjustly accused of having communication with the Devil, is driven crazy by fear as, among the dark shapes of the forest, her persecutors close in on her. In a frenzy she kills the priest who is trying to protect her, is dragged to trial, pronounced guilty, and thrown—a broken, fluttering-mad bird—into a dungeon from which there is no escape. Bound and semi-conscious she is carried to the stake. and her piercing cry as the flames envelop her pronounces her release and the ballet's awful climax. This is no performance for the squeamish, but those who are able to accept its terrible,. truths will recognise it to be very near to a masterpiece. It has, of course, ' been composed especially for Paula Hinton, whose dramatic strength is unrivalled among English dancers of today, and who, in the last months, has made such strides technically that her dancing is now becoming worthy of her own remarkable personality.
LILLIAN BROWSE.
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