STAGE AND SCREEN The Ballet
Russian Ballet at Covent Garden EVEN while that memorable last night of the Alhambra season on November 4th is still present to the mind, an occasion of enthusiasm which the Russian dancers them- selves, habituated to success and to enthusiasm, account unique, De Basil's Russian ballet has returned, this time to Covent Garden. Since that former occasion was still so freshly in mind, it was inevitable that the first performance in the guarded atmosphere of the Covent Garden house should have seemed slightly strange. One was not used to the perspectives, to the acoustics (so much better upstairs than down), nor to the floor of the stage itself. At the Alhambra they danced on linoleum. At Covent Garden they are dancing on the boards which for the most part make square patterns. This arrangement interferes somewhat with the geometry of the dancing as seen from above. More- over, though amply resinned, these boards of hard wood are inclined to be slippery (there is a new board in the centre of the stage on which more than one dancer has slipped down in the course of the first week).
Again, the lighting has not been altogether satisfactory
during the first week—and I write of the first week's perform- ances only. The lighting has appeared at times to have bad a pronounced brown-red tinge, particularly noticeable in Jeux D'Enfants. But after the first night at any rate, we were no longer distracted by such changes and passible deficiencies. The splendour and excellence of the perform- ances have once more carried us away. When, at the con- clusion of the second night, the curtain fell upon Le Beau Danube, a ballet full of superb dancing crowned with a breath- taking finale, the old atmosphere had been regained.
This season is due to last six weeks only. It will be specially
memorable for the reappearance of several favourite Diaghilev ballets such as The Three-cornered Hat, La Boutique Fantasque, The Good-humoured Ladies and Oiseau de Feu. We thought we would never see them again. We owe this unusual fulfil- ment of our insatiable desires to the generosity of some English balletomanes, prompted by Captain Bruce Ottley. They have bought the Diaghilev decors and costumes and have presented them to De Basil, Diaghilev's successor. Thus, with the aid of Woizikowsky's long memory and Massine's direction (the choreography of the first three of these ballets is by Massine), it has been possible to mount them once again. On the very first night we saw The Three-cornered Hat with Massine dancing his original part superbly as heretofore.
It is, I imagine, unnecessary for me to dilate upon the glories of Russian ballet or upon the genius of Massine. It should now be possible to offer to the London public ballet criticisms in matters of detail.
The principals at Covent Garden are excelling themselves. The younger dancers, both mate and female, are fulfilling the promise that delighted us last year. Equally pleasing is the form of the dancers whose reputations have been long established. Massine has probably not danced better, and that, of course, is saying a great deal. His mazurka with Riabouchinska in Le Beau Danube attains the utmost flam- boyance allied with precision and neatness. The virtuoso effect of the action by which he sends Riabouchinska spinning across the stage will always be remembered. This ballet shows improvement in several matters of detail. For one thing, the miming has become a good deal more apt. The gestures of Baronova, for instance, and of her painter ac- quaintance as they sit on the chairs in front are more even and more sustained than heretofore. After the reconciliation between the Hussar and his fiancée the lights are not turned off, as at the Alhambra, in order to remove the chairs in the darkness. There is now no break between the reconciliation and the finale : therefore, the pertinence of the finale's excite- ment, happiness and high spirits is greatly increased. The dancing of Shabelevsky, who now takes Lichine's part as King of the Dandies, has progressed considerably since last year. His pirouettes are very fine. • Massine's performance in The Three-cornered Hat needs no comment from me. I would remark one detail only.—the interest attaching to the circle, the contour of the face that he
draws in a flash with chalk while dancing. Woizikowsky (whom we hope later to see in this part) used to chalk no more than a scribble. As the ballet proceeded I have . found a peculiar interest in this steadfast circle of Massine's, effected between the time-limits imposed by the music and while his feet are moving.
Danilova's performance as Queen of the Swans in Lac de Cygnes is perhaps the most gratifying event of the first week: Surely she is dancing better than ever before, whereas last year she did not seem to be so good as in her Diaghilev days. Her arms are beautiful, her poise superb. But Jasinskv„ whom we saw last year in Balanchine's Les Ballets 1933, is a moderate partner and a poor mime. Especially his entrance is weak.
At the moment of writing the chief disappointment is the absence of that great dancer Woizikowsky. Let us hope that
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