BALLET
THE programme with which Roland Petit has opened his new season is more satisfying than any which he presented in the summer. But then Jean Babilee is back with him again, fuller in body, and with the muscles of his legs over-developed, but with all the com- pelling power of his remarkable personality. Not—like Petit himself—the most consider- ate of partners, Babilee failed to give the delightful Violette Verdy all the support she needed in the Blue Bird pas-de-deux. But how wonderful are those brises and grandes- jetee, truly a bird in flight. Consciously or not, surely Petit must have created the excellent Le Loup for Babilee whose inter- pretation of the title role is a superb artistic achievement which should not be missed.
The new La Croqueuse de Diamants follows the well-known Petit recipe for gaiety, humour and visual pleasure. In this the choreographer himself appears with his usual modesty and ease of bearing, and in a charm- ing pas-de-deux, introduces his latest " dis- cover)* " Liliane Montevecchi as a dancer who is full of possibility. Jose Ferran is another very good member of the Roland Petit company, and it goes without saying that the spectacular sets of Clave for Dcuil en 24 Heures and Wakhewitch for La Croqueuse were greeted with much applause.
LILLIAN DROWSE
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