CHRISTCHURCH BALLET

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 19

CHRISTCHURCH BALLET

Enthusiastic Audience

A programme presented by young members of the Christchurch Ballet Club was enthusiastically received by parents and friends at the Repertory Theatre last evening. The first half of the entertainment was made up of miscellaneous items, including national dances; and this was followed by a full-scale ballet, “The Seasons,” set to the music of Glazunov. “The Princess and the SwineHerd,” a diversion in mime, was particularly pleasing to the children in the audience; but the effect would have been improved, could a narrator with a more agreeable speaking voice have been found. This part of the programme was further diversified by a vigorous Spanish traditional dance by Regina Scandrett, Jillian Carn and Alan Moore. The Russian and Polish peasant dances and the tarantella, which followed, were colourful and graceful; and here the younger performers were seen at their best. In “Tire Waltz of the Flowers,” danced to Tchaikovskys’ music, the more formal movements of ballet were seen. "The Seasons” was an ambitious ballet in which a large number of dancers appeared. Good performances were given by Jillian Gallagher, Rhonda Steele, Tessa Thomas, Marie Polson and Carolyn Wright However, the theme of “The Seasons” was perhaps a trifle insipid to be worked out in a ballet of such length. —C.E.S.