Ballet well presented

Press, 21 November 1979, Page 6

Ballet well presented

By

HEATH LEES

The New Zealand Ballet opened its Christchurch visit last evening with “La Sylphide” as the main work and a collection of smaller pieces in the first half. The set for the main ballet was extremely complicated, and so in the opening pieces we had to make do with a plain screen backdrop and some skilful lighting. To this ; was added some stepladders and planks for the bubbly opening, entitled “Just for Fun," a colourful and vivacious introduction to the company However, it seemed obvious ; from the start that the girls outshone their male col- , leagues in fluidity and preci- i sion of movement. !,

Pauline Tronson and Peterl Edwards danced “The Flower i Festival in Genzano” with aj; sense of grace and commit-]) ment, though it did appear : that the bare stage inhibited ’ the light, pastoral charm. The audience responded : warmly to Fay Hyam and Malcolm Bum who danced; the “Don Quixote” pas de ■ deux, but I was disappointed, i The costumes seemed unsuit- : able and the effect was less • an integrated dance than a showpiece for more display, j “La Sylphide” itself has all i the delights of the Romantic ■ imagination. Set in a Scot- ' land redolent of Macbeth < and Sir Walter Scott, the mixture consists of distracted i noble lords, shadowy svlphs. ] faithful retainers and, of < course, a coven o£ witches. j

The ballet was excellently done from start to finish, and all the dancers, especially Patricia Rianne and Jon Trimmer, deserve warm praise. The witches’ scene was beautifully staged through gauze, and the transition into scene, two was one of the magic moments (there are many) where all aspects of theatre combined to produce a most: satisfying visual and musical experience. Even the orchestra, which had played very badly, began to come to life and imnarted some musical sensitivity which gave the company a chance to shine. This programme has something for evervone to enjoy.) Even those who think th?/) don’t like ballet would be pleasantly surprised. ;