DANCE RECITAL

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 118, 15 November 1945, Page 10

DANCE RECITAL

150 PUPILS TAKE PART

Every mood of the dance was represented in the delightful entertainment presented last night to a packed Opera House by Miss Jean Home's 150 pupils. Vivid costumes and ensembles designed with an artistic sense of colourbalance were used in lavish variety, and items were presented with a professional promptness. The dancing of the senior ballets in a varied programme of classical and character numbers was of a high standard, the soloists, Joy Smith and Alexander Grant, showing some particularly fine work in their frequent appearances. The junior ballets were charming for their original conceptions and for the general excellence of the dancing, while the baby class, 25 diminutive but earnest ballerinas of uncertain steps, received an even greater ovation from the house than the "star pupils."

Two of the most striking numbers given by the seniors were the spirited, scarlet-booted Hungarian ballet with its gay swirling skirts, and the "Parisian Nights" number in which Can Can dancers in midnight blue irocks lined with rose frills and with rose feathered bonnets formed an effective background for another group in crisp black and white. Traditional ballet numbers admirably danced were Nocturne by three senior girls and "Chopiniana," by Alexander Grant and the corps de ballet.

Among the juniors' ballets, most effective were the ballet "Down On the Farm," in which small ginghamand organdie-clad girls danced before a pastoral drop-scene, and the hunting ballet in the same setting, vividlycostumed in red and white. Interesting solo items, which were characterised by clever miming, were "The Marionette Doll," by Pauline Bierman and "The Tightrope Dancer," by Joy Smith.

Soloists were Joy Smith, Beverley Givan, Meta McKenna, Lois Humphries, Monica Keane, Dorothy Marris, Betty Paynter, Vaughan CourtneyO'Connor, Suzanne Chanman. Marjorie Croskery. Pauline Bierman. Paddy Turner, Arnold Bircham, Alexander Grant. Alan Van, and Stanley Bircham. At the conclusion of the programme Mr. M. Gruar made a brief speech of congratulation, and on behalf of parents and pupils, asked Alexander Grant to present to Miss Home a handsome gift. In replying. Miss Home said that the recital had been achieved only through the combined co-opera-tion of teachers, parents, and pupils. The stage was a floral bower when hundreds of bouquets and gifts were handed to the assembled company.