Realm of Beauty as Revealed in Ballei

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 69, 23 March 1937, Page 3

Realm of Beauty as Revealed in Ballei

PERFECTION IN MOVEMENT Superlative entertainment was offered the very large audience that filled every part of the Opera House last evening drawn from a wide area both town and country for the one and only appearance of Colonel de Basil’s Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, the offering being complete and satisfying to those priv* leged to witness it. Sumptuously presented and with the accompaniment of lovely music delightfully interpreted by a fine orchestra, it was a feast for ear and eye recapturing for many the thrill of previous ballets all too seldom experienced. One of the chief charms of ballet is its endless revelation of new and unsuspected loveliness, and for this last night’s audience should be grateful to Colonel de Basil, for ballet is a blending of the arts. Certainly no show has received more enthusiastic acclaim and the principals had to-respond to repeated calls at the conclusion of the entertainment. The first of the programme’s three ballets was “Les Sylphidcs, ”• inspired by the romantic music of Chopin and setting the keynote was the “little” Prelude admirably presented by the orchestra conducted by Mr. Ivan Clayton. The curtain rose to reveal the corps de ballet magnificently grouped in a moonlit glade, the sylphes in billowing white dresses suggestive of gossamer so fairyliko their movements as they glided into the dreamy Nocturne. This gave place to the first solo Valse No. 1 by dainty Nina Youchkevltch, sprightly mazurkas by Helene Kirsova and Igor Yousskevitch, a repetition of the prelude for Nathalie Branitzka and further valses to tho final ensemble interpreted in tho amazing choreography arranged by Fokine. The audience was spellbound, for this ballet was

a dream in motion disclosing a myriad facets of finished technique. • Yn striking contrast came “Scheliera zade,” a drama savage and emotional as the previous ballet was remote and ethereal. The opening pages of the Arabian Nights entertainment suggest ed the theme for this spectacle of the gorgeous last, which is also the work of Fokine, the music being drawn front Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic poem. The strange and dreadful happenings at Schariar’s Court and tho guilty romance of Zobeide and her slave call for the portrayal of the whole gamut of eino tions as the Sultan wreaks his vengeance on the slaves who invaded his harem and the woman responsible for their coming. Tho story was enacted with realism and abandonment through out against a setting of exotie Oriental splendour. This ballet moved with extraordinary swiftness to its dramatic climax and served to reveal the amazing gifts of Leon Woizikowsky as the slave lover, and tho interpretive powers of the alluring Nina Raievska, as Zobeide, the favourite of the Sultan. The final offering was “Le Manage de Aurore,” a one-act ballet from “The Sleeping Princess,” the third and last of the Petipa-Tchailcovsky ballets. There is no story to tell and this classical number, which is a universal fav ourite, is usually termed a great divertissement. It provides every member of this versatile company with opportunities for magnificent dancing, interpreted with fairy-tale gaiety. Everything is presented in tho grand scalo at the marriage feast, among tho guests being fairies, nobles, the Blue Bird, Little Red Riding Hood and all the rest of the fairy folk. The outstanding dance was “L’Oiseau Bleu,” a pas do deux, in which Nina Golovina and Roland Guerard shared the honours for grace and perfection of technique. Another notable performance was that of “The Three Ivans,” a clever rough and tumble presented by Leon Woizikowsky, Serge Unger and

Dmitri Tovaroff, followed by an exquisite pas de deux by Aurora (Nina Youchevith) and her Prince Charmant (Valentin Froman). Tho entire company appeared in the final mazurka, o magnificent conclusion to an exhilarating programme. Mr. Jascha Horenstein conducted the two last ballets. Now that appetites have been so admirably whetted for this finest of the arts, it is to be hoped Colonel de Basil will see his way clear to make many more visits to this Dominion.