Bolshoi-Trained Dancers To Appear In City

Press, Volume C, Issue 29514, 16 May 1961, Page 13

Bolshoi-Trained Dancers To Appear In City

Two Hungarian dancers trained by the Bolshoi Ballet, Nora Kovach and Istvan Rabovsky, are guest artists with the New Zealand Ballet during its present tour. They will, appear at the Theatre Royal in Christchurch from June 6 to June 10. The pair, who are husband and wife, danced in Eastern Europe, in Moscow, Leningrad and Budapest before making an escape to the West. In London they appeared with the Festival Ballet. Russell Kerr, one of the New Zealand Ballet company, its artistic director was a member of that company when the Rabovskys arrived. He writes of the first time that he saw them dance. “We crept into the theatre during what was supposed to be a private rehearsal. The Rabovskys were dancing in ’Don Quixote,’ one of the pas de deux they will present here. We saw more fireworks, more spectacular lifts, more dazzling movement, than any of us had ever seen before.” Later the pair danced in Barcelona, Toronto, San Francisco. Paris, New York and South America. They came to New Zealand instead of dancing during a sixth tour of South America. The highlight of the programme in Christchurch will probably be “Scheherazade,” to the music of Rimsky-Kor-sakov. Nora Kovach and Istvan Rabovsky will dance and Russell Kerr is the producer The guest dancers will appear in several grand pas de deux by Soviet choreographers. There will also be two Antony Tudor ballets. “Soirees Musicales.’’ to Benjamin Britten's arrangement of music by Rossini, and the “Judg-

ment of Paris,” to music by Thomas Arne. It is the first time these ballets have been produced in New Zealand. Several young Christchurch dancers will be chosen to appear with the ballet. They will largely make up the corps de ballet for a presentation of “Les Sylphides.” Christchurch orchestral musicians will play with the permanent orchestra of the company during the Christchurch season. The full orchestra will have about 35 players and will be conducted by Alex Lindsay