Open-Air Performances By N.Z. Ballet

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30961, 18 January 1966, Page 2

Open-Air Performances By N.Z. Ballet

With a full complement of dancers and two new guest principals, the New Zealand Ballet resumed rehearsals in 'Wellington last week after its threeweek holiday break. The company’s first appearances this year will be at the Festival of the Pines in New Plymouth on February 8 and at the Northshore Festival on February 14.

Negotiations for a fivemonth engagement with the Festival Ballet dancers, Denise Le Comte and Desmond i Kelly, were completed last week. The sixth ballet bursar to join the New Zealand Ballet after overseas experience, Miss Le Comte held the rank of soloist with the Festival Ballet where her husband, Desmond Kelly, was principal dancer.

The company’s largest audience ever saw the second act of “Swan Lake” on all television channels on Christmas Day and two more large audiences are expected for the open-air performances ahead. The artistic director, Russell Kerr, has planned a

programme for the festivals that uses the corps de ballet to its fullest extent. The company will perform the second act of “Swan Lake” and “Les Sylphides” (which has not been performed since it was first introduced into the repertoire in 1961). “Les Sylphides” will be reproduced by Sara Neil, whose “Giselle” earned her special recognition during the 1965 spring tour. “Aurora’s Wedding,” from Russell Kerr’s production of “The Sleeping Beauty," completes the programme. 1 Five dancers who were with the New Zealand Ballet during the spring tour have been re-engaged. They are Vivienne Anderson, Jill Bennett, Lyndsay McLachlan, Susan Shuttleworth and Marieke van Melle. From the ballet trust’s sixth summer school, which opened on January 3, five dancers have been chosen to join the corps de ballet for both festival appearances. They are Pauline Dryburgh and Robyn Lenihan, of Auckland, and three New Plymouth students, Jan Blanch, Jennifer Carson and Christine Treweek.