THE COVENT GARDEN BALLET STEALS "RECORD" FRONT PAGE THIS WEEK

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 36, 17 February 1939, Unnumbered Page

THE COVENT GARDEN BALLET STEALS "RECORD" FRONT PAGE THIS WEEK

Light as thistledown are the lovely ballerinas of the Covent Garden Russian Ballet Company which «is now in New Zealand. Snapped in the wings for the "‘Record"’ by Richard Andrew were the members of the company seen above. Tamara Grigorieva, prima ballerina, is second from the left. The girl on the extreme right is youthful Sono Osato, half-Japanese, half-American dancer, Grigorieva and Lazovsky, pictured below, were Snapped during an actual performance of ‘Carnaval.’ The article on this page was written by Trevor Lane, who saw the present company at Covent Garden in London last year.

® You know that feeling you | have when you stand in the | solitude of the mountains, | snow and silence and _ majesty all around you, and | you wish there were ten of | you so that you could ap- | preciate to the full the , miracle of the whole thing? That feeling that you are | somehow too small, too much of this earth, to drink | in the deepest meaning of | the beauty that confronts | you? ; ® Well, that is much how |! felt when | watched ‘Swan Lake’’ at His Majesty’s Theatre in Auckland the other evening. But, of course, | was far from alone. The theatre was crammed to the doors, filled with an audience that looked at each other at the finish of the ballet, and felt that something very lovely had just happened. , ® | saw six ballets in Auck"land during the week-end. The most beautiful? "Swan Lake," without a doubt. The finest performance? drina Baronova’s. The most spectacular ballet? "Scheherazade." The performance that drew the loudest applause? Riabouchinska and Jasinsky in the Blue Bird pas de deux in ""Aurora’‘s Wedding." N outstanding figure A ‘with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet : Company that finishes its Auckland season this week is M. Victor Dandre, the distin-

guished husband of the immortal Anna Pavlova. M. Dandre is the chairman of the company and I was privileged to meet him a few minutes after he stepped off the Sydney boat. ‘‘Actually the present company is too big to bring so far from home,’’ said M. Dandre. ‘‘Even with full houses it is difficult to make ends meet-and so much travelling takes up a lot of time and costs a mint of money. The ballet is NOT a proiit-making concern, and that is why, in England, it is exempt from entertainment tax. And our difficulties are accentuated in New Zealand | by your exchange rate, for we pay all the members in English sterling.’’ ‘It is twelve years since Victor Dandre wag last here, and he looked a little sad as he reealled the happy days that he and his wife spent motoring through the New Zealand eountryside, capturing something of

the beauty that Nature provided in hill and stream, a beauty that Pavlova expressed in grace and movement.

I asked M. Dandre what he thought of the British ballet that has been established ‘at Sadler’s Wells in London. ‘It is an enterprise that will bear fruit-that is bearing fruit,’? he said, ‘‘and it deserves to sueceed to the full. Why No Subsidy? *‘In a way it carried on the traditions established by the Imperial Ballet of old Russia. The daneers were more or less the wards of the Czar, and, as such, they had to undergo a very strict training. They were looked after well and eventually they blossomed forth as the principal dancers in ballet companics all over Europe. "SADLER’S WELLS IS TRYING TO ESTABLISH THE SAME THING IN LONDON, BUT THEY ARE HANDICAPPED BY LACK OF MONEY. IT ALWAYS SEEMS STRANGE TO ME THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND THE BRI-

TISH ROYAL COURT HAVE NEVER LENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE THEATRE. I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT. ‘Comparatively small coun tries like Sweden, Denmark, Yugoslavia have all given state support to their theatres, while it is well known that big subsidits are granted to musie and the theatre by Germany, Italy, Franee and other Powers."’ Hiding — Emotions TOLD Victor Dandre that f had seen the first perform. anee of Constant Lambert’s new ballet at Sadler’s Wells, ‘"Horoseope,’’ and he was immediately interested. The choreographer was Frederick a _"

Ashton, a young man for whoxa M. Dandre predicts a brilliant future. He told me more about the ballet in England. Why, 1 wanted to know, did Russian girls, French girls, American girls make better balicrinas than English girls? **Ah, that is something that Madame Pavlova used to tale about a lot. She used to say that the English girls had not enough temperament for the (Turn to Page 2).

The Covent Gar den Ballet-cont. from Page I.

dance ... that their very training taught them to-hide their emotions, their feelings. English girls were trained to meet people, to go about in society, and, for those reasons, they had to mask their true emotions. "But that’s no use for ballet. On the stage you must show your temperament. Imagine ‘Schehera-

zade’ without fire and passion! Or ‘Carnaval’ without coquetry! Or "Les Pre- \

sages’ without its spirit of brooding’ passion! **No, you must have tempera-ment-AND SHOW IT-if you hope to become a _ successful ballet dancer. One of the most successful English girls in ballet to-day is Markova-she’s dancer with technique and great ability.’’ Perfect Ballerina Victor DANDRE is very enthusiastic about the members of the present Russian Ballet company. ‘‘A ballerina must work seven years before She can become a dancer. Irina Baronova and Tatiana

Riabouchinska are very young, but they have served a hard apprenticeship and their’ technique to-day is perfect. Now they will. continue to develop more and more as artists.’’ . I SAW IRINA BARONOVA DANCE AT COVENT GARDEN IN LONDON LAST YEAR AND I’M CONVINCED THAT SHE IS THE OUTSTANDING BALLERINA IN THE WORLD TO-DAY. A child of the Russian revolution she fled with her parents to Romania where she was edueated. Then she beeame a pupil in Paris of the famous

Preobrajenska. At the unusually early age of thirteen she became a member of the corps de ballet of De Basil’s company and, within six months she was selected as a premiere danseuse, You’ll remember the sombre ballet, ‘‘Les Presages,’’? staged by the last ballet company to visit New Zealand? Well, Baronova created the role of Passion in the original proeduction in London. Watch out for Baronova-her artistry and technique are things to thrill and amaze you. Different Types MET the two other ballerinas -Riabouchinska and Grigorieva. The former made a mar-

vellous Cinderella. Blonde and slim, she is an entirely different type te Baronova and her beauty in this fanciful ballet based on the old fairy tale was something that made Auckland gasp. Grigorieva is yet another type, ideally suited to the role she played as Zobeide, the sultan’s wife in ‘‘Seheherazade,"? David Lichine is not dancing in Auckland, thanks to a slight accident. I saw him the other night in a box with Victor Dandre-a breath of European ballet come to New Zealand. Of the men who danced, my ehoice fell on Paul Petroft. He was the Prince in ‘‘Cinderella,’? the Prince Charming to Baronova’s Princess Aurora in ** Aurora’s Wedding. "? am