BALLET
Les Ballets des Champs Elysees. (Cambridge Theatre.)
IF any company can be sure of the goodwill both of London's public and critics, it is Les Ballets des Champs Elysees, who have just started another season at the Cambridge Theatre. It was soon after the end of the war, when we had begun to realise how stale our standards were, how badly they needed refreshing, that a sik-months- old Parisian company of brilliant young artists burst unexpectedly upon London, shaking us out of our lethargy. The thrill of Babilee's first appearance in feu de Cartes is one of those rare, unforgettable memories ; the haunting pathos and drama of Les Forains and Los Caprichos still linger in company with the happy sparkle of. Le Defeuner sur l'Herbe. Les Ballets des Champs Elysees have truly earned our gratitude, and in that spirit they have been welcomed during the several visits they have paid us since that year of 1946. But sadly enough the old story has repeated itself ; the old story that no Diaghilev was at hand to mould, control and develop this band of artists into something great and permanent; so that today its personnel is almost entirely new whilst its repertoire largely consists of works most especially devised for other personalities. With all the goodwill in the world one cannot but admit that Les Forains and Le Rendez-Vous are mere shadows of their former selves ; and that the new Impromptu au Bois, of, pattern and theme so well worn as only to succeed if brilliantly composed and executed, does not approach brilliance in any sense. Of the dancers, Skoura- toff, as guest artist, makes a welcome reappearance in London. He was always a fine strong dancer, and his personality has become more attractive in that he is warmer in appeal and more relaxed in bearing. Jacqueline Moreau, another guest artist, is charming to look at, vivacious and sparkling. Her style is typical of the French trained ballernia, -she comes from the Paris Opera. She is strong of limb, brisk in timing and excellent at pirouettes ; but her feet need more extension and her arabesques more truth of position. M.. Jean Robin, the original company's stage manager, has now become its director. It is through his prodigious efforts that Les
Ballets des Champs Elys&I still exists. LILLIAN BROWSE.
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