Ictus at the Ballet

Manhattan balletomanes hardly had time to catch their breath; even before the New York City Ballet had closed the doors on its three-week fall season, Ballet Theatre rang up the curtain for three weeks at the Met. The big interest in Ballet Theatre's program last week centered on two new numbers:

Till Eulenspiegel (U.S. premiere), set to the raucous, good-humored music of Richard Strauss, with choreography by 27-year-old Jean Babilee (TIME, April 23). In the Babilee version, Till's merry pranks usually have their grim side, e.g., when a pretty girl spurns him, he turns her into a witch; when hunchbacked beggars welcome him to their group, he steals their money. At the end, he is saved from the chopping block by a girl who ought to know better but loves him anyway. Babilee's lithe gymnastics are the whole show.

Schumann Concerto (world premiere), set to Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska.* Concerto proved to be a showpiece for Ballet Theatre's top stars, Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch, with little more to recommend it. A chorus of dancers flits onstage, poses while the principals leap and gyrate, trips offstage to line up for another round. Agreed the critics: Choreographer Nijinska's mild new ballet helps prove once again the superb talent of Dancers Alonso and Youskevitch.

Some other critical verdicts were harder to follow. Reported New York Times Dance Critic John Martin, after watching a Ballet Theatre performer in a pas de deux from The Nutcracker: "Mr. Bruhn has nice elevation but a weak batterie, and indulges in a good deal of unnecessary ictus."

Translation: Dancer Bruhn 1) leaps nicely, 2) beats his legs together poorly, 3) dances with too pronounced a beat.

* 60-year-old sister of the late, fabulous Dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

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