The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-14 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
LA. PRIMA BALLERINA.

The plot of this bullet divertissement, which will
be produced this evening, is taken from an
incident in the career of a great danseuse. Whilst on
her way to fulfil an engagement at Naples, with her
maitre de ballet and her cumeriera, her carriage was
waylaid by banditti. But even banditti, in Italy, are
alive to art; and she achieved her liberation by executing
some of the choicest steps of her repertoire, as Ariosto
did, under the same circumstances, by reciting some
passages of his " Orlando."

The scene of the ballet is placed in the mountainous
borders of the Roman States. The brigands are re-
joicing with their families after a successful foray.
Whilst some are feasting, some drinking, and others
gambling, the younger members of the band are dancing
to the sound of mandoline and castagnettes. They are
interrupted in their revels by Astolpho, the lieutenant
of the band, who dispatches all those who are un-
armed to a fiery or festival in the neighbourhood,
which afft,rds an opportunity of plunder. The men
disguise themselves as lame mendicants; others as
pijferari; whilst the women and children carry baskets
containing flowers or fruits. Hardly are they departed,
when the whistle of one of the sentinels on the adjacent
heights warns his comrades that travellers are approach-
ing. In the distance a travelling carriage is careering
along rapidly on the road to Naples. Immediately the
robbers cut down the trees, throw them across the road
the carriage must pass, and then conceal themselves.
The carriage approaches; you hear the cracking of the
postilion's whip, and the sound of the bells on the mules;
the mules stumble over the barricade, and the carriage,
loaded w;th a pile of light boxes, that betray the pre-
sence of ta female traveller, is suddenly stopped. In an
instant the bandits seize the postilion, the cameriera, and
the courier, aria bind them to the trees, This is so
quickly done that the exquisite Signor Passolo, the re-
nowned maitre dc ballet of St. Carlo, has not perceived
the cause of the sudden stoppage; he descends from
the carriage, and at the sight of th bandit's pistols, he
executes steps and gesticulations of mute terror more
exprt saive than he has ever taught in his highest flights
of the mimic art, and forgets his fair travelling compa-
nion in the carriage. But at this moment arrives Rinaldo,
Captain of the banditti, dressed in the highest style of
modern fashion, who, with the utmost courtesy, hands
down from her carriage the young lady within. This
lady is Mdlle. —, who implores the Captain to permit
her to continue her route; but the Captain answers
that he is too happy in the possession of so charming
a guest to part with her so soon. In the meantime the
robbers have dragged forward the lady's boxes, and
the peculiar and splendid dresses within, as well as the
direction without, reveals to Rinaldo that the fair pro-
prietor is "la prima ballerina," no less a dancer than
the celebrated aidlle. —, whose renown has spread to
every part of the civilized world. He contemplates the
lady with the admiration and respect of a dilettante,
and inquires who is her finical companion, now grimac-
ing in utter-most terror. Mdlle. explains that he
is Signor Passolo, the most sublime of maitres de bal-
lets, and the composer of all the parts and pas to whose
performance she owes her triumphs. Mdlle. now
once more implores her captor to allow her to depart ;
be holds council with his lieutenant and the chief bandits,
and, with their concurrence, consents to her request—
but on condition she will execute some of her most
remarkable pas before she departs. The great dancer
highly flattered at this novel triumph of her talent,
cheerfully consents to this proposal. The boxes are
scrupulously returned to their places, and, whilst she re-
tires to her carriage to put on her dancing costume, the
trembling Signor Passolo is compelled to execute a new
pas with the cameriera, of :which the eccentric inspiration
is dictated to him by the muzzles of the robbers' pistols.
Mdlle. now re-appears in the brightest of her cos-
tumes, the robbers form a circle, and amidst their enthu•
siastic admiration, she performs some of the most cele-
brated steps of her repertoire. At the conclusion of her
dancing the robbers themselves are the captives of her
talent; at her command they clear the road for her to
proceed. But at this moment the signal of alarm is
given; the sound of trumpets in the distance announces
the arrival of the dragoons in pursuit of the banditti.
The robbers disappear; their wives rush in in alarm,
but as the troopers enter, they begin dancing, in order
to conceal what has occurred, and delay their march.
Mdlle. —, flattered by the triumph she has achieved
over her fierce admirers, silences Passolo, and assures
the officer that she has met with no obstruction. Hardly
has he conducted her back to her carriage than a proces-
sion of black penitents is seen crossing the mountain
path, the soldiers lay down their carbines, and with all
present, go on their knees. The penitents drop their
cloaks and masks, reveal their bandit costume, raise
their guns, and the curtain descends.