Evening star., 1942-05-10
Ballet Will
Look Better
This Time
National Stage
Provides Space
And Scenery
By Harry Macarthur.


This is not q morning to pick or
Constitution Hall 1t no doubt is
one of the sadder edifices of the
town, sitting over there lonely
dreaming of other years when high
feminine calls, both gay and stern
Allied 1t with life as the D. A. r
convened.
This is no time to chide the sad
and lonely, even sad and lonely
auditorium, but it certainly is nice
to know that Constitution Hall is
going to see no more of the Ballet
Russo de Monte Carlo this year than
it saw of the annual convention of
the Daughters of the American Rev.
olution.
1t will make the balletomanes
happy beyond belief to find the
Bale Russo ensconced in the Ma
tional Theater for this entire week,
and it should provide illimitable
cheer to the readers of the dance
reviewers, who must be firing Of that
perennial complaint that everything
about the ballet was fine within the
limitation of the Constitution Hall
stage.
And Scenery, Too.
Always when the group has ap-
peared at Constitution Hall that ex-
ception has had to be noted. The
auditorium no doubt is an excellent
one for many purposes, but after an
evening Of fear and trembling with
the suspicion that the next ballerina
to attempt q tour-jete would land
on her face in the orchestra, 1t
seemed a sort Of torture chamber
for dancers.
Even more welcome than the in
creased space afforded by the stage
at the National, to dancers and
audience alike, should be the scenic
facilities Of the theater. A ballet
without scenery always seems sort
of half-dressed, or perhaps just
strangely clad, creating an effect
sonewhat akin to that which might
have been created If all the beau
tiful dolls in one Of those lavish
Ziegfeld parade numbers hao
stepped forth one night wrapped
from neck to knee in old gunny-
sacks.
But now at the National Washing
ton will get the fully dressed ballet,
its first view of the ballet as the
Ballet Russo really stages IT. color
fully, excitingly and as theatrical
entertainment, rather than one OF
the lofty arts of the concert plat
form.
Niiinsky Had Troubles.
Followers Of the ballet no doubt
are a bit puzzled that 1t still is con-
sidered one of those lofty arts,
highbrow or decadent or both, by
many who still look at it from afar.
The ballet always hag been getting
into trouble on other grounds, for
such things as offending the public
morals by shortening the skirts OF
the ballerinas SO their ankles might
be glimpsed. =,
Back in 1911 the Czarina had
Nijinsky fired once, because he
offended the crown by dancing in
costume into which he had been
sewn, A few years later, when the
Ballet Russo first came to America,
Niiinsky tangled with authority
again and his manager, Diaghllen,
almost landed in the clink for ques-
tioning the right OF the law to mod
ify the dancers Interpretation OF
Afternoon of a Faun.'
Since that time, however, AFTER
noon of a Faun" either has been
adapted to the morals of the censors
or the censors' morals have been re-
vised to a point where they accept
Afternoon of a Faun," for it is on
the schedule for Wednesday matinee
and Saturday night. The Monte
Carlo Ballet, incidentally, will pre-
sent 13 different ballets in the
eight performances this week.
A Topical Musical.
The first appearance of the Ballet
Russo at the National Theater is
not the only event of note on the
weeks theatrical calendar. Tonight
at Catholic University the students
stage the first performance of their
third original musical revue, an
affair called Count Me In" which
has been written by Leo Brady and
Walter Kerr.
Mr.. Brady and Mr.. Kerr, you
know, were responsible for. among
other things. last years Cook
Book" and the previous seasons S
Yankee Doodle Boy" musical
biographies of a pair Of beloved
stage figures, Joe Cook and George
M. Cohan.
This year the boys decided to
turn topical and have come up with
a biography of civilian defense &C
tivities instead OF the life story OF
leading light of the theater
Rather it is the life story of one
family's civilian defense activity
and the trials of the Victor Moore
type who Is the head OF the clan
who isn't allowed to do anything
It's so topical it has certain OF
the New York theater folk interest
ed already.
Music for Count Me In" Incl
dentally. will have the professional
touch, having been written by Anr
RoneI, whose song-writing career
has been marked by such hits a:
who's Afraid Of the Big Bac
Wolff" Rain on the Roof" Love
and I" and willow Weep for Me,
among others.
Coming /