In M. VOLININE she has a very accomplished partner. His solo as a
_Pierrot_, danced to a familiar air of DVORAK'S, was the most delightful of
"_divertissements_." Her other dancers, Russian and English, make up a
really excellent company. The _presto furioso_ of the wild gipsy dance in
_Amarilla_, to the exciting music of GLOZOUNOW and DRIGO, was a brilliant
_tour de force_.
My only complaint (apart from _Amarilla's_ wig) is that the programme's
explanation of the motive of _Snowflakes_ was beyond me. "A little girl,"
it says, "receives as a present a nut-cracker in the form of a doll. The
doll is in reality a Prince who has been transformed by a bad fairy, but by
an act of devotion to the little girl he is restored to life. He then leads
his little friend and other children to the Kingdom of Pine-trees where the
Christmas-tree was born." It is true that the music was from TSCHAIKOWSKI'S
"Casse-Noisettes," and that the snow-scene was suggestive of Christmas-time;
but there was no sign of a "nut-cracker in the form of a doll," or, if
there was, I can't think how it escaped me, for I was watching with all
my eyes.
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