English and Russian Ballet: Echoes of a Controversy

Abstract

A pair of broadcasts on the Bolshoi Ballet given at the end of last year by James Monahan and Arnold Haskell served to crystallise much that has been said by many enthusiasts about the relative modernity of the Russian and British ballet companies. The controversy flared up on the first night of Romeo and Juliet and has not died yet. Its lines are now familiar: some blamed the Russians for presenting poster art; others praised them for doing just that, and thereby entertaining the simple-minded but enthusiastic hordes of people who nightly come to see them at the Bolshoi theatre. On the English side some have rejoiced in our greater complexity of idea, subtlety of approach, and dedication to pure dancing, whilst others have been moved to attack our ballet as being over sophisticated—the just deserts of an essentially inbred and decadent public.