(Continued from page 164.) to see that Mexico, French North Africa, Russia and Bolivia are thre ening' to revolt, all of them claiming to be producing more and more of this commodity. The issue, I believe, really one of methods of produ tion and price. I am told that in respect of the first, China falls very far short of the ideal and, of the second that she has been opening her mouth too wide, The Russian Ballet Colonel de Basil's season of ballet at Covent Garden, with Mile Ver~ chining, Mile Danilova, and M. Mas ine—who actually made his debut 22 years ago—all at the very height of their powers, is as beautiful as anything 40 be seen in Europe. There were people sitting on campstools outside the theatre on Sunday morn ing for-the opening performance on Monday night. The programme con: tained nothing not seen last year but the general performance was higher. No fewer than 50 definite roles were Interpreted during the opening evening. A young Polish dancer named Lazovsky notably distinguished himself, With the delight that we take in ballet dancing, there should be a wide public for Prince Lieven's book, Published this week by Allen and Unwin on "The Birth of Ballets Russes."" Why he should pot call them "Russian Ballets" one doesn't quite see, unless he wished to dis-Unguish between the pre and the post-Bolshevik era, Diaghileft is evidently the nero of this offspring of the. old Imperial Russian Ballet, nurtured among the Jémigrés of Paris, and first appealing to Parisian fancy by the skilfully spread suggestion of ex-grand duchess coryphees. Diaghileff was an extraordinary combination of strength and weakness, art and craft, repulsion and charm, But he was a genius and a driving fore, One of the discoveries that Russian ballet has made for us is that. male characters may be taken men. It is odd that we never saw before, considering what divine dancers, though In a. different style, such men as Dan Leno and Eugene Stratton were, But we are coming on. Last winier one of the pantomimes actually had a man as principal boy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.