The Russian Ballet

by A. E. Johnson

LE PAVILLON D’ARMIDE.

Pantomime-Ballet by Alexandre Benois.

Music by Nicolas Tcherepnin.

Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine.

Scenery and Costumes Designed by Alexandre Benois.

ONE reason for the remarkable conquest which the Russian Ballet has made of London is that for the first time the present generation—at all events the stay-at-home portion of it—has been given an opportunity of learning what a ballet really is. For the last few decades, at least, the native ballet (if one can call it native) has been a poor, debased thing, clinging to the faded traditions of Taglioni’s day: sadly in need of a revival, but seeking new vigour from mistaken sources.