CAROLYN SWIFT,
Sir, - Since I resigned from my position as Dance Critic of your paper at the end of 2001 on health grounds, I assume I have as much right as any member of the public to write to you on dance matters. I have to express my concern about Michael Seaver's article "Do we need Ballet Ireland" (Arts, April 16th) and his review of Ballet Ireland's Sleeping Beauty in your issue of April 20th.
I was one of a mere handful of invited guests among a packed National Concert Hall audience on Saturday night who cheered and cheered that night's performance. The Concert Hall has no wings and anyone who has ever been there when a full orchestra was on stage knows how long it takes for them to get offstage through the doors which are the only means of exit. There is only one batten and set of lines for hanging a back cloth and visiting ballet companies have never managed more than one setting.
Ballet Ireland performed nothing less than a miracle in contriving two cloths for each half and in staging a full-length classical ballet which was performed as if they had the usual facilities for dancers to run or leap on to the stage from the wings. More significantly, the standard of dance and production was high, given the fact that the company must operate on a smaller budget than any of these visiting companies, so that they inevitably have to perform a cut-down version without the normal pageantry, and with cast numbers which not only require more than normal doubling but give major problems when covering for sickness and injury (the latter inevitable with a dance company).
I have no intention of re-reviewing the production, which obviously cannot fairly be compared with productions by top international (and properly funded) companies, but I feel Mr Seaver's article made it clear that he dislikes all traditional classical ballet and was hardly likely to review the production with enthusiasm. He is, of course, entitled to his own preferences but I can only say that though he thinks the ballet classics should be considered dead and buried, the Irish and British public love them. Booking for performances of The Sleeping Beauty on both sides of the Irish sea are exceptionally heavy and surely that is what is important.
I was in considerable pain throughout Saturday's performance and would not have remained in my seat for anything less good. Ballet Ireland needs and deserves all the support it can get, so I would urge as many as possible of the people who clapped till their hands were sore to write in its support.
I would also like to ask Mr Seaver, as a musician who performs with both the Crash Ensemble and our national orchestra, if he considers that classical music by Mozart, Handel, Haydn and Beethoven should now be considered dead and buried. - Yours, etc.,
CAROLYN SWIFT,
Upper Leeson Street,
Dublin 4.