Australia Dancing - Port Said

Port Said

Roberts, Russell: Thomas Armour, Helene Kirsova, Milos Ristic and Dimitri Tovaroff in 'Port Said', Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, 1936 or 1937

Research Materials | Other Resources

The ballet Port Said was choreographed by Leon Woizikowsky in 1935 for his company the Ballets de Leon Woizikowsky. It was first performed by the de Basil Ballet Russes during the Australian tour by the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, premiering at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on December 12, 1936. The work had a 'sailor-ashore' libretto by A Shaikevitch, and was set to a score by K Konstantinov. Design was by Mikhail Larionov.

The Argus review of the premiere described Port Said as 'a playful pantomime, a queer mixture of artistry and vulgarity…The sailors who frequent M. Woizikowsky's cosmopolitan cafe are a besotted scrubby crew, led by that clever eccentric dancer Jean Hoyer, whose gauche antics are skilfully designed to amuse the groundlings. M. Woizikowsky, in the role originated by him in London, sets the mood of the piece with curious marionette-like postures and a Chaplinesque walk that might have been derived from the music hall rather than the exalted school of ballet, but it is an amusing study, moulded like the rest of the choreography in this droll ballet, in crisp staccato steps and gestures. Irena Bondireva and Elizabeth Souvorova dance with their customary grace, but the highlights are the frenzied Dervish dance of Nina Raievska and the brilliant rhodomontade of Helene Kirsova, whose work as the French dancer is as showy and finished as anything she has done during the season. It is a richly mixed compound of humour and gaiety, coquetry and conquest.'

Bibliography:

'Humour in Ballet', The Argus, 14 December 1936, p. 4

Research Materials

Picture

Other resources

Find more about Port Said in:

Internet - Google
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia