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Show BALLET RUSSE IS ALLURING ORCHESTRA WORK BRILLIANT Scheherazade Is Preceded by Three Pretty and Charming- Presentations. pUROPEAX civilization, which now seems on the point of committing suicide, has produced many arts to make life beautiful. One art it has exalted to its own destruction the art of war. But perhaps the genius of Europe may turn soon again to the development of those arts which were just beginning to flower toward perfection when the war broke out. The ballet is not new. but' the ballet as exemplified by the scenery and costumes cos-tumes of Bakst and the elaborate dances arranged by Fokine is distinctly a growing grow-ing art. For the present the artists rind their big themes in salacious oriental tales in which amours and murders are about equally mixed, but the time probably proba-bly will come when less repellent themes will afford the plots for the principal ballets. Illicit love ending in wholesale tragedy will be replaced, we trust, by nobler subjects. The three ballets which preceded Scheherazade last night were pretty and charming, but lacked the power of the principal production. The story of Scheherazade Sche-herazade is obtained, of course, from the introduction to "Arabian Nights," but is presented with necessary variations. The story is to be found In the following passage to the introduction: "One day Shariar had started on a great hunting match, about two days' journey from his capital ; but Schah-Zeman, Schah-Zeman, pleading ill health, was left behind. be-hind. He shut himself up in his apartment apart-ment and sat down at a window that looked out into the garden. "Suddenly a secret gate of the palace opened and there came out of it twenty women, in the " midst of them walked the sultaness. The persons who accompanied accom-panied the sultaness threw off their veils and long robes, and Schah-Zeman was greatly surprised when he saw the ten of them with black slaves, each of whom chose a female companion. The sultaness clapped her hands and called 'Masoud, Masoud,' and immediately a black came running to her. and they all remained conversing familiarly together." The love of the black and the sultaness is visualized in the Scheherazade pantomime. panto-mime. The sultaness becomes "Zo-beide, "Zo-beide, princess of Samarcande." and Masoud becomes "Le Negre, Zobelde's favorite." The theme itself is debasing and the treatment is lewd. The conclusion, conclu-sion, however, is powerful and striking. The offenders are caught in their sins and are slain by the soldiers of the sultan. sul-tan. Zobeide kills herself with a dagger and dies beside the slain slave. The first ballet last night was "Les Pylphides," a bewitching reverie. The feature was the dancing of Nijlnsky and Mile. Lydia Lopokova. It was as light wine beside the fiery drink of Scheherazade, Schehera-zade, but it presented the classic ballet at Its best. Nijinsky and Mile. Lopokova appeared later in an equally attractive pantomime and dance, entitled "La Prin-ce.sse Prin-ce.sse Enchantee." This was performed without the aid of a ballet. A more elaborate. choreograph was "Prince Igor," a mad, barbaric conception in which the wild dances of the Tartars are reproduced. The Ballet Russe is accompanied by a svmphonv orchestra of about fifty pieces, led hy M. Pierre Monteux. whose skill and brilliancy won for him a great share of last niglit's enthusiasm. The orchestra orches-tra not only accompanies the dancing and pantomime, but is heard between the acts. The most pretentious offering was given under the tile of "Entr'acte Sym-phonique." Sym-phonique." The Ballet Russe will be seen today at a matinee and also at an evening performance. DRAMA AND VAUDEVILLE. SALT LAKE Today. "Ballet Russe"; week of December 25, "Everywo-man." "Everywo-man." PA NT AG E? New programme, which opened Wednesday, presents some amusing novelties. Matinee today. fVILKES "The Barrier," a story of the wilderness of the north, written by Rex Beach, all week, with matinee mat-inee tomorrow. DRPHEUM New vaudeville show now running is headed by "The Forest Fire." MOVING PICTURES. PARAMOUNT-EMPRESS Frank Mc-Intyre Mc-Intyre in comedy drama, "The Traveling Trav-eling Salesman." Paramount Picto-graphs. Picto-graphs. AMERICAN Today. Mae Marsh in "The Wharf Rat." new Keystone. "Blue Eyes and Black." MEHESY "The Masked Woman," a Vampire drama in three reels, with Ben Wilson; Helen Gibson in railroad rail-road thriller. |