The chief dance of the suite at the Empire was one in which Mlle.
Kyasht appeared as a beautiful Princess, and M. Bolm as her enamoured
slave--Mlle. Kyasht all charm and poetic ecstasy, M. Bolm all fiery
energy and terpsichorean miracles, now whirling madly as the wildest
of Dervishes, now suddenly stopping, poised and posed like some
perfect example of classic statuary. The dancers received excellent
support from Miss Phyllis Bedells and Mr. Bert Ford; the mounting
and costumes were novel and admirably designed; and the production
generally was voted a great success.
In the following July came a delightful _ballet-divertissement_, “The
Dancing Master,” by Mr. C. Wilhelm, adapted from the first scene
of his earlier success, “The Débutante,” the period chosen--that
of 1835--affording a delightful opportunity for a quaint and
picturesque _ensemble_ of “early-Victorian” or slightly pre-Victorian
character and costume. Mr. Fred Farren repeated his excellent
character-study of M. Pirouette, the excitable _maître de ballet_
at the Opera-House; Mlle. Kyasht made a handsome impersonation of
Mimi the _débutante_; and Miss Phyllis Bedells added to her laurels
as Mlle. Lutine, the clever head pupil. On August 8th of the same
year Miss Bedells took up Mlle. Kyasht’s part of Mimi during the
latter’s absence on a holiday, and made a great hit as a bewitching
representative of the _débutante_.
On October 10th following Mlle. Kyasht and Mr. Fred Farren appeared
in another of Miss Dora Bright’s ideal little fantasies, “The
Faun,” in which the former played Ginestra, a little flower-girl,
and the latter appeared in the title-_rôle_ as a marble faun who
comes to life when sprinkled with water from a magic fountain. The
production, designed and supervised by Mr. C. Wilhelm, was enchanting
in its blending of legend and mystery, with a sunny naturalism in
presentation.
It was a charming idyll, and provided an excellent opportunity for
clever acting by Mr. Fred Farren, who fully realised the classic
and poetic idea in his representation of the Faun, while Mlle.
Kyasht quite surpassed her former work in her appealing and dramatic
impersonation of the bewitched Ginestra.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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