This was written by Arnold Haskell, a key figure in the development of UK ballet, an important writer on ballet and a lover of the art form through and through. <P>Which choreographer do you think is referred to in these words written in 1938:<P>'The best known [of his/her works] were *****, *****, *****, not one of which survives. They were ingenious and intensely personal distortions of classicism that promptly dated.....'<P>Post your responses with reasons if you wish below. <P>I'll post the answer on or around Christmas Day.<P>Looking forward to your ideas for competitions for the holiday period.<P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited December 16, 2000).]

I have the book you took this from - it belonged to my mother - so I know who it is. Mind you, I guessed before I looked it up, and I guessed right! That's probably because there is a grain of truth somewhere....

Well done HelenB and thanks for not letting the cat out of the bag.

Well, Stuart - I can see its going to be a very long couple of weeks till the holidays. <P> I haven't the faintest idea - so this cat is in the bag for sure. <P>oh wait - I will guess - Balanchine ?

Keep 'em coming.

ok - here it is Stuart - I am sure it is (maybe) (could be) Vaslav Nijinsky !!!!

Or even his sister Nijinska.

Here's another clue. A review by Joseph Lewitan, one of the leading critics of the day, within 10 years of the original quote:<P>'Unfortunately, [his/her] imagination is not rich enough to create a full repertoire. It is only sufficient for limited tasks as it exhausts itself easily.[descriptions of a few good moments follow]...Nevertheless, far too often there is a sense of inadequate imagination, a certain misuse of acrobatic movements, uninspired sequences and stylistic mistakes.....'

I thought is was too early for Frederick Ashton - but maybe not.....ok - Frederick Ashton.<P> (If I keep guessing long enough I could get this eventually - maybe by next Christmas).<p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited December 22, 2000).]

Anthony Tudor

I am going to put my head on the block here as I have not had a chance to research this, but I would be inclined to guess that the answer is Balanchine, both because of the tally of dates and the obvious irony that these quotes would have in hindsight. I will be very interested to see the real answer.

It can't be Massine?

OK - wait a minute.........!!! <P>I guessed Balanchine in my first post. So I get the prize if that is correct. Well, I will share the prize (depending on what it is)this being the holidays and all.

Oh dear, the internet seems to have had too much to drink over the festive period. What happened to the last set of answers? Seems there are problems on a variety of sites. Looks like we are going to have to go back to sending up smoke signals!<P>Tuk (Rubbing two Christmas trees together to try and make a fire!)

The answer is Balanchine. The works that Haskell said, '..had promptly dated...' included 'Apollo' and 'The Prodigal Son'. The second quote was from a German critic on a visit from the Ballets Russes in the Balanchine period circa 1928, which was basically saying not bad, but not like the old days. <P>It's not an isolated example of course. Some of the leading Russian ballet critics in the early part of the century detested Fokine and felt that he was ruining ballet with works that had no dancing in them. <P>I suppose it should make us all ponder those works today that we are inclined to dismiss, particularly those that are in a new style.