Ondine
Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House
London
29 November – 6 December, 2008
by Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2008 by Judith Cruikshank
Immediately before embarking on a long run of its dull and expensive “Nutcracker” (how is it that Peter Wright can produce such a sparkling version for the Birmingham Royal Ballet and such a bland, stodgy production for Covent Garden?) the Royal Ballet gave just four performances of Frederick Ashton's “Ondine”. This ballet was famously created as a showcase for Margot Fonteyn, and anyone who has seen photographs of the ballerina on holiday, frolicking in the sea, can easily see how suited she was to the role of a water nymph who falls in love with a mortal.





