British Ballet, Jr.

For a while it seemed as if Manhattan balletomanes might not get a look at the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the junior of Britain's two Sadler's Wells companies. With the Metropolitan and City operas in full swing, Impresario Sol Hurok had to search high & low to find a theater. But last week, in a Broadway movie house, New Yorkers were making up their minds about the company that in the past six months has been a popular hit in the rest of the U.S. and Canada.

Like thousands of fans in Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco and New Orleans,

New Yorkers found Pineapple Poll, a kind of English Gaite Parisienne, the biggest hit of the company's 16 ballets, and the one that best fits the company's youthful talents. Unlike the senior Sadler's Wells, whose virtuosity is in classic ballet, the juniors do better in comic and contemporary works. Compared with George Balanchine's brilliant new Swan Lake for the New York City Ballet, their version seemed callow indeed. Nutcracker was a disappointing series of divertissements.

Technically, the dancing was almost always good, but it was seldom exciting. Australian-born Elaine Fifield, sometimes touted as the heiress apparent to the senior ballet's Margot Fonteyn, showed off flawless timing and technique. But at 21 she lacks the fire, brilliance and riveting personality that distinguish a prima ballerina from a principal dancer. Lithuanian-born Co-Star Svetlana Beriosova had elegance and style, but not the breathtaking precision of either Fonteyn or the New York City Ballet's Maria Tallchief. The male dancers were strong, but none yet looked like another Eglevsky (New York City Ballet) or another Youskevitch (Ballet Theatre).

If Manhattan critics were a bit reserved with their praise, Britain's junior company had a consolation: its six-month tour has grossed close to $2,000,000.

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