Don't forget Canada. (Letters).

Clive Barnes's celebration (September 2002) of ABT's revivals of two of Sir Frederick Ashton's ballets is certainly justified. Given, however, DANCE MAGAZINE's importance as a record of dance history, it is regrettable that his survey of Ashton in America omitted any notice of the National Ballet of Canada.

Alexander Grant, the "Ashton expert" Mr. Barnes mentions, was the NBC's artistic director from 1976 to 1982, and he brought so many Ashton ballets into the company's repertory that it became second to only The Royal Ballet in performing and preserving them. Indeed, NBC performed La Fille real gardee and Monotones II during its July 1977 New York season at the Met!

The tradition has not been lost. NBC revived the full Monotones earlier this year among its fiftieth-anniversary performances and performed Fille last November in Toronto--affording Mr. Barnes and some other ballet devotees a rare chance to see and compare the two "authentic productions" by two wonderful companies.

C.A. SILBER--TORONTO, ON, CANADA

P.S. Lest you wonder, I am just a balletomane; this letter will come as a (happy) surprise to NBC, to which I am sending a copy. I trust a copy will reach Mr. Barnes if you don't publish it.

CLIVE BARNES RESPONDS: I was commenting on ABT's recent Ashton productions, certainly not offering an overall survey of Ashton in North America. At one time or another the National Ballet of Canada has staged, if memory serves, seven Ashton ballets, five of them during Alexander Grant's directorship; but after the company summarily fired him, only The Dream can be said to have held its place in the Canadian repertoire. Incidentally, The Joffrey Ballet, before it moved to Chicago, had staged more Ashton productions than NBC, and another company that has done Ashton fairly proud is the Houston Ballet. For the record, ABT has, over the years, staged six Ashton productions.