Position IV
Sir:
In describing Igor Stravinsky at the triumphant premiere of his new ballet Orpheus . . . you say that the greatest living composer of ballet scores "took his bows onstage with the dancers, his feet crossed in his best Position III" [TIME, May 10].
Mr. Stravinsky, who has been writing ballets since 1909 . . . knows very well the logical anatomical basis of the Five Absolute Ballet Positions. In the Third Position (the heel of one foot locked against the instep of the other, weight equally distributed, with complete turnout), Mr. Stravinsky would have found it awkward to execute the traditional stage bow derived from the imperial Russian theater. He took it in Fourth Position (with weight equally divided, the fore foot is twelve inches in advance of the back).
LINCOLN KIRSTEIN
New York City
¶ TIME'S admiration for 65-year-old Composer Stravinsky grows by leaps & bounds.—ED.
Vive le Roi!
Sir:
I protest strongly the way in which you speak of our beloved King Leopold III of Belgium, when you say "Better to perish in beauty" [TIME, May 10]. The Belgians wish that His Majesty should continue in beauty as was his whole life, faultless and above reproach in the service of his people. Mr. Spaak himself has recognized publicly that the King's conduct has been wholly above reproach . . .
COUNT ARNOUL DE BRIEY
Veteran of the Belgian Underground
New York City
Sir:
... It is cynical to say that His Majesty had better perish in beauty, when his whole life has been beautiful.
You may be assured that the Belgians wish ardently that their King should resume his place on the throne . . .
If you study the problem you'll see that in Belgium, as in so many other countries, Moscow would like to destroy us to our foundations. You know their formula: "Divide to master."
Leopold III will return, for the Belgians are losing patience with those who would destroy that which unites them, that which makes a Belgium, the King.
The royal question is not back on the shelf.
BARONESS DE LANDIERS
New York City
Immortal Expletive
Sir:
The bon mot is always welcome, particularly when it is appropriate, and a modicum of merde when skillfully handled imparts a zest to TIME'S fine flavor. However, it seems improbable that Jean Boewet [TIME, May 10], contemplating the "experts with briefcases," could have employed the immortal expletive of Cambronne.
On the other hand, he undoubtedly would have used it routinely in conjunction with dors, had one of the Waterloo skeletons bitten him, especially one wearing Prussian buttons.
ALBERT M. JACKSON
Becket, Mass.
Sir:
. . . Le mot de Cambronne . . . was not a "defiant vulgarism as a reply to a British demand for surrender" . . .
At Waterloo, seated on his great white horse, General Cambronne watched the tide of battle. When the elite of the French army, the Old Guard, smashed itself on British bayonets and was routed; when Napoleon exclaimed, "All is lost!" and fled; and finally, when Blücher's Prussians [supposedly immobilized] appeared on the field of battle—then it was that Cambronne uttered the word.