Based on the fairy story by Hans Andersen.
Introduced by Madame Rambert.
[Starring] Ballet Rambert

The Andree Howard ballet, based on a Hans Andersen story and to music by Ravel, will be presented by Ballet Rambert. When Andree Howard made this ballet at the Mercury Theatre in 1934, it was, I believe, only her second effort as a choreographer. It was an immediate success and became one of the foundations of her artistic reputation: for she chose a perfect fairy tale of a prince in love with a princess but bewitched by a mermaid, and told the story of this lyric-in-dancing with fine economy. The Ravel music fits both theme and atmosphere with extraordinary effect and Miss Howard's courage in making her own designs for settings and costumes has ever since been completely justified.
A ballet is good only because its proportions are good and are smoothly blended together: music, theme, dance-style, sets, costumes must each give something necessary to the telling of the complete story. The Mermaid is a story of the special time or place, with scenes in palaces, on shipboard and underneath the ocean, told with neat effect and great simplicity of dance-style. It is one of the minor masterpieces of English lyric ballet. A. V. Coton