Dance guru vanishes in a huff of smoke

Producers at the English National Opera have been trying to lift what has been described as a 'fog of doom and gloom' that descended on a production of Kismet and an awardwinning choreographer who was angrily out of step.

Our old friend, the catch-all phrase 'creative differences', was being bandied about last night, but, of course, that term hid what was really going on.

The so- called artistic differences (or, rather, clashes) were between Javier De Frutos, the Caracas-born dance supremo, and Gary Griffin, a celebrated American director who was enticed over here to stage the 1950s musical Kismet at the ENO's London home, the Coliseum.

According to cast members, there was a distinct lack of collaboration between Mr De Frutos, who won an Olivier Award for his musical staging of Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre, and Mr Griffin.

'De Frutos wouldn't talk to the director and wouldn't let him into the room when he was rehearsing the dance numbers. It was all very bloody,' a source confided. 'Can you imagine the frustration and anger that created?'

De Frutos left the production, supposedly by 'mutual consent', and, hey presto, there's no sign he was ever involved: his name has gone from the ENO's website and it's being blacked out of the programmes. The half-finished dance sequences are being completed by Nikki Woollaston, who will be credited with 'musical staging'.

The first preview was to have been on Monday, but that's been cancelled and performances are due to begin next Tuesday.

'There was a lot of doom and gloom, but now there isn't,' someone on the production stated. Performers in the show rolled their eyes at the mention of Mr De Frutos's name.

The cast includes Michael Ball, Faith Prince and Alfie Boe.

An official statement agreed by De Frutos's lawyer and the ENO allowed that he had withdrawn from the production by mutual agreement as a result of creative differences. A spokeswoman from the ENO dismissed as gossip any other suggestions for De Frutos's departure - or dismissal, depending on your point of view.