#frederick ashton

[augustheir]

Steven McRae and Akane Takada in The Dream (Royal Ballet, 2017)

[enchanted-keys]

Akane Takada in Les Patineurs (Royal Ballet)

[artandbeauty71]

The beauty of The Dream

"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania..."

[spellcoats]

fumi kaneko in the royal ballet’s cinderella (photo credit: isabella turolla)

[dance-world]

Frederick Ashton with Maxwell Baird, Floyd Miller, and Billie Smith - photo by George Platt Lynes

[elaine-of-shalott-blog]

Francesca Hayward as Cinderella, choreography by Frederick Ashton, music by Sergei Prokofiev.

Royal Ballet, 2024.

Photographer: Charlie Dailey

[tikitania]

Is the ballet Sylvia often performed in Russia? I know ABT and probably Royal Ballet does it, but there appears to be a Balanchine pas de deux and then an Ashton full ballet. I saw Darcey Bussell coaching an artist from Royal on the variation and my, I fell in love with the pas de deux! What do you think of it? Thanks!

The Ashton version is not currently performed in Russia that I'm aware of, but it was quite recently on stage at the Mariinsky until the invasion of Ukraine. Delibes' music and libretto are utterly charming and I think it tempts a lot of choreographers to create their own version, but from what I've seen, Ashton's is the best. (Although the SFB had commissioned Mark Morris to create a revival of the original 19th century choreography from the POB premiere, and I'm super curious about it.) I was soooooo tempted to make a trip to NYC for this ABT run but 💸💸💸

However, no one seems to dance this ballet quite like Darcy Bussell…even Tereshkina pales in comparison.

Here’s Xander Parrish as Aminta with the Mariinsky and he looks fantastic. Maybe that British training really clicks with Ashton choreography.

And here's Darcy with Roberto Bolle being absolutely dreamy. The way she jetes backwards into a deep fish dive is just stunning!

The Perm Opera & Ballet recently debuted a new version in 2024 by Miroshichenko which looks interesting. I haven't seen much online but there's a short clip. This is the only version currently performed in Russia that I’m aware of.

John Neumeier has a a very modern looking version below that I would be interested in seeing. POB also dances a version by Manuel Legris that looks…a bit ho-hum.

Hopefully, ABT brings this back next season…I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see it. But in the meantime, if anyone has a link to a full length Ashton version, I'd much appreciate it!

[leslie057]

Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov in CINDERELLA (Royal Ballet 2023)