Margot Fonteyn
♫ Monday, April 25th, 2011
Ballet : Sir Frederick Ashton Was A Genuine Star
Born on the 17th of September 1904, Sir Frederick Ashton was the founding choreographer of The Royal Ballet where he became resident in the 1930’s when it was known as Sadler’s Wells Ballet. Widely accepted to be one of the most influential forces in 20th Century choreography, Ashton was also a talented dancer. His career lasted for 6 decades from 1926 to 1982 and he left behind him an enormous body of work that is still widely acclaimed to this day.
Sir Frederick Ashton’s first full length, three act work for The Royal Ballet was his version of Cinderella, with music by Prokofiev, in 1948. Ashton first wanted to choreograph Cinderella in the late 1930’s but the outbreak of war stopped his vision. His version of Cinderella is described as a traditional ‘Pepita’ ballet because it was inspired by the style of the legendary choreographer Marius Pepita of Russia. Sir Frederick wanted his version to have an almost dreamlike quality and the theme of dreams runs heavily through his interpretation of the ballet.
Cinderella was followed by Sylvia in 1952, a piece of work that had fallen out of favor with ballet goers for some number of years. Ashton recreated Sylvia with new choreography and legend has it that he was inspired to rework the piece after the ballet’s musical composer, Leo Delibes, appeared to him in a dream asking Ashton to rework the under-appreciated ballet. Sir Frederick choreographed the entire ballet as tribute to the great Margo Fonteyn.
Sir Frederick’s final three-act ballet was Ondine, which was another opportunity to showcase the brilliance of Margo Fonteyn. Created in 1958 Ashton’s version incorporates a recurring theme of the sea and water in general. Ashton apparently struggled with Ondine as he did not find that the music inspired his choreography however Ondine was well received by the critics when it premiered.
One of Sir Frederick Ashton’s greatest pieces of choreography is widely regarded to be La fille mal gardée. The ballet received its London premiere in the January of 1960 and is often considered to be the definitive version. Music for the ballet had been swapped and changed previously so Ashton took back the 1928 Ferdinand Hérold score for his version and found great inspiration for his choreography from the music.
Sir Frederick resigned as Director of the Royal Ballet in 1970 under circumstances that have never been confirmed. It is believed that there was some dispute that greatly upset Ashton. He continued to choreograph for the company for many years however and also worked for other companies and provided choreography for films and stage musicals too. He died at home in Suffolk in August 1988.
Now Try : Frederick Ashton
Margot Fonteyn Rose Adagio
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Dame Margot Fonteyn – 3×2 inch Fridge Magnet – large magnetic button – Magnet $4.99 Rectangular wrap-around refrigerator magnet and a glossy mylar cover.Large 2×3 inch rectangle fridge magnet or ‘buttons’ as they are sometimes known in the USA.Crop shown is automated for display purposes only. All magnets are hand finished and the best most appropriate crop will always be selected to best show the full image. Therefore, actual product may vary slightly from crop shown – this can … |
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Dame Margot Fonteyn – 3×2 inch Fridge Magnet – large magnetic button – Magnet $4.99 Rectangular wrap-around refrigerator magnet and a glossy mylar cover.Large 2×3 inch rectangle fridge magnet or ‘buttons’ as they are sometimes known in the USA.Crop shown is automated for display purposes only. All magnets are hand finished and the best most appropriate crop will always be selected to best show the full image. Therefore, actual product may vary slightly from crop shown – this can … |
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Dame Margot Fonteyn – 3×2 inch Fridge Magnet – large magnetic button – Magnet $4.99 Rectangular wrap-around refrigerator magnet and a glossy mylar cover.Large 2×3 inch rectangle fridge magnet or ‘buttons’ as they are sometimes known in the USA.Crop shown is automated for display purposes only. All magnets are hand finished and the best most appropriate crop will always be selected to best show the full image. Therefore, actual product may vary slightly from crop shown – this can … |
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Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet)- Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn $17.20 Prokofiev’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s undying tragedy is performed with consummate grace and skill by the British Royal Ballet. Striking work by Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and David Blair. 130 min. Standard; Soundtrack: stereo music score…. |
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The Royal Ballet: Tchaikovsky- The Sleeping Beauty $20.75 TCHAIKOVSKY:SLEEPING BEAUTY – DVD Movie… |
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Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake $14.23 FONTEYN / NUREYEV / LANCHBERY / WIENER P TCHAIKOVSKY: SWAN LAKE (DVD)… |
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I Am a Dancer [VHS] $9.98 Britain’s Bryan Forbes and France’s Pierre Jourdan collaborated on the direction of the feature-length documentary I Am a Dancer.Rudolph Nureyev, the celebrated Russian ballet star who defected to the West in 1961, is the subject of the film. Seldom sitting still long enough to be interviewed for the camera, Nureyev prefers to let his dancing do his “talking.” Forbes and Jourdan follow Nureyev fro… |
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Rudolf Nureyev Biography [VHS] $29.95 Patricia Foy’s absorbing documentary Rudolf Nureyev, a portrait of surely the most committed and versatile dancer in the history of ballet, was made in 1991, two years before his death. It is as much the study of a life apart as a profile of a tireless jet-setting artist. His career took him from a poverty-stricken provincial childhood to life as a student at the Kirov, through defection to t… |
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Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet) [VHS] $7.00 It’s not a stretch to call Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn the most sublime of all dance partners and Sergei Prokofiev the most gifted 20th-century ballet composer. And so it goes without saying that the 1966 film version of the Royal Ballet production of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet featuring Nureyev and Fonteyn as the star-crossed lovers is an absolute must-have for anyone who cares a whi… |
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Dame Margot Fonteyn – Greeting Card (Pack of 2) – 7×5 inch – Art247 – Standard Size – Pack Of 2 $6.50 This photographic Greeting Card is created on 300gsm FSC approved card. The result – a stunning reproduction at an affordable price. Actual size 7×5 inch.Greeting card comes with high grade white envelope as standard.This is an automated preview only. Actual Greeting Card design may vary. All products are hand finished by our expert manufacturers and the best crop available will always be selected… |