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ASHTON CELEBRATION

2013  75′  Dance Film
Screened in cinemas across the UK, this celebration of work by choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton.

La Valse 13:06
Choreography Frederick Ashton – all ballets
Music Maurice Ravel
Designs André Levasseur
Lighting design John B Read – all ballets

A large corps de ballet whirls across the stage and three couples dance pas de deux, evoking a nostalgic vision of a 19th-century ballroom. Maurice Ravel’s score was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. Diaghilev never used the score – claiming it was not a ballet but ‘the portrait of a ballet’.

Méditation from Thaïs 06:06
Music Jules Massenet
Costume designs Anthony Dowell
Dancer Benjamin Hristov

A pas de deux for two soloists perfectly matches the evocative sounds of Jules Massenet’s Méditation religieuse from his opera Thaïs (1894)

Voices of Spring 04:50
Music Johann Strauss II
Costume designs Julia Trevelyan Oman
Dancers Choe Zucchetti

A ballerina and her partner follow the swirling melodies of Johann Strauss II’s Frühlingsstimmen waltz with show-stopping choreography.

Monotones 1 and 11 07:30 + 09:00
Music Erik Satie
Designs Frederick Ashton

These two short, non-narrative ballets each present an extended pas de trois that is perfectly matched to Satie’s haunting piano music.

Marguerite and Armand 32:08
Music Franz Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor
Designs Cecil Beaton
Marguerite – Tamara Rojo, Armand – Sergei Polunin

As Marguerite – a Parisian courtesan – lies on her deathbed, she recalls her tragic love affair with Armand in a feverish series of flashbacks.

C R E D I T S

Choreographer
FREDERICK ASHTON

Directed for the screen by
MARGARET WILLIAMS

Film Lighting
MIKE Le FEVRE

Camera Supervisor
WAYNE RATCLFFE

Cameras
PHIL PEARCE
MARTIN SCHLOTTE
PRAVIN SHETTY
ANDY WATT
MARTYN WATTS

Script Supervisor
GEMMA DIXON

Vision Mixer
PRISCILLA HOADLEY

Editor
STEVE EVELEIGH

Producer
MARGARET WILLIAMS

© Royal Opera House 2013