As Ashton lovers eagerly await the forthcoming performances of one of his favourite ballets – Scènes de Ballet (28 May-11 June), they can busy themselves with plans for a summer pilgrimage to Ashton’s beloved leafy Suffolk, the quintessentially English county he called home. Running in Ipswich until 9 October is a dedicated Frederick Ashton exhibition, organized by The Royal Opera House.
The exhibition centres on the local geography – Ashton’s Suffolk links and the influence that the English pastoral landscape had on his works. Remarkably, although we think of Sir Fred as the most English of choreographers, he was actually born in Ecuador, where his father was a diplomat, and he did not come to the UK until his was 15, to boarding school. In later life, however, he settled near the Suffolk village of Yaxley, where his mother had been born. He wrote fondly of the county and all things Suffolk, as expressed choreographically in his English reworking of the great French ballet La Fille mal gardée.
“There has always been a cosy side to my nature which is reflected in the kind of decors I make for myself in my home life and in the objects around me. There exists in my imagination a life in the country of eternally late spring, a leafy pastorale of perpetual sunshine and the humming of bees – the suspended stillness of a Constable landscape of my beloved Suffolk, luminous and calm.”
The exhibition is split over three venues, Ipswich Town Hall, Christchurch Mansion and the Jerwood DanceHouse. There is also an accompanying Ashton Trail leaflet, which highlights places associated with Ashton’s life and work.
Highlights include photographic exhibition recalling Ashton’s long career with The Royal Ballet; a recreation of Margot Fonteyn’s dressing-room including her Ondine costume; a set of German 19th-century prints of ribbon dances, which clearly influenced Ashton’s choreography for ‘La Fille mal gardée’; costumes from ‘La Fille mal gardée’, ‘The Dream’, ‘Dante Sonata’, ‘Cinderella, ‘Tales of Beatrix Potter’ and ‘The Quest’; and free daytime screenings of Royal Opera House film ‘Come Dance With Me’.
Running concurrently with the Ashton exhibition in Ipswich is a chance to see archive material celebrating the life of Dame Ninette de Valois at The Royal Opera House itself.
De Valois was Ashton’s boss, friend and muse, and one of the towering figures of 20th-century ballet. As previously seen at The Lowry in Salford, there are costumes, photographs, designs, letters, press cuttings and music manuscripts. Part of a series of events to celebrate De Valois’ legacy on the tenth anniversary of her death.
The de Valois exhibit runs until 29 July 2011 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
For information on the exhibits go to blog.roh.org.uk
