Frederick Ashton

Sir Frederick Ashton OM CH CBE (1904–1988) was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to British parents, and became the founding choreographer and first Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. He began dancing relatively late after seeing Anna Pavlova perform in Lima, and studied with Marie Rambert in London. His first choreographic work, A Tragedy of Fashion, was made for Rambert in 1926. He joined the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1935, where he forged a defining creative partnership with Margot Fonteyn. Appointed Director of The Royal Ballet in 1963 (succeeding Ninette de Valois), he served until 1970. Ashton's work is characterised by its emphasis on the upper body, epaulement, and port de bras, and by his gift for lyrical musicality — a style known as 'the Ashton style' that became central to the British classical tradition. His masterpieces include La Fille mal gardée, The Dream, A Month in the Country, Enigma Variations, Cinderella, Sylvia, and the pas de deux Marguerite and Armand, created expressly for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in 1963.