June 18, The Royal Ballet presented three of Ashton’s most celebrated and expertly choreographed pieces set to music by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff and Auber.
This mixed programme opens with the buoyant Les Rendezvous, a fizzing succession of dances following a group of friends who meet in a park. The Dream, Ashton’s witty and tender reimagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, follows set to Felix Mendelssohn’s gossamer light music. The one-act ballet follows two pairs of mortal lovers, their fates at the hands of Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of Fairies. Ashton’s lyrical masterpiece, Rhapsody, concludes the programme, its explosive jumps and fleet footwork a bravura match for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
—BACKGROUND, from the official program website of the Royal Opera House.
Les Rendezvous
Les Rendezvous was created in 1933. This performing production is dedicated by the Frederick Ashton Foundation, with its original designs created by William Chappell, choreography done by Ashton, of course.
Btw:
William Chappell (27 September 1907 – 1 January 1994) was a British dancer, ballet designer and director. He is most noted for his designs for more than 40 ballets or revues, including many of the early works of Sir Frederick Ashton and Dame Ninette de Valois.
Royal Ballet’s Founder Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton (17 September 1904 – 18 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. Ashton is widely credited with the creation of a specifically English genre of ballet.
Les Rendezvous was Ashton’s first substantial classical composition and an exultant statement of his idiosyncratic approach to academic ballet. It consists of a succession of light-hearted dances in a park where friends meet and socialize. Ashton’s choreographic skills shine through in the minute detail: the little glances and gestures, the pauses and the double takes which introduces to the individual characters, often provoking us into a heartful smile (Les Rendezvous, The Dream, Rhapsody. 2024, Royal Opera House, on Soundcloud.).
The Dream 🧚🏼🧚🏼🧚🏼
Frederick Ashton’s knitted the charm of Shakespeare and Mendelssohn’s gossamer-light music into The Dream—a ballet production of summer.
Titania: “Out of this wood do not desire to go. Thou shalt remain here whether thou wilt or no”
And more fairies:
Mendelssohn is becoming Mariah Carey of June.
Rhapsody
Rhapsody was created in 1980 and is one of Frederick Ashton’s final works. The ballet is set to Sergey Rachmaninoff’s well-known Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which moves from stormy passages to calmer interludes.
It was created on acclaimed Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who requested the Ashton commission and whose personality is at the heart of the work. The male Principal role is characterized by exceptionally fluent leaps, turns and lightness of movement. It is twinned with the strength and grace of the ballerina, a role created on the pure, fleet-footed style of former Royal Ballet Principal Lesley Collier.
The premiere of Rhapsody was given at the Royal Opera House in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
——more, from the official program website of the Royal Opera House.