As you already know, Ballet West will present Sir Frederick Ashton’s THE DREAM as part of our opening program for the 09-10 season.

Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE, was born September 17, 1904 in Ecuador.  His family later moved to England where he became a dancer under the tutelage of Ninette deValois, a former Diaghilev Ballets Russes dancer.  DeValois and Ashton founded the Royal Ballet with Ashton as director and principal choreographer.  The ‘Ashton Aesthetic’ defined British Ballet.

Ashton was admitted into the French Legion d’ Honneur  in 1962, was made a Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in1963, received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronatation Award from the Royal Academy of Dance in 1959 and the Gold Medal from the Carina Aria Foundation in Sweden in 1972.

Ashton died October 18, 1988 at 83 years of age.

There is an enormous amount of information on the internet regarding Ashton including a list of his ballets  For further reading I recommend SECRET MUSE by Julie Kavanaugh.

-Mark