Frederick Ashton
British ballet dancer and choreographer who created an English genre of ballet.
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton was a British ballet dancer and choreographer, born on 17 September 1904 and died on 18 August 1988. He also directed and choreographed for opera, film, and revue. His family, conventional and middle-class, opposed his wish to become a dancer, but he persisted. He studied under Léonide Massine and later Marie Rambert. In 1926, Rambert urged him to try choreography. Although he danced professionally with success, he became famous primarily as a choreographer. He is widely seen as the creator of a distinctly English style of ballet.
Ashton was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the fourth of five children. His father, George Ashton, managed the Central and South American Cable Company and served as vice-consul at the British consulate. His mother was Georgiana Fulcher. In 1907, the family moved to Lima, Peru, where Ashton attended a Dominican school. They returned to Guayaquil in 1914, and he went to a school for children of the English colony. Serving as an altar boy gave him a love of ritual, later seen in *The Wise Virgins*. A more powerful influence came in 1917, when he saw Anna Pavlova dance; he immediately decided to become a dancer. His father was horrified by this choice, and his mother could not bring herself to say “into the ballet.” In 1919, his father sent him to Dover College in England, where he was miserable. He was homosexual, and his classmates mocked his accent; he did not fit in at the minor public school. He was not academic, and after leaving school in 1921, his father made him join a commercial company. He worked for an import-export firm in the City of London, where his fluency in Spanish, French, and English helped. In January 1924, his father committed suicide. His mother then depended financially on her elder sons, who ran a successful business in Guayaquil. She moved to London to be with Ashton and his younger sister, Edith.
Despite his family’s disapproval, and at first in secret, Ashton pursued professional dancing. He auditioned for Léonide Massine and was accepted as a pupil at the unusually late age of twenty. When Massine left London, Marie Rambert took him on as a student, along with William Chappell, who became a lifelong friend and important influence. Rambert encouraged him to try choreography. His first attempt came in 1926 for a revue staged by Nigel Playfair and Rambert’s husband, Ash
- born
- 17 September 1904
- died
- 18 August 1988
- field
- Ballet dancer and choreographer
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- Creation of a specifically English genre of ballet; chief choreographer to Ninette de Valois from 1935 to 1963; director of the Royal Ballet from 1963 to 1970
Lore & Background
Ashton was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the fourth of five children. His father was manager of the Central and South American Cable Company and vice-consul at the British consulate. The family moved to Lima, Peru, where Ashton attended a Dominican school, and later returned to Guayaquil. A formative influence was serving as an altar boy, which inspired a love of ritual. Another potent influence was seeing Anna Pavlova dance in 1917, which made him determined to become a dancer. His father sent him to Dover College in 1919, where he was miserable due to his homosexuality and accent. After leaving school in 1921, he worked for an import–export firm in London. In January 1924, his father committed suicide.
Despite family disapproval, Ashton pursued dancing. He auditioned for Léonide Massine and was accepted as a pupil at age twenty. After Massine left London, he studied with Marie Rambert, who encouraged him to choreograph. His first attempt was in 1926 for a revue. Rambert also took students to see the Diaghilev Ballet, which influenced Ashton, particularly Bronislava Nijinska's Les biches. In 1930 he created Capriol Suite, and in 1931 Rambert founded the Ballet Club, with Ashton as main choreographer and leading dancer. His early ballets included Façade (1931) and Les Rendezvous (1933). In 1935 de Valois appointed him resident choreographer of the Vic-Wells Ballet.
During the Second World War, Ashton was called up and served as an officer in the Royal Air Force, analyzing aerial photographs and later as an intelligence officer. He was granted occasional leave to continue ballet work. After the war, the company moved to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Ashton succeeded de Valois as director of the company, serving until his own retirement in 1970. Among his best-known works are Symphonic Variations (1946), Cinderella (1948), La fille mal gardée (1960), Monotones I and II (1965), Enigma Variations (1968), and the ballet film The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971).
Reader's Guide
Frederick Ashton is widely credited with the creation of a specifically English genre of ballet. His career spanned from the 1920s through the 1970s, during which he served as chief choreographer to Ninette de Valois from 1935 to 1963 and later as director of the Royal Ballet until 1970. His works, such as Façade (1931), Symphonic Variations (1946), Cinderella (1948), La fille mal gardée (1960), Monotones I and II (1965), Enigma Variations (1968), and The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971), remain staples of the repertoire. Ashton's choreography blended classical precision with wit and lyricism, and he collaborated with notable composers and designers, including Sophie Fedorovitch and William Walton. Despite early family opposition and personal challenges, including his homosexuality in a less accepting era, Ashton's determination shaped British ballet. His legacy endures through the continued performance of his works and his influence on subsequent generations of dancers and choreographers.
Did You Know?
- Ashton was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the fourth of five children.
- He was determined to become a dancer after seeing Anna Pavlova dance in 1917.
- His first choreographic attempt was in 1926 for a revue staged by Nigel Playfair and Ashley Dukes.
- Ashton served as an officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, analyzing aerial photographs and later as an intelligence officer.
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