Notable Feet Frederick Ashton: British Classical Ballet Beginnings
Frederick Ashton (1904-1988) contributed largely to the def-inition of British classical dance in the early years when the Russians were dancing all over Europe claiming to have given birth to ballet. In fact, a Russian ballerina inspired Ashton to take up dancing and to ultimately become one of the most influential choreographers of the twentieth century. Inspiration and creativity aside, Ashton faced many obstacles to his dancing desires. The first of many troubles was maternal.
Ashton was the son of a British diplomat and while they were living in South America Anna Pavlova visited Lima on tour in 1917. Ashton attended the performance with family friends and at the age of thirteen he determined that he would be a dancer someway, somehow. "Seeing her at that stage was the end of me. She injected me with her poison and from the end of that evening I wanted to dance," Ashton told a friend. (Frederick Ashton and His Ballets, David Vaughan, 1977.) A few years later he saw Isadora Duncan perform and his goal to be a dancer was confirmed. But economics interrupted his plans.
Living with his mother in London in 1921 he wrangled an audition with Leonide Massine who was teaching classes there. Massine agreed to take Ashton but because of his regular job, he couldn't commit to daily classes. Saturday afternoons were his only free time. When his mother asked where his money was going, he confessed his desire to dance.
His mother was horrified. Upon hearing of her youngest son's wish to leave his office job and take up dancing full time, Georgiana Ashton absolutely forbade it. Family difficulties had left Ashton as the sole bread winner and in those days dance was not a respectable profession, particularly for a man. So Freddie threw a tantrum. He faked a nervous breakdown and refused to get out of bed. When the doctor could find nothing wrong with him, Ashton confessed his wish to dance above all else. The doctor convinced Mrs. Ashton to allow the young man to have a try at it. His older brothers pooled their money and agreed to help out as long as Freddie agreed not to become a chorus boy.
The English artistic community at the time was made up of European aristocrats escaping debt in their native countries, transplanted Americans like Agnes de Mille trying to find their creative roots, and impressionable nationals like Ashton whose art was an interpretation of the times. Dance mostly meant ballet because of the Russian influences like the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, but the years before World War I vibrated with unrest, improvisation, and collaboration in the dance world. Isadora Duncan still toured yet Anna Pavlova commanded sold out houses wherever she appeared. The mix of styles, imagery, and designs of 1920's Europe melted together to foster a new sensation in the world of ballet. The structure of Enrico Cecchetti's Italian ballet meshed with the Russian zest for attacking movement was tempered by British sensibility to create the initial seeds of British ballet. Frederick Ashton was a player of utmost importance from the very beginning because then as ever, male dancers were few in numbers. He was quickly thrown into the performance arena.
Massine eventually returned to work with the Ballets Russes and referred Ashton to the only ballet teacher he knew in London. Marie Rambert converted from music to ballet and although she never developed as a serious performer because of her age, she gave energy and support to young choreographers. The Ballet Rambert is considered the 'cradle of British ballet' because Rambert was ingenious at recognizing and encouraging choreographic talent. Without original choreography, British ballet would forever be a copycat of the Russian and Italian styles. Rambert provided the curious Ashton with dancers, rehearsal time, and performance venues. Together they would provide the foundations that continue to epitomize the spirit of ballet in England.
In the 1930's Ashton choreographed and danced with the leggy and dynamic Alicia Markova. For several years his work was justified by Markova's strong performances. He continued training with Rambert and choreographing her productions. Ninette de Valois entered the scene and together she and Rambert kept the idea alive of a truly native ballet company. Ashton worked with them and anywhere else dancers were hired in London. Then a young girl arrived in London with her mother to try her hand at a serious career in ballet. Margot Fonteyn would forever cement Frederick Ashton's choreography into the fabric of the ballet world.
In 1934 Fonteyn and Ashton got along infamously. It wasn't love at first rehearsal. He thought she was obstinate and she thought he was mad. "Frederick Ashton is absolutely mad; his steps are impossible," she told her mother. (see Margot Fonteyn, Autobiography, 1976.) Regardless of the rocky start, they eventually realized their joint mission to contribute to the foundations of British ballet and learned to work together famously. In actuality, Fonteyn's interpretations of Ashton's choreography epitomized the dancer-choreographer relationship unlike any other in the history of dance. Many have demonstrated brilliant achievements as dancers of Ashton's work, but Fonteyn intuitively understood Ashton's purpose with every piece and delivered his messages to the world via her delicacy and technical prowess. Ashton choreographed much after the Fonteyn years, but without her as the messenger of his early impressions of love, life, and dance Ashton wouldn't have been recognized as the ultimate in British classical dance that he was.
Britain's national ballet grew from the early efforts of Ashton, Fonteyn, de Valois, and Rambert. The Royal Ballet received its initial charter in 1956 and has represented the evolving face of British ballet ever since. Ashton served as artistic director from 1963 to 1970 during which time he emphasized the company's English heritage. Noted as a founding choreographer, Ashton created works into the 1970's that reminded dancers and audiences of the struggle dance perpetually endures in the arts world and in society. Ashton created dance for over fifty years each time showcasing the dance itself but always within the context of the dancer's relationship to the movement. In other words, Ashton's choreography exemplified love; the dancer's love of the dance and nothing else.