Sir Frederick Ashton on the Web
Key resources on one of Britain's greatest choreographers go on-line

Ballet.co is pleased to announce the launch of the online edition of Following Sir Fred’s Steps, edited by Stephanie Jordan and Andrée Grau, the proceedings of the conference held at Roehampton University in November 1994, during which Frederick Ashton’s closest associates joined with dancers, scholars and critics in an assessment and celebration of the choreographer’s legacy.

Together with David Vaughan’s pioneering Frederick Ashton and his Ballets and Julie Kavanagh’s Secret Muses, her landmark biography of Ashton, Following Sir Fred’s Steps is a key reference resource for scholars and lovers of Ashton’s work. However, it has been out of print for several years with little likelihood that it would be reprinted in the near future.

Today, in a dance web first, Ballet.co publishes the entire text online. Work began on the project in September 2004 in the week of what would have been Frederick Ashton’s 100th birthday. Ballet.co sought both to make an enduring contribution to the centenary celebrations and to ensure that Following Sir Fred’s Steps would again be easily accessible.

Following Sir Fred’s Steps includes essays by David Vaughan, Richard Glasstone, Geraldine Morris, James Neufeld, John Percival, Shelley Berg and Jill Beck, Stephanie Jordan, Beth Genné, Giannandrea Poesio, Katherine S. Healy, Adrian Grater, Jane Pritchard, and Alastair Macaulay. In a memorable interview with Julie Kavanagh, Alexander Grant recalls the roles he created for Frederick Ashton. Antoinette Sibley discusses technique in the ballerina’s solos from Scènes de ballet, while she, and Anthony Dowell, remember their collaboration with Ashton on The Dream.

Other distinguished dancers, musicians and choreographers participated in the Roehampton weekend and their contributions are documented in Following Sir Fred’s Steps. They include the late Pamela May, Monica Mason, Donald MacLeary, Philip Gammon, Lesley Collier, Beryl Grey, the late Alicia Markova, Merle Park, David Wall, Julia Farron, Ashley Page, Richard Alston, Rosalind Eyre, Peter Wright, Desmond Kelly, Sherilyn Kennedy, Jessica Clarke, Kevin O’Hare, Alain Dubreuil, Sandra Madgwick, and Cathy Batcheller.

Online access will be unrestricted and free of charge, while each section is available in both html and pdf formats. Internet publication has been made possible by the generosity of the editors, Stephanie Jordan and Andrée Grau, of the various authors and participants, and of the original publisher, David Leonard of Dance Books. The web producers for Ballet.co were Brendan McCarthy, Bruce Marriott and Jane Simpson.

Ashton’s ballets are an important part of the story of theatre dance in the twentieth century. Following Sir Fred’s Steps makes an eloquent case for his legacy and it is now the single largest online resource for the study of a ballet choreographer. It is one of unique authority consisting, as it does, of contributions from Frederick Ashton’s nearest associates and from the leading scholars of his work.

Following Sir Fred’s Steps homepage:
www.ballet.co.uk/followingsirfred

For further information contact:
Bruce Marriott
bruce@ballet.co.uk

Notes for Editors

Following Sir Fred's Steps

"Following Sir Fred's Steps is an insightful and wide-ranging look at the rich legacy of Sir Frederick Ashton (1904 - 1988 ), one of the great choreographers of the twentieth century. Bringing together a broad range of differing perspectives - historical documentation, critical analyses of choreography, studies of technique and style, as well as fascinating reminiscences and anecdotes by dancers, teachers and choreographers - it also bridges the gap between different dance specialists: performers, choreographers, notators, scholars and critics.

"Based on papers, talks and practical workshops given at the highly successful Ashton Conference held at Roehampton Institute, London, in November 1994, Following Sir Fred's Steps is both diverse and stimulating, and represents a major reappraisal of Ashton's work. An invaluable source for both ballet practitioners and dance writers, it is also not to be missed by Ashton lovers."

The contents page is available here:
www.ballet.co.uk/followingsirfred/contents

Original Book details:
Following Sir Fred's Steps - Ashton's Legacy
By Stephanie Jordan & Andrée Grau
Published by Dance Books, 1996
ISBN 1 85273 047 1
www.ballet.co.uk/followingsirfred