© Warner Music Vision The following ballets feature on the DVD... Scènes de Ballet Persephone Le Baiser de la Fée Le Rossignol Available from: Dance Books Videos Note: Purchase of this video is restricted to educational institutions, libraries and archives. recent Scenes de Ballet reviews Ballet.co have carried a number of pieces by Susan Crow and Jennifer Jackson of the Ballet Independents Group (BIG). More on BIG ,their discussion forums, and Susie Crow's thought pieces for Ballet.co BIG index page

When asked to review the new DVD “Ashton to Stravinsky” I jumped at the chance.  Tantalizingly this detailed reflection on a very particular corner of Ashton’s extensive and varied oeuvre is not going to be available to individuals outside libraries and educational establishments, because of stringent copyright restrictions imposed by Stravinsky’s publishers.  Once again one has to wonder at the wisdom of making it so difficult to have access to the works of such major artists.  Without the back-up of historic documentation of the works in performance and ongoing informed debate, the unspoken kinaesthetic information on a choreographer’s particular movement and musicality transmitted from one generation of interpreters and audience to another will long since have evolved, and perhaps even vanished, before the works enter the public domain.  A brief trawl of Ashton work on DVD and video shows how little of his choreographic output is currently publicly available on commercial recordings, and for many live performances are rare or inaccessible.

All the more grateful then for the efforts of two distinguished scholars, Stephanie Jordan and Geraldine Morris, to lay down serious study material with rigorous musical and choreographic analysis, not only of one of Ashton’s masterpieces Scènes de Ballet, but also lesser known works such as the forgotten Persephone and his early Le Baiser de la Fée, and one of his latest works and occasional incursions into opera, Le Rossignol.  Seen through the prism of their particular expertise, the DVD minutely dissects the choreographic structure through the relationship of movement to Stravinsky’s music, and in Ashton’s choice, development and embellishment of elements of classical ballet vocabulary to build a unique and recognisable “language”.  It poses the question as to whether there might be a discernible Ashton Stravinsky style.   Filmed at the Royal Ballet Junior School in March and April of 2004, the programme not only enlists studio demonstration of excerpts of the material by Royal Ballet dancers Federico Bonelli, Mara Galeazzi, Isabel McMeekan and Natasha Oughtred but also the expert accompaniment of Henry Roche, Head of the Royal Ballet’s music staff, playing piano reductions of the orchestral scores.  Brief excerpts only show works discussed in stage performance – parts of a Dutch National Ballet televised performance of Scènes de Ballet, and grainy black and white silent footage by Edmee Wood of the original Persephone, the majestic Svetlana Beriosova partnered by Keith Rosson as Pluto.

The DVD is divided into two sections – the Analytical Programme in which Jordan and Morris guide the viewer through material from the four works, and a selection of Special Features which enable the viewer to review choreographic excerpts shown in the analysis, as well as rehearsal highlights, footage of the young Royal Ballet dancers being coached. 

The analysis starts and finishes with Scènes de Ballet made in 1948 – which Ashton considered the best work he ever made, although its uncompromising nature initially divided critical opinion and has meant that it has taken longer to win recognition as one of 20th century ballet’s masterworks.  Appropriately, dance analysis of this homage to Petipa, who was admired by both Ashton and Stravinsky, uses as a starting point the two contrasting solos of the ballerina, danced here by Mara Galeazzi, widening out to look at fragments of ensemble material for women and men and to relate to brief excerpts from other Ashton ballets; Symphonic Variations, Cinderella, Ashton’s Sapphire Fairy solo from The Sleeping Beauty, even more romantic and narrative works such as The Dream and Enigma Variations.
 

Cover of Ashton to Stravinsky DVD
© Warner Music Vision

There is a wealth of revealing detail in here, drawing the viewer’s attention to unusual accenting or modification of classical vocabulary, and Ashton’s grasp of musical counterpoint and sophisticated layering of material to reflect this.  Morris and Jordan analyse from a formalist perspective, perhaps appropriate to this apparently cold and glittering work which condenses the structures and conventions of the late19th century three act ballet into 20 minutes, and draws patterns from Euclidean geometry, achieving grandeur through clarity.  Contrast this intellectual approach with the vivid imagery and awareness of sensuous movement quality revealed in clips of Antoinette Sibley coaching, describing the mysterious second solo as a “lustrous pearl”, and remembering Ashton pushing her in rehearsal, sometimes literally, to fall and take risks.  A timely reminder of how such works operate on a variety of levels, and that dissection is inevitably geared towards a particular viewpoint. 

A varied selection of Persephone extracts reconstructed with the first-hand knowledge not only of Christopher Newton but also Monica Mason who performed in it as a young dancer raises the intriguing possibility of revival of this work.  Ashton’s Persephone had a mixed reception at its premiere in 1961 and the narration of André Gide’s text by the ballerina herself represents a challenge to casting.  Commenting on footage of Beriosova’s expansive movement in contrast with the clipped and stylised mimetic frieze provided by other characters, Morris highlights the sensitivity with which Ashton’s choreography reflects the personal characteristics of the dancers on which he created particular roles.  Disappointing that interview of the two senior Royal Ballet figures involved in this reconstruction was not included to help give a sense of the totality of this unusual narrative piece, or to further probe Ashton’s intentions and choreographic method.  In the context of his relation to Stravinsky’s music it would have been fascinating to know more of how he responded choreographically to the spoken word and sung text within the score.

The less retrievable Le Baiser de la Fée from 1935 is illustrated by the Bride’s solo created for Fonteyn and recreated here for Natasha Oughtred by Nicola Katrak.  A different analytical tack is taken here by comparing this choreographer’s version of this solo with two versions by other 20th century greats, Balanchine and MacMillan.  Studio footage of Frederick Franklin coaching Nichol Hlinka makes for a telling contrast between contained and rounded Ashton movement and rangy, jazzy American fleetness moving across the musical phrase.  MacMillan revised his 1960 work for the Royal Ballet in 1986.  Maria Almeida is here credited with teaching Isabel McMeekan the Bride’s solo; having seen Edmée Wood footage of the solo as created for the original Bride, Lynn Seymour, I would have been grateful for a more scholarly reference for the choreographic text as demonstrated here.  Even within the Royal Ballet dancers’ physiques, techniques and styles have changed radically over the years since these ballets were originally made, sometimes leading to significant adaptation of original choreography, both intended and unintended.  Choreographic analysis needs to acknowledge the possibility of shifting nuances of emphasis and feeling which shade and define technical execution. Throughout the DVD this is a question that hovers over the well-mannered and excessively tidy demonstrations by the young Royal Ballet dancers – how comfortably do their athletic 21st century physiques adapt to Ashton movement and sensibility?  It would have been good to hear from them.

With Le Rossignol Anthony Dowell is on hand to coach Federico Bonelli in the role of the Fisherman that he created in 1981 opposite Makarova’s Nightingale in the production of Stravinsky’s opera/ballet of 1914 with unforgettably vivid designs by David Hockney.  Here extended solos accompanied by haunting tenor melodies form danced interludes to ensemble action, and Morris’ analysis reveals how long movement phrases drawing on Dowell’s unique talents for plasticity, variety and precision are embellished and extended as the story develops.  My memories of seeing this in performance lead me to wish that more mention had been made of the powerful stage picture and how this might have affected the orientation and spatial design of the choreography, however it is a real pleasure to see this beautiful material.  Its fluidity shows Ashton at one both with his interpreter and with this earlier more lyrical Stravinsky.  I am not sure that Jordan’s purely musical analysis does justice to the subtle seamless blend of gestural and dance material inspired by the poetic narrative.  Ashton had shown himself more than capable of mastering and illuminating Stravinsky’s rhythmic complexity in Scènes de Ballet; but here one comes to suspect that despite his undoubted admiration for the composer’s modernism and unique understanding of “the problems of classical ballet”, his heart ultimately lay with more lyrical composers and a singing melodic line.

Watching DVDs with my children I have become aware that offcuts and extras can be the most amusing material; and the virtue of the digital format is the ease with which such snippets can be selected and viewed repeatedly and in any order.  This opens a wealth of educational possibilities for such tools as this, and I wished more use could have been made of the Special Features section.  I would particularly have relished more of the illuminating coaching in roles given by Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell, and to have heard from other contributors whose unique experiences of this material might have helped to lend a greater frisson of theatricality to studio demonstration, as perhaps would the inclusion of stills of original performance or designs.   Some documentation of the overlaying of the Persephone music onto Edmée Wood’s silent movie by Henry Roche would also have been welcome – a skilful and fascinating process which might have provided further insights into the mysteries of Ashton’s musicality, as well as illustrating some of the complications inherent in revivals of works from this period.

In an ideal world such analysis should be viewed alongside complete viewing of the works discussed in their final theatrical manifestation, with full costume, décor and orchestral accompaniment, enabling the student to see ensemble material in its sophisticated spatial arrangement, hear the impact of orchestral colour, and setting the works in a wider choreographic, historic, narrative and visual context.  Sadly this seems an unlikely prospect and this programme may well prove to be most students’ only view of this work.  The presenters do not reveal the extent of the limitations on length and type of material imposed on this project by practical considerations and copyright restrictions; perhaps their introduction needs to incorporate a brief outline methodology to clarify the choices made and act as a health warning for uninitiated viewers.  Questions also arise about appropriate directorial style, here falling sometimes uncomfortably between stilted TV documentary and functional training video, and intended audience. Given its research project status should such a DVD also include in it or with it a list of references to related documentary material for further study? 

This DVD is rich but demanding viewing aimed at viewers with substantial prior knowledge who will be able to balance its particular insights alongside other approaches.