Rhapsody

Rhapsody
Alina Cojocaru and Steven McRae
© ROH/ Tristram Kenton

< back to Ashton Ballets



[The Sleeping Beauty] (1946)

Ballet in a prologue and three acts by Marius Petipa and Ivan Vsevolozhsky, after Charles Perrault


Abbreviations:
M Music by
S Scenery by
C Costumes by
D Danced by
FP First performance
NP New production
R Reproduced by
ST Staging (indicates that the ballet was produced in substantially its original form)



Produced by Nicholas Sergeyev after the choreography of Marius Petipa, with additions by Frederick Ashton and Ninette de Valois
M Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (La Belle au bois dormant, ballet, opus 66)
SC Oliver Messel

D Princess Aurora: Margot Fonteyn; Prince Florimund: Robert Helpmann; The Lilac Fairy: Beryl Grey; Carabosse: Robert Helpmann
Act I Garland Dance
D corps de ballet
Act III Florestan and his Two Sisters
D Moira Shearer, Gerd Larsen, Michael Somes
(first woman's variation by Marius Petipa, from Jewels pas de quatre; from 20 January 1950 the programme credit for this pas de trois read "by Frederick Ashton after Petipa")
FP Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 20 February 1946

Act II Aurora's Variation ("after Marius Petipa")
D Aurora: Beryl Grey
FP Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 9 January 1952

Act III Florimund's Variation ("after Marius Petipa") D Florimund: Michael Somes
FP Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 23 February 1955

FP Sadler's Wells Ballet; adapted for television by Frederick Ashton
D Princess Aurora: Margot Fonteyn; Prince Florimund: Michael Somes; Lilac Fairy: Beryl Grey; Carabosse: Frederick Ashton
FP NBC Television (Producers' Showcase), New York NY, 12 December 1955

ST Royal Ballet touring section
D Aurora: Anya Linden
FP Grand Theatre, Leeds, 14 September 1959

ST The Rose Adagio; specially produced by Frederick Ashton
D Aurora: Nadia Nerina
Royal Performance, Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 4 November 1963

Act II The Awakening Scene
D Aurora: Violette Verdy; Florimund: David Blair
FP Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 29 February 1964

NP Royal Ballet; production devised and staged by Peter Wright, with new and additional choreography by Frederick Ashton
S Henry Bardon
C Lila de Nobili and Rostislav Doboujinsky
Prologue: The Fairy of Joy
D Georgina Parkinson
Act I Garland Dance (new version)
D corps de ballet
Act II Prince Florimund's Variation (sarabande)
D Anthony Dowell
Act II Pas de deux (Awakening Scene)
D Aurora: Antoinette Sibley; Florimund: Anthony Dowell
Act III Gold and Silver pas de trois
D Jennifer Penney, Brian Shaw, Keith Martin
(original Florestan pas de trois restored 15 March L972, under the title Gold and Silver pas de trois: D Jennifer Penney, Ann Jenner, David Ashmole)
FP Royal Opera House, London, 17 December 1968

NP Royal Ballet; produced and with new and additional choreography by Kenneth MacMillan
SC Peter Farmer
This production retained Ashton's choreography for Prince Florimund's variation in Act II D Anthony Dowell and for the Fairy of Joy, incorporated into a new Jewels pas de six in Act III D Georgina Parkinson
FP Royal Opera House, London, 15 March 1973

NP Royal Ballet; production by Ninette de Valois
SC David Walker
This production included the following numbers by Ashton: Act I Garland Dance (1946 version); Act II Florimund's variation D Anthony Dowell; Aurora's variation D Lesley Collier; Pas de deux (Awakening Scene) (later omitted) D Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell; Act III Florestan and his Sisters D Stephen Beagley, Wendy Ellis, Laura Connor; Connor's variation was that for the Fairy of Joy from the 1968 production
FP Royal Opera House, London, 14 October 1977

NP Royal Ballet; production by Anthony Dowell
SC Maria Bjornson
This production included the following numbers by Ashton: Act II Florimund's variation D Zoltan Solymosi; Aurora's variation D Darcey Bussell: Act III Gold, Silver, Sapphire, and Diamond (replacing Florestan and his Sisters): Entrée and coda (Dowell after Ashton) D William Trevitt, Deborah Bull, Sara Gallie, Muriel Valtat; Sapphire variation (formerly Fairy of Joy) D Sara Gallie
FP Kennedy Center, Washington DC, 6 April 1994

ST Royal Ballet/Paris Opera Ballet; Awakening pas de deux only
R Donald Macleary
D Darcey Bussell, Laurent Hilaire
FP Entente Cordiale gala, Opéra National de Paris, Palais Garnier, 29 September 2004

NP Royal Ballet; production by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, staging by Christopher Carr
SC after Oliver Messel, realized and with additional designs by Peter Farmer
This production included the following numbers by Ashton: Act II Florimund's variation (Sarabande) D Johan Kobborg; Aurora's Variation D Alina Cojocaru; Act III Florestan and his Sisters (Entrée and Coda) D Martin Harvey, Belinda Hatley, Deirdre Chapman
FP Royal Opera House, London, 15 May 2006

By other companies:

ST Royal Danish Ballet; Prince's Act III solo (1955) in a production of the ballet by Ninette de Valois
D Henning Kronstam
FP Kongelige Teater, Copenhagen, B March 1957

ST Gala Ballet Season; "Awakening" pas de deux only
D Lynn Seymour and Stephen Jefferies
FP Royal Festival Hall, London, 7 August 1978

ST Boston Ballet: Act I Garland Dance (1945) and Act II Florimund's variation (1968) in a production of the ballet by Patricia Ruanne
D Nelson Madrigal
SC David Walker (Royal Ballet 1977)
FP Wang Theatre, Boston MA, 5 May 2005

ST New York City Ballet: Act II Aurora's variation after Frederick Ashton (1952), uncredited; in a production of the ballet by Peter Martins
D Darci Kistler
S David Mitchell
C Patricia Zipprodt
FP New York State Theater, New York NY, 24 April 1991