''Les Masques, ou Changement de dames'' is a short

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

of 1933 choreographed by

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

to music by

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

.Vaughan D. ''Frederick Ashton and his Ballets.'' A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977, p84-7. Ashton's biographer describes it as a miniature masterpiece, an inspired fusion of scenery, steps and music.Kavanagh J. ''Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton.'' Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1996, p153-155. The ballet reflected the social and sexual manners of Ashston's world, and the limited size of the

Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...

obliged Ashton to understate the dancers' gestures and moves. A Personage is seen at a masked ball with his lady friend. They meet another couple, and they turn out to be his wife and her lover. After some changing of partners, at the end the wife and husband are a pair while the lover and mistress are also united. The black and white costumes (made by Matilda Etches) and scenery (evoking an Arts Club Ball) were by

Sophie Fedorovitch Sophie Fedorovitch ( be, Сафія Федаровіч; 3 December 1893 – 25 January 1953) was a Russian-born theatrical designer who worked with ballet choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton from his first choreographed ballet in 1926 until her a ...

, who worked with Ashton on many other ballets during his career, and became, in his words, "not only my dearest friend but my greatest artistic collaborator and adviser".

Marie Rambert Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE (20 February 188812 June 1982) was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher. Early years and background Born to a liberal Lithuan ...

recalled going to an ironmongers in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

to buy corrugated iron for the columns in the set; the full cost of the production was £60. The original cast at the Ballet Club on the 5 March 1933 consisted of Frederick Ashton as A Personage,

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring international ...

as His Lady Friend,

Pearl Argyle Pearl Argyle (born Pearl Wellman; 7 November 1910 – 29 January 1947) was a South African ballet dancer and actress. Remembered today primarily for her extraordinary beauty, she appeared in leading roles with English ballet companies in the 1930s ...

as His Wife,

Walter Gore Walter Gore (8 October 1910 – 16 April 1979) was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer. Early life Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied a ...

as Her Lover,

Elisabeth Schooling Elisabeth Schooling (27 April 1915 – 22 June 1998) was a British ballet dancer. Early life Elisabeth Schooling was born in Hendon, London in 1915. Career From 1928, Schooling studied with Marie Rambert, and she danced in Ballet Club's (wh ...

and Betty Cuff as Two Young Girls and Anna Brunton, Elisabeth Ruxton and Tamara Svetlova as Three Ladies with Fans. At the premiere the music was played by Helen Gaskell,

Cecil James Cecil Edwin James (10 April 1913 – 13 January 1999) was a prominent English bassoonist born in London to a musical family. His father Wilfred (1878-1941) was a bassoonist in the Queen's Hall Orchestra and professor at the Royal College of Music ...

and Charles Lynch. Poulenc's

Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano The ''Trio pour hautbois, basson et piano'' (Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano), FP 43, by Francis Poulenc is a three-movement chamber work, composed between 1924 and 1926, and premiered in the latter year. The trio was well received at its premie ...

was composed in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

in 1926, dedicated to

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...

, and premiered in Paris on 2 May that year. The three movements are marked ''Presto'', ''Andante'' and ''Rondo''. When he saw the work, Poulenc was enchanted and in thanks gave Rambert an inscribed copy of his ''

Soirées de Nazelles ''Les Soirées de Nazelles'', FP 84, is a set of variations for piano written by the French composer Francis Poulenc. During the evenings, the composer used to sit at the piano and improvise "portraits" of his friends, all based on a given them ...

''.Rambert, Marie. ''Quicksilver: an autobiography.'' Papermac (Macmillan Publishers Ltd), London, 1983, p146. After the production left the repertory the choreography was lost and Ashton declined requests to revive the work. David Vaughan comments that Ashton had wanted Poulenc to compose the score for his first ballet, ''

A Tragedy of Fashion ''A Tragedy of Fashion, or the Scarlet Scissors'' is a ballet which was first choreographed and performed on 15 June 1926 by Frederick Ashton, who starred with Marie Rambert. The BBC described this debut as "a pivotal moment in the history of ball ...

'', and seven years on "was fully in command of the resources that could enable him to realise such a work" – witty, sophisticated and of its time. Later projects to collaborate between Ashton and Poulenc did not come to fruition.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Ballets by Frederick Ashton 1933 ballet premieres Ballets designed by Sophie Fedorovitch