''Scènes de ballet'' is a one-act ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton, who created it during 1947–1948 to Igor Stravinsky's eponymous music from 1944. The first performance was given by the

Sadler's Wells Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded i ...

, at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, London.

Creation, choreography and design

Ashton's choreography is along classical lines, in the tradition of Marius Petipa's 19th-century works. Instead of Petipa's symmetry, however, Ashton used a system of

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...

ean geometry, with geometric theorems adapted to serve as floor patterns for the dancers. As a result, the ballet is unusual in that it makes sense from all angles, as Ashton himself explained, "I wanted to do a ballet that could be seen from any angle – anywhere could be front, so to speak. So I did these geometric figures that are not always facing front – if you saw ''Scènes de ballet'' from the wings, you'd get a very different but equally good picture." The ballet was originally designed by André Beaurepaire, a young Frenchman who was heavily influenced by Picasso. His collaboration with Ashton was not an easy one, given the choreographer's wish for what Parry calls "Baroque Parisian fantasy". Eventually, two sets were agreed upon: a green-grey viaduct that was supposed to give way, at the apotheosis, to a white pavilion made up of guns, bones, and limbs. In the event this proved impractical, and since the ballet's second performance the viaduct has been used on its own, although at the premiere Ashton went with the pavilion. Nor were Beaurepaire's designs for the costumes quite to Ashton's liking: though the choreographer retained his designer's hats, bracelets and chokers he discarded the men's hats and altered the colour of the tights from blue-gray to pink. Pearls and diamonds were added to the women's costumes, while the men's costumes were simplified. The ''prima ballerina'' was given a colour combination of yellow and black to suit Margot Fonteyn.

Original cast

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

Michael Somes Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and the frequent partner of Margot Fonteyn. Early years Somes was born in Horsley, Gloucestersh ...

* Alexander Grant * John Field *

Donald Britton Donald Gene Britton (17 August 1929 – 31 May 1983) was a principal dancer with the two Royal Ballet companies, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Ballet from 1945 to 1965. Donald Britton was born in London in 1929. He ori ...

*Philip Chatfield *Avril Navarre * Pauline Clayden * Margaret Dale * Anne Heaton *

Gerd Larsen Gerd Larsen born Gerd Elly (19 February 1921 – 4 October 2001) was a Norwegian ballerina who performed frequently with England's Royal Ballet, in a career lasting over fifty years up until her seventy-fifth birthday. In her later years she wa ...

Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...

*Rosemary Lindsay *Anne Negus *Lorna Mossford *Jill Gregory *

Nadia Nerina Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...

*Jean Stokes

Critical reception

Initially, ''Scènes de ballet'' divided critical opinion. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' commented that it "had the one merit of brevity";

Richard Buckle (Christopher) Richard Sandford Buckle CBE (6 August 1916 – 12 October 2001), was a lifelong English devotee of ballet, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine ''Ballet'' in 1939. Early life Buckle was the only son of Lieute ...

in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' wrote, "The only fault … is that it is not the last act of a long classical ballet. Such a display of noble movement should be the culmination of a spectacle: yet before we realise its beauty this pearl of great price has dissolved – in eighteen minutes." Ashton's own description of the ballet was,"It has a distant, uncompromising beauty which says I am here, beautiful, but I will make no effort to charm you." In 2004 Debra Crain called the work "pure classicism at its most invigorating."

Recording

A performance of ''Scènes de ballet'' by the Royal Ballet from December 2010, featuring

Miyako Yoshida Miyako Yoshida (吉田都, born 28 October 1965) is a Japanese ballet dancer. She was a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet as well as a principal dancer with K-ballet, Japan. Life and career Born and trained in Tokyo, Yoshida won the ...

, Ivan Putrov, Edward Watson and

Lauren Cuthbertson Lauren Louise Cuthbertson (born 11 June 1984) is an English ballerina and a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. Early life and education Lauren Cuthbertson was born in Devon in 1984. She began studying dance at a local dance sch ...

has been issued on DVD by Opus Arte, as part of an all Ashton programme.

Notes

References