''Façade'' is a ballet 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 oppositio ...

, to the music of William Walton; it is a balletic interpretation of items from '' Façade – an Entertainment'' (1923) by Walton and Edith Sitwell. The ballet was first given by the Camargo Society at the

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, London, Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and const ...

, on 26 April 1931. It has been regularly revived and restaged all over the world.

Background

In 1923 '' Façade – an Entertainment'' was first given in public. It consisted of poems by Edith Sitwell recited by the author over music composed for the purpose by William Walton, performed by an ensemble of six players. The work was regarded as ''avant-garde'' and caused some controversy. In 1926 Walton arranged a suite of five of the numbers, omitting the spoken verses and expanding the orchestration. In 1929 the choreographer Günter Hess created a ''Façade'' ballet for the German Chamber Dance Theatre, using Walton's orchestral suite; Sitwell declined to allow her words to be used. Hess visited London in 1930 and is believed to have exchanged ideas with Ashton. Ashton's ballet was premiered by the Camargo Society, established the previous year to foster the work of British dancers and choreographers. The work was set to the five items of Walton's suite, and orchestrations of two other numbers from the original entertainment, which are thought to have been made for the purpose by Constant Lambert, who conducted the premiere.

Synopsis

''Façade'' is a one-act ballet of seven to ten divertissements, described by the ballet critic Debra Crane as "choreographic satires on popular dance forms and their dancers". There is no plot. The numbers as danced in the original production are: *Scotch Rhapsody *Jodelling Song *Polka *Valse *Popular Song *Tango-Pasodoble *Finale – Tarantella Sevillana. Ashton revised the ballet over the years. "Country Dance" was added in 1935; "Noche espagnola" and "Foxtrot" in 1940.Kennedy, p. 291

Original cast

*Scotch Rhapsody – Prudence Hyman, Maude Lloyd, Antony Tudor *Jodelling Song – Lydia Lopokova (milkmaid); Frederick Ashton, William Chappell,

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 ...

(mountaineers) *Polka –

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a Choreography (dance), choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her ...

*Valse – Pearl Argyle, Diana Gould, Maude Lloyd, Prudence Hyman *Popular Song – William Chappell, Walter Gore *Tango-Pasodoble – Lydia Lopokova, Frederick Ashton *Finale–Tarantella Sevillana – Lydia Lopokova, Frederick Ashton and ensemble ::Source: Ashton Archive.Vaughan, David
"Frederick Ashton and His Ballets, 1931"
, Ashton Archive, accessed 2 April 2013

Critical reception

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' commented that the piece admirably translated the spirit of the original poems, but warned, "If the Ballet is going to laugh at itself so freely, it must take care in future that we do not laugh at it in the wrong place." The paper did not consider ''Façade'' the highlight of the quintuple bill in which it appeared: that honour went to "Mme Karsavina's Valse Fantasie with music by Glinka". ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' also rated Karsavina's dance as the best thing in the evening, but praised the wit of Ashton's ballet, and singled out Lopokova for the subtlety of her comic performance."Camargo Society: Third Production of Ballet", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 27 April 1931, p. 13 Reviewing a 2005 production by Scottish Ballet, ''The Times'' called Ashton's ballet a masterpiece, and ''The Guardian'' commented, "The big treat is the company's acquisition of Frederick Ashton's Façade, a perennial audience favourite. This frothy Bright Young Things frolic, dating from 1931, captures the high spirits of the Brideshead world in sparklingly playful comedic vignettes."

Revivals

The ballet was revived in 1932 at the Savoy Theatre."The Ballet Season at the Savoy Theatre", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 22 June 1932, p. 7 For a new production by the

Vic-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 ...

in 1935, Ashton added the Country Dance. Among those appearing in this production were

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( 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 th ...

and Robert Helpmann. Ashton further expanded the work in 1940, adding the Foxtrot ("Old Sir Faulk") and the Noche espagnola ("Nocturne péruvienne"). The three later additions were sometimes included and sometimes omitted from the Sadler's Wells (later the Royal Ballet) revivals in 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1956 and 1958–9. In 1972 Ashton prepared a production for the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

using the original chamber score with Sitwell's verses recited by Peter Pears. This production was later seen in London, at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Among the revivals of Ashton's ballet have been those by the Borovansky Ballet (1946), New Zealand Ballet (1960), PACT Ballet (South Africa, 1966),

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual ...

(1969),

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

(1972), Chicago Ballet (1975), Houston Ballet (1978), Washington Ballet (1983), Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1984), Ballet of the Teatro Regio, Turin (1992) and Scottish Ballet (2005).

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Facade 1931 ballets Ballets by Frederick Ashton Ballets to the music of William Walton