The Principal Guide to Ashton

All six principal dancers of Sarasota Ballet have never met Sir Frederick Ashton, but they know him better than most dancers in the world. That’s why they’ll bring the choreographer’s work to life April 30 to May 3.

Since Artistic Director Iain Webb’s appointment in 2007, the company has slowly danced its way to becoming “America’s foremost exponent of Ashton ballets,” says Alastair Macaulay, New York Times dance critic. It’s only appropriate that the company celebrates and honors the choreographer on the 25th anniversary of his death with a four-day festival featuring his works.

“It’s a big deal because we’re pretty much known as one of the only companies in the country, and also in the world, that does the majority of his ballets,” Logan Learned, principal dancer says. “It’s a good way to not only honor Ashton, but also honor our growth as a company.”

Since Webb’s appointment the company has grown from 30 members to 45. It has added 99 new ballets and divertissements. Ticket sales have increased from $300,000 to $1.2 million. And the company’s ability to perform Ashton has given it international recognition.

What is the connection to Ashton in the first place? Webb and his wife, Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, danced under the founding choreographer of the British Royal Ballet’s tutelage. And now they’ve paid it forward to their dancers.

“I don’t think without Iain and Maggie’s coaching that we’d be able to bring Ashton alive,” principal dancer Kate Honea says. “They bring the nuances alive through us — their coaching has helped that.”

The dancers describe the characteristics of an Ashton ballet: musicality, storytelling and character development, humor portrayed through footwork and, of course, the signature “Fred step.”

“It’s one step he put in every single ballet,” principal dancer Danielle Brown says. Although, the dancers discovered that it’s not in “Monotones.”

There are plenty of Fred steps in the Ashton pieces the principal dancers share as their favorites in the upcoming festival. Here’s a look at some of the pieces they love to perform:

Kate Honea
Favorite piece in the festival: “Les Rendezvous,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 1
Why? It’s my favorite! It’s very feminine, cutesy and jumpy. Technically, it’s super hard, but you have to make it look so feminine, easy and playful. It’s all very sprightly and upbeat — I enjoy it so much. It’s the third time we’re doing it, so I think it’ll be extra fun to perform it. I think it was the second performance that I realized how much I love this ballet.
Describe it: It takes place in a park. It’s like “Les Patineurs,” but without the ice skating and snow. The girls are in these big white, fluffy tutus and wear huge pink bows on their heads and butts. It doesn’t have a story to it.
 

Logan Learned
Favorite piece in the festival: “Les Patineurs,” 6 p.m. Saturday, May 3
Why? It was one of the first things I performed with the company here in 2008, so it’s always nice every time we do it again. It’s nice to remember that first season, and (we) always try to make it better.
Describe it: It’s a ballet that’s supposed to look like skaters on an ice rink. It has this very ornate backdrop and there are these Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling and all these arches … There’s a lot of contact with the floor, and when you aren’t brushing the floor you’re trying to jump and spin in the air as if you’re doing some fancy skating.
 

Danielle Brown
Favorite piece in the festival: “Symphonic Variations,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 1
Why? It’s meaningful that the company had the opportunity to perform the ballet last year. And to do it again, I’m really excited. It’s one of those pieces that until you have done his other work, you don’t get (permission) to do it. It’s an accomplishment to say we get to perform it.
Describe it: There’s no storyline, and it’s just a stunning piece. It’s more abstract. There are three girls and three boys, and no one leaves the stage for the entire piece. Everyone is in white and it’s very pure. It’s classical with a twist.

 

Victoria Hulland
Favorite piece in the festival: “Birthday Offering” 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 30; and 8 p.m. Friday, May 2
Why? I think it’s so great how it shows off every female soloist’s strengths because all of the solos are so different. It would have been amazing to see it at the time it was choreographed because it featured all of the best ballerinas of the Royal Ballet.
Describe it: It’s beautiful and regal with big long tutus in all different colors. It was for the queen on her birthday (hence “Birthday Offering”). It features seven couples, and all of the girls do the entre, or entrance. They do this step around the stage into an adagio and each girl does a solo. Then all the boys do a dance together, and there’s a pas de duex at the end.
 

Ricardo Graziano
Favorite piece in the festival: “Illuminations,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 30
Why? I love acting on stage. I love the drama. I love blood. I love doing that!
Describe it: It’s a ballet that Ashton created based on the poet Rimbaud. It was the only ballet he created outside of England, and he choreographed it for New York City Ballet. It isn’t necessarily the story of the poet, but it’s about the events of his life combined with some of his poems. It’s like they are all on drugs.
What’s it like to dance it? It’s very un-Ashton. He was in America and not London, and it was his opportunity to try something new with dancers he had never worked with. But the body movements and musicality are all still there.
 

Ricky Rhodes
Favorite piece in the festival: “Sinfonietta,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 2
Why? It’s just so hard. To get through it is an accomplishment. It’s like, “OK, I did that!” I have stamina, but after performing “Sinfonietta,” I can’t breathe — it’s hard.
Describe it: There are three different sections with a huge overture in the beginning ... There are two couples (in the first movement) and it’s fast and upbeat. The second movement has five guys and one girl, and she gets passed around like a rag doll … The third movement is when it all goes crazy … It’s just mayhem and nonstop dancing faster than you think you can.

(Photos courtesy of Barbara Banks)

How they prepare:
Sarasota Ballet principal dancers Victoria Hulland and Danielle Brown don’t leave the stage for approximately 20 minutes in “Symphonic Variations.” The first time they performed it, they spent five weeks learning the steps. This is the preparation that goes into just one ballet.

Typically, Sarasota Ballet presents three ballets in one performance a month. For the Sir Frederick Ashton Festival, they’ll present at least three ballets a night for four days in a row — practically a whole season of repertoire in one week.

The company has never rehearsed 11 ballets at one time.

The dancers say rehearsing just one Ashton ballet wears them out, but they are rehearsing three in one day. Some pieces they haven’t performed in more than three years, and they feel new. Others they’ve performed more recently, and they can rely on muscle memory.