Frederick Ashton Movies

French composer Léo Delibes's ballet Sylvia originally premiered in June 1876 at the Palais Garnier, with choreography by Louis Mérante, and constituted a very loose adaptation of Torquato Tasso's 1573 poem Aminta. Though initially less than successful, it received renewed popularity during the late 20th and early 21st centuries thanks to periodic revivals. One such production, mounted by the Royal Opera House in 2005 for that institution's 75th anniversary, appears in this release. Presented in its original three-act form, it features dancers Roberto Bolle as Aminto, Darcey Bussell as Sylvia and Thiago Soares as Orion. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, The American Ballet Theatre staged a new production of one of his best-loved dance pieces. Accompanied by music from Felix Mendelssohn, The Dream is a ballet interpretation of William Shakespeare's romantic fantasy A Midsummer Night's Dream which focus on the magical undercurrents of the Bard's work. A major critical success, this production of The Dream stars Ethan Stiefel, Alessandra Ferri, and Herman Cornejo from the ABE company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This performance video features Tchaikovsky's romantic fairy tale in a 1994 production by the Royal Ballet, directed by Colin Nears and starring Viviana Durante as Princess Aurora, Zoltan Solymosi as Prince Florimund, and Anthony Dowell as Carabosse. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The Margot Fonteyn Story is the only authorized documentary about British ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn, released during the year of her death. Fonteyn herself serves as the narrator, recalling the high points of her nearly 50-year career in dance. Features interviews with Rudolf Nureyev, Robert Helpmann, and Frederick Ashton. Includes home movies, archival footage, and a personal discussion about her marriage to a Panamanian diplomat. Some of the dance excerpts come from Sleeping Beauty, Ondine, and Giselle. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The Royal Ballet performs Tchaikovski's classic Swan Lake in this performance featuring designs by the late Leslie Hurry and lead performances by acclaimed dancers Natalia Makarova and Anthony Dowell. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One of a cycle of '70s post-Women's Liberation "women's pictures," Herbert Ross's drama uses the ballet world to examine the conflict between family and career. Former dance colleagues Deedee (Shirley MacLaine) and Emma (Anne Bancroft) are reunited when Emma's New York ballet company stops in Oklahoma City for a performance. Having dropped her career for marriage and motherhood, Deedee envies prima ballerina Emma's limelight life; aging Emma, realizing that her days as a star are numbered, wishes that she had the fulfillment of a family like Deedee's. Tensions simmer when Deedee's talented teenage daughter, Emilia (Leslie Browne), moves to New York to join Emma's company. As Emma maternally bonds with Emilia, and Emilia falls in love with womanizing dancer Yuri (Mikhail Baryshnikov), Deedee feels that she's losing her place even as a mother. After Emilia's triumphant debut, Deedee's and Emma's resentments boil over into an all-out catfight that ends when they realize they can unite in happiness for Emilia's future. Splitting the desires to nest and to work between two characters, Ross and writer Arthur Laurents reveal the difficulty faced by women in a world of expanding options. As in Michael Powell's and Emeric Pressburger's seminal ballet film The Red Shoes (1948), dancing and a personal life don't mix, even as the films display ballet's seductive power here in the gracefully integrated numbers by dance stars Browne and Baryshnikov. Despite reservations about its melodramatic aspects, The Turning Point earned box-office success and eleven Oscar nominations (but no wins). Even if its wife/work struggle seems a bit old-fashioned, Deedee's and Emma's final bond suggests that the next generation may not have the same regrets. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

The Royal Ballet performs this 1969 production of Sergey Prokofiev's musical fairy tale Cinderella, starring Antoinette Sibley as Cinderella and Anthony Dowell as the Prince and choreographed by Frederick Ashton. The musical score is provided by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, under the direction of John Lanchberry. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton's take on Perrault's the timeless fairy tale is captured live at the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in this performance starring Dame Margot Fonteyn in the title role. Originally telecast on April 19, 1957 on NBC, this particular incarnation of the Cinderella fable soon became a staple of the Royal Ballet's repertoire, and features Ashton himself in the role of one of the cruel and ugly step-sisters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This anthology film tells three stories of love involving the passengers of an ocean liner at sea. In the first, "The Jealous Lover," James Mason plays Charles Coudray, a well-known ballet director. When someone asks Coudray why he staged his masterpiece, "Astarte," only once, he tells the story of Paula Woodward (Moira Shearer), a superb dancer he found practicing in his theater. He was awestruck by her technique and her beauty, but he discovered that she had a secret -- due to a cardiac condition, she has been forbidden to dance too strenuously, as it could tax her heart and eventually kill her. Charles urges Paula to perform for him, so he may use her movements to choreograph his next great work; she agrees, but the exertion proves too much for her and she dies. He arranges for the work she inspired to be performed only once, in hopes that she will somehow see it from on high. In the second segment, "Mademoiselle," Tommy (Ricky Nelson) is a 12-year-old boy travelling with his French governess and tutor (Leslie Caron); she's tired of spending her days watching over a child, and he'd like to get away from Teacher for a while. Mrs. Pennicott (Ethel Barrymore), a older woman who happens to be a witch, hears Tommy wishing he could be a grown-up, and she grants his request: suddenly Tommy is a grown man (played by Farley Granger), but only for the next four hours. The Governess meets the mysterious stranger Tommy has become, and soon they fall in love. In the final segment, "Equilibrium," Kirk Douglas plays Pierre Narval, a high-wire artist who retired from performing after his partner died while performing a trapeze act, an accident Pierre blames on himself. He begins to reconsider his decision when he saves the life of Nina (Pier Angeli), a woman who attempted to drown herself; her husband died in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, and she feels she is to blame for his death. Their shared fatalism equals fearlessness in Pierre's eyes, and he teaches Nina the art of the trapeze; however, when he begins to fall in love with her, he's no longer so certain that he wants her to risk her life. "The Jealous Lover" and "Equilibrium" were directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, while "Mademoiselle" was directed by Vincente Minnelli. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based upon a thrice-filmed book by Sir Compton Mackenzie, Dance Pretty Lady is a romantic drama set in the Edwardian era. Jenny (Ann Casson) is a young Cockney lass who, despite her humble origins, is pursuing a career as a ballerina. Jenny meets Maurice (Carl Harbord), a young bohemian artist for whom money is no problem. She finds him attractive and falls in love with him. Maurice, for his part, is quite taken with her. However, he does not support the concept of marriage, and so asks her to be his mistress rather than his wife. Despite her love for him, Jenny wants no part of such an arrangement. Maurice eventually gives in and agrees to marry her, but Jenny does not want believe in his sincerity, and so the two part. After Maurice has left for the continent, Jenny realizes how much she desperately loves him and becomes extremely unhappy. Waiting for him to return, she pines away and grows disconsolate, at length believing that he has surely become involved with someone else. Despondent, she somehow falls into a relationship with Jack Danby, a friend of Maurice's, but is then filled with remorse. When Maurice finally returns, he learns of what is happened; initially upset, he then realizes that Jenny behaved this way because of her feelings for him and the way he treated her, and he makes a genuine offer of marriage to her. Dance marked the feature film debut of a young Hermione Gingold in a small role. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide