La Valse
The stage is filled with swirling dancers in Frederick Ashton’s atmospheric ballet set to a haunting score by Ravel.
Photos
Introduction
A large corps de ballet whirls across the stage and three couples dance pas de deux, evoking a nostalgic vision of a 19th-century ballroom.
News and features
Cinema screenings of The Royal Ballet's Frederick Ashton Mixed Programme confirmed
UK audiences can relive Tamara Rojo's final ROH performance on 15 July.
Background
By the 20th century the Viennese waltz was a fading art form. Maurice Ravel’s score was commissioned by dance impresario Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes company. Although Diaghilev never used the score – claiming it was not a ballet but ‘the portrait of a ballet’ – both Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine choreographed powerful works for it. Having danced in Nijinska’s 1929 version, Frederick Ashton created his own evocative interpretation in 1958.
Ashton’s La Valse depicts the distant world of 19th-century Imperial Vienna. The stage is filled with dancers in tailcoats and ball gowns, who whirl beneath golden chandeliers and elegant drapes. A driving, visceral rhythm underlies the swooping waltz melodies, gradually growing in intensity and ultimately overwhelming the music – interpreted by some critics as a representation of the destruction wrought by World War I and of the decline of the Imperial world.
Thanks to
Generous philanthropic support from
Lady Ashcroft, Marina Hobson MBE and Lindsay and Sarah Tomlinson
How to support the Royal Opera House
Please note
On 15 and 21 February there will be cameras filming in the auditorium.
Running time
As a mixed programme the performance lasts about 2 hours 35 minutes | including two intervals
Credits
| Choreography | Frederick Ashton |
| Music | Maurice Ravel |
| Designs | André Levasseur |
| Lighting design | John B Read |
| Staging | Christopher Carr |
Related links
- en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia: La Valse
- www.guardian.co.uk Step-by-step guide to dance: Frederick Ashton
