Ashton Triple Bill: Les Patineurs / Divertissements / Scènes de ballet DVD (The Royal Ballet)

Founder Choreographer of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton created more than 100 ballets over a 60-year career. Showcasing three of his shorter works, this disc reflects the breadth of his sophisticated, elegant and widely popular style. Les Patineurs evokes the Edwardian skating rink, with all its youthful charm and humour, in contrast to Scènes de Ballet, in which sharp geometric shapes and the music of Igor Stravinsky are combined to create perhaps Ashton's most modernist work. Divertissements, a collection of eight short dances, features some of Ashton's most lyrical choreography, including pas de deux set to Romantic masterpieces by Tchaikovsky and Massenet.

Les Patineurs

Music: Giacomo Meyerbeer

Dancers: Laura Morera, Samantha Raine, Steven McRae, Sarah Lamb, Rupert Pennefather, Christina Arestis, Francesca Filpi, Ryoichi Hirano, Kenta Kura, Liam Scarlett, Andrej Uspenski.

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Paul Murphy

Divertissements

Tchaikovsky, Awakening Pas de deux (1968) – dancers Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope

Massenet, Thaïs Pas de deux (1971) – dancers Mara Galeazzi and Thiago Soares

Paganini, Devil's Holiday Variation (1939) – dancers Viacheslav Samodurov

Brahms, Five Brahms Waltzes in the manner of Isadora Duncan (1975) – dancer Tamara Rojo

J Strauss, Voices of Spring Pas de deux (1977) – dancers Leanne Benjamin and Carlos Acosta

Tommasini after Paganini, Devil's Holiday Pas de deux (1939) – dancers Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Barry Wordsworth

Scènes de ballet

Music: Igor Stravinsky

Dancers: Miyako Yoshida, Ivan Putrov, Edward Watson, Lauren Cuthbertson

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Barry Wordsworth

Plus: Interviews with dancers from Les Patineurs

Sound: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1(5.0)

Format: NTSC

Region code: 0 (worldwide)

Duration: 96 mins

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES