Trainee Ashton Stager Helen Crawford coaching Royal Ballet First Artist Lara Turk in Ashton’s Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan © Andrej Uspenski

by Sandra Madgwick, Executive Producer, The Frederick Ashton Foundation

Over the last five decades, a dedicated team of Ashton dancers and choreologists has faithfully taught and staged his works. Made up primarily of those who performed and created roles in Ashton’s ballets during his lifetime, this group of artists holds intricate and irreplaceable first-hand knowledge of how Ashton intended his ballets to be seen. This is now at risk of being lost as many take their final bows and look towards retirement. To ensure the Foundation maintains the highest level of consistency and authenticity in the staging of Ashton’s ballets, we are developing a programme to train a new cohort of Ashton Stagers. This next generation will be equipped by the Foundation – and by the artists who came before them – to teach, coach and stage Ashton’s works in the future, safeguarding his legacy for generations to come.

As you might imagine, this is no small undertaking. Alongside our pool of highly skilled mentors, who are generously passing on their invaluable experience and insight, the Foundation has partnered with Benesh International to pilot the Benesh Stagers Training Programme (BSTP). The BSTP has been specifically designed to equip future stagers with the skills required to take a ballet from its first rehearsal through to opening night.

Currently in its trial phase, the BSTP consists of two complementary strands: studying how to read Benesh Movement Notation together with a series of non-Benesh modules, with units covering preparation, music and production. These modules have a generic framework as they are intended to support stagers working with any choreographer. To make the training Ashton-specific, each Ashton trainee is allocated a particular Ashton ballet to study, allowing them to scaffold and apply their learning directly to a designated work.

Of course, nothing can replace experience in the studio. To support this vital aspect of training, the Foundation has implemented a bespoke Shadowing Scheme. During this phase trainees attend rehearsals to observe first-hand how Ashton’s ballets are taught, coached and refined as they progress toward the stage. This immersive experience is essential in developing each trainee’s artistic insight and readiness for future staging work.

“It was not only a wonderful privilege to observe rehearsals of La Fille mal gardée during this autumn’s revival by The Royal Ballet, but an invaluable experience for me at this point in my studies on the BSTP,” says Daniel Pratt, a former First Soloist with The Sarasota Ballet and current trainee Ashton Stager. “Witnessing the whole arc of rehearsals, from the first day through to opening night, revealed how the theory studied comes alive, and illustrates just how varied the skills a stager employs are in the sensitive reproduction of these wonderful works of art.” Our trainee stagers are absorbing all they can from their mentors, developing their skills in research, rehearsal planning and the complex process of mounting the work on stage. “It was the deepest joy to dance Ashton’s ballets, and what the Ashton Foundation’s collaboration with the BSTP is making vivid for me is how a stager is not only a teacher of the work, but a true custodian equipped with meticulous research and sensitivity to make the world of the particular ballet come alive,” says Daniel. “The BSTP is giving me all the skills I need to be confident to pass this treasure trove of Ashton ballets on so they can be enjoyed in as authentic a way as possible for many years to come. It has been a thrill, and I am so excited to keep learning and developing with the outstanding care and insight of the team at the Foundation.”