| Described by Ashton as his ‘reaction to the whole stupidity and devastation of war’, Dante Sonata was devised on a Vic-Wells tour as World War II began to break out. Taking Dante’s Inferno as its inspiration, and set to music by Liszt, arranged by Constant Lambert, the ballet’s expressionistic choreography depicts a struggle between the forces of good and evil through ‘two groups of equally tortured spirits’ – the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness. It had an enormous impact on critics and audiences alike at its premiere, which featured Ashton devotees including Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, Pamela May, June Brae and Robert Helpmann. Having disappeared from the repertory in the early 1950s, the ballet was revived in 2000 for Birmingham Royal Ballet, with the help of three original cast members. |
MUSIC
Franz Liszt, orchestrated by Constant Lambert (Fantaisie, quasi Sonate: d’après une lecture de Dante, from Années de Pélérinage: Seconde Année-ltalie, 1848)
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Sophie Fedorovitch, after John Flaxman (1755-1826)
DANCERS
Children of Light*: Margot Fonteyn, Pamela May, Julia Farron, Michael Somes; Children of Darkness*: June Brae, Joy Newton, Robert Helpmann; and corps de ballet
*These designations did not appear in the opening night programme but were added later.
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Vic-Wells Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, 23 January 1940
New Stagings / Productions
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, 1946
STAGING
Sadler’s Wells Ballet
DANCERS
Children of Light: Margot Fonteyn, Pamela May, David Paltenghi; Children of Darkness: Beryl Grey, Robert Helpmann
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 20 March 1946
Royal Ballet, 1970
STAGING
Royal Ballet; Tribute to Sir Frederick Ashton; solo for Pamela May only
DANCERS
Monica Mason
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 24 July 1970
Ballet for All, 1972
STAGING
Ballet for All; excerpt only
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 13 October 1972
Birmingham Royal Ballet, 2000
NEW PRODUCTION
Birmingham Royal Ballet
REPRODUCED BY
Jean Bedells, Pauline Clayden, Pamela May
DANCERS
Children of Light: Monica Zamora, Andrea Tredinnick, Wolfgang Stollwitzer; Children of Darkness: Asya Verzhbinsky, Dominic Antonucci
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham, 14 April 2000
Copyright © 2004 by David Vaughan
This listing is part of a chronology that was originally published in Vaughan’s Frederick Ashton and His Ballets (Alfred E Knopf 1976; 2nd ed., London: Dance Books, 1999) and includes new productions added since then, and up until 2007