| Horoscope was choreographed by Ashton to music by Constant Lambert – whose particular interest in astrology provided the inspiration for the ballet – with designs by Sophie Fedorovitch. Focussing on the relationship between ‘a man who has the sun in Leo and the moon in Gemini, and a woman who also has the moon in Gemini but whose sun is in Virgo’, the ballet was a showcase for the talents of the young Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes. It marked an important milestone in the history of British ballet—regarded as one of the most mature and serious works Ashton had produced to date, and as one of Lambert’s most accomplished ballet scores. Sadly, the ballet had just 29 performances before the full score was lost in the Netherlands in 1940, when German forces invaded and the Vic-Wells Ballet had to leave the country in haste. |
MUSIC
Constant Lambert
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Sophie Fedorovitch
DANCERS
The Young Man (Sun in Leo, Moon in Gemini): Michael Somes; The Young Woman (Sun in Virgo, Moon in Gemini): Margot Fonteyn; The Gemini: Richard Ellis, Alan Carter; The Moon: Pamela May; Followers of Leo, Followers of Virgo, Attendants on the Moon: corps de ballet
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Vic-Wells Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, 27 January 1938
New Stagings / Productions
Royal Ballet, 1970
STAGING
Royal Ballet; Tribute to Sir Frederick Ashton; solo for The Moon only
DANCERS
Vyvyan Lorrayne
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 24 July 1970
Ballet for All, 1972
STAGING
Ballet for All; Young Man’s solo only
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 13 October 1972
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