STAGING
Produced by Nicholas Sergeyev after the choreography of Marius Petipa, with additions by Frederick Ashton and Ninette de Valois
MUSIC
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (La Belle au bois dormant, ballet, opus 66)
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Oliver Messel
DANCERS
Princess Aurora: Margot Fonteyn; Prince Florimund: Robert Helpmann; The Lilac Fairy: Beryl Grey; Carabosse: Robert Helpmann
Act I Garland Dance: corps de ballet
Act III Florestan and his Two Sisters: Moira Shearer, Gerd Larsen, Michael Somes (first woman’s variation by Marius Petipa, from Jewels pas de quatre; from 20 January 1950 the programme credit for this pas de trois read “by Frederick Ashton after Petipa”)
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 20 February 1946
New Stagings / Productions
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, 1952
DANCERS
Act II Aurora’s Variation (“after Marius Petipa”)
Aurora: Beryl Grey
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 9 January 1952
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, 1955
DANCERS
Act III Florimund’s Variation (“after Marius Petipa”)
Florimund: Michael Somes
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 23 February 1955
NBC Television, 1955
STAGING
Adapted for television by Frederick Ashton
DANCERS
Princess Aurora: Margot Fonteyn; Prince Florimund: Michael Somes; Lilac Fairy: Beryl Grey; Carabosse: Frederick Ashton
FIRST PERFORMANCE
NBC Television (Producers’ Showcase), New York NY, 12 December 1955
Royal Ballet touring section, 1959
STAGING
Royal Ballet touring section
DANCERS
Aurora: Anya Linden
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Grand Theatre, Leeds, 14 September 1959
Royal Ballet, 1963
STAGING
The Rose Adagio; specially produced by Frederick Ashton
DANCERS
Aurora: Nadia Nerina
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Performance, Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 4 November 1963
Royal Ballet, 1964
STAGING
Act II The Awakening Scene
DANCERS
Aurora: Violette Verdy; Florimund: David Blair
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 29 February 1964
Royal Ballet, 1968
NEW PRODUCTION
Production devised and staged by Peter Wright, with new and additional choreography by Frederick Ashton
SCENERY
Henry Bardon
COSTUMES
Lila de Nobili and Rostislav Doboujinsky
DANCERS
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 17 December 1968
Royal Ballet, 1973
NEW PRODUCTION
Royal Ballet; produced and with new and additional choreography by Kenneth MacMillan
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Peter Farmer
DANCERS
This production retained Ashton’s choreography for Prince Florimund’s variation in Act II: Anthony Dowell
Fairy of Joy, incorporated into a new Jewels pas de six in Act III: Georgina Parkinson
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 15 March 1973
Royal Ballet, 1977
NEW PRODUCTION
Royal Ballet; production by Ninette de Valois
SCENERY & COSTUMES
David Walker
DANCERS
This production included the following numbers by Ashton:
Act I Garland Dance (1946 version)
Act II Florimund’s variation: Anthony Dowell
Aurora’s variation: Lesley Collier
Pas de deux (Awakening Scene) (later omitted): Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell
Act III Florestan and his Sisters: Stephen Beagley, Wendy Ellis, Laura Connor
(Connor’s variation was that for the Fairy of Joy from the 1968 production)
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 14 October 1977
Royal Ballet, 1994
NEW PRODUCTION
Royal Ballet; production by Anthony Dowell
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Maria Bjornson
DANCERS
This production included the following numbers by Ashton:
Act II Florimund’s variation: Zoltan Solymosi
Aurora’s variation: Darcey Bussell
Act III Gold, Silver, Sapphire, and Diamond (replacing Florestan and his Sisters):
Entrée and coda (Dowell after Ashton): William Trevitt, Deborah Bull, Sara Gallie, Muriel Valtat
Sapphire variation (formerly Fairy of Joy): Sara Gallie
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Kennedy Center, Washington DC, 6 April 1994
Royal Ballet/Paris Opera Ballet, 2004
STAGING
Royal Ballet/Paris Opera Ballet; Awakening pas de deux only
REPRODUCED BY
Donald Macleary
DANCERS
Darcey Bussell, Laurent Hilaire
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Entente Cordiale gala, Opéra National de Paris, Palais Garnier, 29 September 2004
Royal Ballet, 2006
NEW PRODUCTION
Royal Ballet; production by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, staging by Christopher Carr
SCENERY & COSTUMES
After Oliver Messel, realized and with additional designs by Peter Farmer
DANCERS
This production included the following numbers by Ashton:
Act II Florimund’s variation (Sarabande): Johan Kobborg
Aurora’s Variation: Alina Cojocaru
Act III Florestan and his Sisters (Entrée and Coda): Martin Harvey, Belinda Hatley, Deirdre Chapman
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 15 May 2006
By Other Companies
Royal Danish Ballet, 1957
STAGING
Royal Danish Ballet; Prince’s Act III solo (1955) in a production of the ballet by Ninette de Valois
DANCERS
Henning Kronstam
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Kongelige Teater, Copenhagen, B March 1957
Gala Ballet Season, 1978
STAGING
Gala Ballet Season; “Awakening” pas de deux only
DANCERS
Lynn Seymour and Stephen Jefferies
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Festival Hall, London, 7 August 1978
Boston Ballet, 2005
STAGING
Boston Ballet: Act I Garland Dance (1945) and Act II Florimund’s variation (1968) in a production of the ballet by Patricia Ruanne
DANCERS
Nelson Madrigal
SCENERY & COSTUMES
David Walker (Royal Ballet 1977)
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Wang Theatre, Boston MA, 5 May 2005
New York City Ballet, 1991
STAGING
New York City Ballet: Act II Aurora’s variation after Frederick Ashton (1952), uncredited; in a production of the ballet by Peter Martins
DANCERS
Darci Kistler
SCENERY
David Mitchell
COSTUMES
Patricia Zipprodt
FIRST PERFORMANCE
New York State Theater, New York NY, 24 April 1991
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