Frederick Ashton and Margot Fonteyn backstage at Cinderella (Ashton) 1948
Photo Felix Fonteyn
The history of the 20th-century ballet master who changed the art form with his distinctive flair for storytelling.
Written by
13 July 2026
Ballet fans across the world are celebrating Sir Frederick Ashton with a festival dedicated to the founding choreographer of the Royal Ballet and pioneer of British ballet style.
Between 2024 and 2028, The Frederick Ashton Foundation is hosting Ashton Worldwide, a calendar of performances and events across the world to pay tribute to Ashton and highlight the endless appeal of his dramatic, character-driven ballets.
The festival began on the 120th anniversary of Ashton's birth on 17 September 2024 and comes to an end on the 40th anniversary of his death on 18 August 2028.
Anna Pavlova, Paquita (Petipa) 1914
Photo Unknown
Synonymous with the ‘English’ style of ballet, Frederick Ashton was born in Ecuador in 1904 and raised in Peru. He was introduced to ballet at age 13 at a performance by Anna Pavlova and was immediately entranced by the art and the artist. Ashton recalled the life changing experience. "Seeing her at that stage was the end of me. She injected me with her poison, and from the end of that evening I wanted to dance."
Frederick Ashton, Facade (Ashton) 1935
Photo Gordon Anthony
Ashton didn’t begin dancing until the age of 20. Against his parents' wishes, he began taking classes in London with Léonide Massine and then studied under Marie Rambert, both of whom were former dancers in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Although he lacked the years of training and technique of most professional ballet dancers, Ashton’s unique lyricism saw him make his debut as a dancer on Good Friday, 10 April 1925. Ashton’s elegance and theatrical style were driving forces behind his ascension up the ballet ranks, and he made his debut as a danseur noble in Les Sylphides, partnering Tamara Karsavina. Ashton would go on to dance alongside some of the most renowned artists to have graced the stage, including Bronislava Nijinska and Léonide Massine.
As the ballet industry struggled to find its audience in Britain in the 1920s and 30s, Ashton continued to perform in commercial theatre to make ends meet. Even as the Vic Wells Ballet (later Sadlers-Wells and then the Royal Ballet) was becoming established under Ninette de Valois, Ashton was choreographing by day and moonlighting on stage in musical comedies and revues. His last performance of this kind was in London in the summer of 1938.
Ashton was invited to join the Vic Wells Ballet in 1935 by Ninette de Valois. It was here that Ashton would create his most beloved works and meet his muse, Margot Fonteyn.
During his lifetime, Ashton created more than 100 ballets, beginning with A Tragedy of Fashion in 1926 for Marie Rambert and ending with the 1983 premiere of Varii capricci at the Royal Ballet.
His early work reflected his fun-loving lifestyle as he associated with the upper echelons of English society. After serving in WWII, Ashton’s works reveal a mature choreographic voice interested in abstract ideas and narrative themes. The 1946 masterpiece Symphonic Variations continues to be performed 80 years later, as does the first full-length English ballet, Cinderella, created in 1948. Alongside Ondine (1958), La Fille Mal Gardée (1960), The Dream (1964) and Margarite and Armand (1963), Ashton’s legacy is ever-present in repertoires across the globe.
Ashton’s signature step was inspired by a movement Anna Pavlova performed in 1917. The ‘Fred Step’ is a sequence that typically includes a posé en arabesque, coupé dessous, small développé à la seconde, pas de bourrée dessous and pas de chat.
A letter from the Queen Mother to Sir Frederick Ashton
Photo Counting one's blessings: selected letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, William Shawcross
Ashton had many friends in high places, but perhaps none so impressive as the Queen Mother. Over the years, the pair developed a close friendship, and when Ashton was asked by Princess Margaret to choreograph a piece to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday, he created the one-act ballet, Rhapsody.
Set to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Rhapsody premiered on 4 August 1980 at the Royal Opera House with international superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov making a guest appearance in one of the principal roles.
To create a style that defined a nation, Ashton was inspired by four prominent dancers.
Anna Pavlova portrait
Image unknown
The ballerina who started it all. Infecting him with her "poison", Ashton’s obsession with classical technique comes from Pavlova’s purity and absolute grace.
Portrait of Isadora Duncan, circa 1906–1912
Photo courtesy of University of California
Ashton first saw American dancer Isadora Duncan perform in 1921, and just as he was mesmerised by Pavlova, he was fascinated by Duncan. Duncan’s style was influenced by natural movements seen in classical Greek arts, folk dances and the popularity of athletics in America. In 1976 Ashton created Five Brahms Waltzes in her memory.
Bronislava Nijinska, Bolero (Ravel) circa 1928
Photo Roger Viollet/Getty Images
The sister of Vaslav Nijinsky, Bronislava Nijinska inspired Ashton to find his own style. Under her mentorship he focused on articulating upper body movements, making his technique distinct from the Russian style that concentrated on lower limbs.
Margot Fonteyn, Homage to the Queen (Ashton) 1953
Photo Houston Rogers
Ashton’s muse. The pair met in 1935 at the Royal Ballet and remained close for decades. Their incredible partnership saw the creation of career-defining works for both artists that embodied both the English style of ballet and a deep respect for the art form and each other. Of Ashton, Fonteyn said, "Frederick Ashton's ear for music, his eye for movement and his perception of human nature make him to ballet as William Shakespeare is to drama."
"I believe simply that a ballet must be a good work of art, that it must express the choreographer’s vision of experience as truthfully and beautifully as possible." - Frederick Ashton, 1959
The Australian Ballet is lucky to have a wide range of Ashton ballets in our repertoire. Everything from Cinderella (where Ashton himself made a cameo alongside Robert Helpmann as a wicked stepsister) to Marguerite and Armand, Ashton’s ballets are an important part of our company’s history.
Robert Helpmann and Frederick Ashton, Cinderella (Ashton) 1972
Photo Paul Cox
Valerie Tereshchenko and Maxim Zenin, Marguerite and Armand (Ashton) 2023
Photo Daniel Boud
