Stichprobe: Ashtons «Sylvia» am Royal Ballet

The Holy Grail of the repertoire, unseen for over forty years, “Sylvia“ has risen like a phoenix from the ashes to renew our estimation of Frederick Ashton‘s genius. Created in 1952 as a showcase for the incomparable Margot Fonteyn it has been through many revisions of its complex structure and was last seen in 1967 as a one act “highlights“ version.

The story has a flimsy narrative line: Aminta the shepherd falls in love with Sylvia, a huntress of Diana who shoots him with an arrow; Eros in turn shoots her and after her abduction by Orion she is reunited with her lover with the blessing of the gods. At the time of its premiere the ballet was paying homage to the French style of the Second Empire but now “Sylvia,“ in dance steps and designs, is also a repository of the aesthetic values of post war London and Ashton’s own impeccable taste. The revival by Christopher Newton, based on fragments of film and the vivid memories of dancers, is exemplary and contains no false choreographic notes. He has caught the perfume of the original and deserves Sir Fred‘s benediction. The original Robin and Christopher Ironside designs, with their aura of classical apotheosis, are re-vivified and ...