A Knight of The British Ballet

During the tenure of director Iain Webb, The Sarasota Ballet has gained an international reputation for the quality and frequency of performances by the great British choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton. Webb’s passion for the ballets of Ashton has also caught on with The Sarasota Ballet audiences. This series of five performances honors the knighted choreographer, Sir Fred, and includes the US premiere of his Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, February 24 26, 2012 at FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Set to the orchestral work of the same name by Maurice Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales is one of Ashton’s rare abstract ballets with no narrative created in the post-WW II period which soon led to his most mature creative period again firmly rooted in the dramatic foundation of the British Ballet tradition. Webb, himself, performed in and worked closely with Ashton when he recreated the work with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1987. It was the last ballet Ashton revived for the company. This work has never been performed in the United States.