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The Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1992 ballet adapted for stage by Anthony Dowell from the 1971 film The Tales of Beatrix Potter that was choreographed by Frederick Ashton that in turn was based on the children's books by Beatrix Potter.
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It is reported that Ashton himself did not want his original 1971 film to be transferred to the stage. [1] However, in 1992 Anthony Dowell did create an adaptation of the film. Dowell worked with the original film designer Christine Edzard and mask-maker Rotislav Doboujinsky. [2] The Tales of Beatrix Potter premièred on stage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 4 December 1992 in a double bill with Ashton's ballet The Dream . [3] [4]
The composer was John Lanchbery, [5] he put together a score from tunes by Minkus, Balfe, Offenbach, Sullivan and others. [6] Lanchbery not only composed the score but also conducted the orchestra for the 1992 production.[ citation needed ] Ashton's original film score had been stored on transparencies which had suffered from damp and rodent damage, so they had to be painstakingly pieced together for the stage adaptation. [7]
One of the challenges faced by the dancers in the stage production is that the costumes mean that many of the dancers have severely restricted view. [8] The masks created from the original 1971 film moulds [9] are made from polystyrene with holes drilled for breathing and vision are covered in gauze and flocking or hand sewn hair. [10] Doboujinsky built some of the costumes on everyday items such as cycle helmets. [11]
The critics did not review the original 1992 production favourably, considering it to be too long, lacking plot and missing Ashton's inspirational touch. Mary Clarke of The Guardian described the ballet as "nauseating" and finishing her review with the opinion that "Sir Fred would have been appalled." [12]
Susan Frater of the Evening Standard praised the Royal Ballet's 2007 revival as "charming" with wonderful sets and costumes. But also criticised it as overly long and for children. [13]
Clement Crisp reviewed the 2010 performance for the Financial Times , he considered Potter's characters "nauseating" the score "Victorian vulgar" and the costumes bloated. But he did acknowledge that the audience liked it. [14]
Helen Beatrix Heelis, usually known as Beatrix Potter, was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten, have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue.
The Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1971 ballet film based on the children's stories of English author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. The film was directed by Reginald Mills, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton, and featured dancers from The Royal Ballet. The musical score was arranged by John Lanchbery from various sources, such as the operas of Michael Balfe and of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Lanchbery. It was produced by Richard Goodwin with John Brabourne as executive producer. The stories were adapted by Goodwin and his wife designer Christine Edzard.
John Arthur Lanchbery OBE was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor of the Australian Ballet from 1972 to 1977, and Musical Director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1980. He continued to conduct regularly for the Royal Ballet until 2001.
Dame Antoinette Sibley is a British prima ballerina. She joined the Royal Ballet from the Royal Ballet School in 1956 and became a soloist in 1960. She was celebrated for her partnership with Anthony Dowell. After her retirement from dancing in 1989 she became President of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1991, and guest coach at the Royal Ballet (1991) and Governor, Royal Ballet Board (2000).
Christine Edzard is a film director, writer, and costume designer, nominated for BAFTA and Oscar awards for her screenwriting. She has been based in London for most of her career.
Sir Anthony James Dowell is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great danseurs nobles of the twentieth century.
Dame Merle Park, is a British ballet dancer and teacher, now retired. As a prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for "brilliance of execution and virtuoso technique" as well as for her ebullience and charm. Also admired for her dramatic abilities, she was praised as an actress who "textured her vivacity with emotional details."
Ivan Oleksandrovych Putrov is a Ukrainian-born ballet dancer and producer. He trained at The Kyiv State Choreographic Institute and at The Royal Ballet School. Upon graduation Sir Anthony Dowell invited him to join the Royal Ballet, which he did in September 1998. He has continued to dance with companies around the world, to organize dance events and to teach.
Adam Cooper is an English dancer. He works as both a performer and choreographer in musical theatre, and has choreographed and/or starred in award-winning shows such as On Your Toes, Singin' in the Rain and Grand Hotel. He began his professional career as a dancer of classical ballet and contemporary ballet and is a former Principal of the Royal Ballet, a major international ballet company based in London. He became internationally recognised for creating the lead role of "Swan/Stranger" in Matthew Bourne's contemporary dance production of the ballet Swan Lake, a role that was briefly featured in the 2000 film Billy Elliot, in which Cooper played the adult version of the titular character.
Pas de légumes is a ballet created in 1982 with choreography by Frederick Ashton, to the music of Rossini arranged by John Dalby.
Alexander Marshall Grant was a New Zealand ballet dancer, teacher, and company director. After moving to London as a young man, he became known as "the Royal Ballet's most remarkable actor-dancer in its golden period from the 1940s to the 1960s."
A Month in the Country is a narrative ballet created in 1976 with choreography by Frederick Ashton, to the music of Frédéric Chopin arranged by John Lanchbery. It is based on the play by Ivan Turgenev of the same name, and lasts for about 40 minutes.
Jazz Calendar is a ballet created in 1968 by Frederick Ashton to the music of Richard Rodney Bennett. The ballet was first performed on 9 January 1968 by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with designs by Derek Jarman. The work was performed over 50 times up to 1979 by the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden but is not part of the current repertoire. It was also produced in October 1990 at the Birmingham Hippodrome by Birmingham Royal Ballet.
The Dream is a one-act ballet adapted from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with choreography by Frederick Ashton to music by Mendelssohn arranged by John Lanchbery. It was premiered by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 2 April 1964 in a triple bill with Kenneth MacMillan's Images of Love and Robert Helpmann's Hamlet.
Derek Rencher was a British ballet dancer. A commanding figure among Royal Ballet character dancers for more than four decades, he was probably the most prolific performer in the company's history.
Symphonic Variations is a one-act ballet by Frederick Ashton set to the eponymous music of César Franck. The premiere, performed by the Sadler's Wells Ballet, took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 24 April 1946 in a triple bill; the other works were Ashton's Les Patineurs and Robert Helpmann's Adam Zero. The ballet was conducted by Constant Lambert and the set designed by Sophie Fedorovitch.
La fille mal gardée, Frederick Ashton's Royal Ballet production, began in 1959 when British choreographer Frederick Ashton created a new version of La fille mal gardée for the Royal Ballet of London. This production premiered on 28 January 1960, with Nadia Nerina as Lise, David Blair as Colas, Stanley Holden as the Widow Simone, and Alexander Grant as Alain. Since its inception Ashton's staging has become a celebrated classic of the ballet repertory.
Stories from a Flying Trunk is a 1979 film based on three stories by Hans Christian Andersen. It was devised, written and directed by Christine Edzard and produced by John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin.
Rostislav Doboujinsky was a Russian designer of costumes, masks, sets and interiors, and a painter and illustrator. He belonged to the second generation of Russian artists who developed the tradition of the 'Ballets Russes' in Western Europe. He was noted for his work on Louis Jouvet's Ondine by Jean Giraudoux in the 1930s and Max Ophul's film Le Plaisir in 1951, for the mouse masks and costumes he created for Rudolf Nureyev's The Nutcracker (1967), the costumes for The Sleeping Beauty ballet at London's Covent Garden (1968) and the animal masks for The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971). He achieved international success with his masks for Alfredo Arias's adaption of Balzac's Peines de Coeur d'une Chatte Anglaise (1977).
