Sir Anthony Dowell, Artistic Director

Great Britain's Royal Ballet is deserving of its title: regal and elegant, these superbly trained classical dancers are equally at home in the classics and contemporary repertoire. In this eagerly anticipated return engagement--The Royal Ballet's first appearance at the Kennedy Center since 1995--the company will dance works by its Founder Choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton, including the sparkling, comic, full length ballet, La Fille mal gardTe. Don't miss the opportunity to see this legendary choreographer's works performed by the company for whom they were created.

Four of Ashton's Finest
Les Rendezvous is a joyous explosion of color and motion, with fanciful costumes designed by Anthony Ward and music composed by Constant Lambert, considered by critics to be the "architect of English ballet music." Thais pas de deux is derived from Massanet's opera Don Cesar de Bazan, in which the courtesan Thais is urged by the lovelorn monk Athanael to convert to Christianity and join a convent; from this tale, Ashton created a lovely dream sequence made famous by Antoinette Sibley and current Royal ballet Artistic Director Sir Anthony Dowell. Symphonic Variations, the first ballet created by Ashton after his return from WWII in 1946, stands as a personal statement of his belief in dance for its own sake. Set to the lush music of Cesar Franck, the work is a dazzling showcase for the dancers' virtuosity. Marguerite and Armand contains unforgettable images of searing emotion expressed through movement, as courtesan Marguerite Gautier, on her deathbed, recalls her passionate love for the noble Armand; Ashton's source is the 19th century French play La Dame aux camellias, the basis for both Verdi's opera La Traviata and the Greta Garbo film Camille, and the sublime score is Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor.

Tuesday, June 5:
LES RENDEZVOUS Yoshida, Kobborg
THAIS PAS DE DEUX Benjamin, Cooper
SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS Cojocaru, Wildor, Rojo, Burley, Persson, Sasaki
MARGUERITE & ARMAND Guillem, Le Riche

Wednesday June 6:
LES RENDEZVOUS Revie, Sasaki
THAIS PAS DE DEUX Benjamin, Cooper
SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS Yoshida, Hatley, Tapper Urlezaga, Kobborg, Essakow
MARGUERITE & ARMAND Guillem, Le Riche

Thursday, June 7:
LES RENDEZVOUS Yoshida, Kobborg
THAIS PAS DE DEUX Benjamin, Cooper
SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS Cojocaru, Wildor, Rojo Burley, Persson, Sasaki
MARGUERITE & ARMAND Guillem, Cope

Friday, June 8:
LA FILLE MAL GARDEE Yoshida, Persson, Page, Howells

Saturday, June 9 - Matinee:
LA FILLE MAL GARDEE Burn, Kobborg, Heydon, Ciriaci

Saturday, June 9 -Evening:
LA FILLE MAL GARDEE Wildor, Stiefel, Tuckett, Sapsford

Sunday, June 10 -Matinee:
LA FILLE MAL GARDEE Hatley, Urlezaga, Marriott, Cervera

Tickets on sale 2/11/01