Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1904 of English parents, Sir Frederick Ashton was raised in Peru. It was there, in Lima, that he became interested in dance when, at the age of fourteen, he saw Anna Pavlova perform. Ashton pursued his interest in dance in England, studying with Leonide Massine and Marie Rambert, who commissioned his first choreographed work, A Tragedy of Fashion, in 1926. After a year of dancing in the United States under the direction of Bronislava Nijinska, he returned to England and helped found the Ballet Club, which became Ballet Rambert. During this time, he partnered with and created roles for a variety of ballerinas. In 1935 he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet as a dancer and choreographer, remaining there as the company developed into the Royal Ballet. Ashton became one of the company's artistic directors in 1948 and then director in 1963.
Ashton was perhaps the best-loved and most influential contemporary British dancer and choreographer. Incredibly prolific, he created more than 60 works, many of which form the basic repertoire of the Royal Ballet today. These include such works as La Fille Mal Gardee (1960), Marguerite and Armand (1963), A Month in the Country (1979), and Rhapsody (1980).
In addition to his work in ballet, Ashton choreographed musicals and collaborated with both Benjamin Britten and Virgil Thomson. In 1962 he was knighted and made Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.
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