Rhapsody (Ashton)
Rhapsody is a one-act ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton to Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The ballet was made for both Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 80th birthday, and Mikhail Baryshnikov's guest appearance with the Royal Ballet. It premiered on 4 August 1980, at the Royal Opera House, with the two principal roles danced by Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier. The ballet is dedicated to the Queen Mother. Choreography Ashton had stated that his inspiration was "not just from the nineteenth-century classics, but from classicism." He added, "I've worked to develop my classicism so as to enrich and fit in with the repertory of a classical company." The ballet is danced by a principal couple and a corps de ballet of six men and six women. The lead male role resembles the virtuosic Russian ballet style. Some critics interpret this role as the embodiment of the violin. The female principal role is in the British ballet style. She only enters the stage half-way through the ballet. The contrast becomes less obvious when the principal male role is danced by Royal Ballet-trained dancers. The two mostly dance separately, but the moments when they are together have been compared to Fred