Sylvia – Act III solo (Darcey Bussell, The Royal Ballet)

Former Royal Ballet Principal dancer Darcey Bussell performs the Act III solo in Ashton’s sparkling ballet, Sylvia.

Frederick Ashton’s delightful full-length classical ballet is a charming feast for the senses, set to Delibes’ marvelous score. Sylvia was Frederick Ashton’s second full-length ballet, created in 1952 as a sparkling showpiece for his muse Margot Fonteyn. Ashton used Delibes’ gorgeous 1876 score – famously beloved by Tchaikovsky, who praised its ‘charm and elegance… its riches in melody, rhythm, harmony. The ballet fell from the repertory but in 2004 was reconstructed by Christopher Newton for Ashton’s centenary – so rescuing from the archives a seminal work of Ashton’s English style.