ROH / Frederick Ashton Foundation licensing - amateur production

[barrybounce]

Hello!

 

Has anyone ever tried / managed to get rights for an amateur production of the above?  I'm wondering if it's something that would take time or something they're just not going to let us do!

Edited October 30, 2022 by barrybounce

[Guest oncnp]

11 minutes ago, barrybounce said:

Hello!

 

Has anyone ever tried / managed to get rights for an amateur production of the above?  I'm wondering if it's something that would take time or something they're just not going to let us do!

 

Have you asked them? Ashton Ballet Owners (frederickashton.org.uk)

[barrybounce]

I've tried to!  I've sent e-mails, tried the phone number (disconnected) and left messages via the ROH telephone number.

 

I'm wondering if it's something anyone has managed to do and that will just take time, or a hope I should give up on.

Edited October 30, 2022 by barrybounce

[bangorballetboy]

Which ballet are you interested in?  If it's one owned by Anthony Russell-Roberts, you can get his contact details here.

[Peanut68]

This is a very interesting thread….I’ve often wondered what the copyright & license situation is with older choreography/music etc….

[barrybounce]

It would be La Fille that we'd be after (and in the UK anything other than an Ashton / Lanchberry based version would be unlikely to go down well with audience). 

[alison]

I must say, I can't see an amateur performance of Fille being a viable option.

[barrybounce]

For licensing reasons? 

[Jan McNulty]

5 hours ago, barrybounce said:

For licensing reasons? 

For difficulty reasons!

[Pas de Quatre]

I know for Musical Theatre it is quite normal to purchase a License for a West End show for schools or amateur productions, sometimes a cut down version.  But I have never heard of this for anything other than a professional company production in the ballet world. 

[barrybounce]

Err... Not sure how to respond to that! Our Swan Lake and Don Quixote were really pretty reasonable, so the question here is definitely about the licensing! 

[bangorballetboy]

The rights for Fille are owned by Jean-Pierre Gasquet.

[bangorballetboy]

8 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

This is a very interesting thread….I’ve often wondered what the copyright & license situation is with older choreography/music etc….

In the UK, copyright continues for 70 years after the death of the relevant creator. Ashton died in 1988 and Lanchbery in 2003 so quite a while to go for Fille!

[barrybounce]

9 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

This is a very interesting thread….I’ve often wondered what the copyright & license situation is with older choreography/music etc….

 

In general terms the sensible approach is to do only old things that are out of copyright (and it's a taken a few years since he last time we licensed something before we've wanted to try again).

[FLOSS]

One thing you have to remember about every Ashton ballet even the earliest ones is that they are far more difficult to dance than they seem. Even in his early days with Rambert, the Camargo Society and Ballet Club he was working with outstanding interpretative artists and the occasional bravura technician such as Harold Turner and that in Markova he had a dancer who combined great technical skill with artistry. In addition Ashton's works were created working in an aesthetic world in which all the effort put into performing a ballet's choreography must never be seen on stage.

 

Fille may appear to be a charming unchallenging work but that is because the dancers who appear in it make it seem so. It is full of technical challenges particularly for those undertaking the roles of Colas and Lise which were made on the company's leading technicians of the time.When it was new  concerns were expressed about who would be able to dance Fille when the original cast retired. In fact the role that has proved most difficult to cast has been that of Alain which was created on Alexander Grant who was one of the greatest character dancers I have ever seen. I would think that the only Ashton work which an amateur company might be able to tackle would be Capriol Suite. I think that you need to bear in mind when thinking about staging ballets which were made nearly a century ago is that if they are still in copyright, and many are, the right's owner will want to protect the choreographer's reputation by ensuring that only companies who are up to the challenges which a work presents actually dance it.