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Façade is a one-act ballet of seven to ten divertissements, described by the ballet critic Debra Crane as "choreographic satires on popular dance forms and their dancers". There is no plot. The numbers as danced in the original production are: Scotch Rhapsody Jodelling Song Polka Valse Popular Song Tango-Pasodoble Finale – Tarantella Sevillana. Ashton revised the ballet over the years. "Country Dance" was added in 1935 and "Noche Espagnola" and "Foxtrot" were added in 1940.
Widow Popova insists she remains faithful to her late husband, while her servant Luka doubts her grief. When creditor Smirnov arrives to collect a debt, their quarrel escalates until they aim pistols at one another; instead, they fall in love, leaving Luka astonished.
A spoof of an Edwardian country-house shooting party: six dancers dressed as pheasants open the ballet, then Lady de Fontenoy’s admirer accidentally shoots her during the party. She dies in his arms while the guests look on.
St George and Una are separated by the magician Archimago and the false Una, Duessa. After a sequence of encounters with the knights and the Seven Deadly Sins, St George recognizes the deception, reunites with Una, and departs on a quest after pledging himself to England.
In Troy, Cressida falls in love with Troilus, but during a prisoner exchange she is sent to the Greek camp. Her messages from Troilus are intercepted, and believing he has forgotten her, she accepts Diomede; when Troilus arrives, Calkas kills him, and Cressida dies by suicide.
Frederick Ashton’s commemorative ballet is set in the garden of William Walton’s home on Ischia. It depicts a mild flirtation between La Capricciosa and Lo Straniero.
Façade is a one-act ballet of seven to ten divertissements, described by the ballet critic Debra Crane as "choreographic satires on popular dance forms and their dancers". There is no plot. The numbers as danced in the original production are: Scotch Rhapsody Jodelling Song Polka Valse Popular Song Tango-Pasodoble Finale – Tarantella Sevillana. Ashton revised the ballet over the years. "Country Dance" was added in 1935 and "Noche Espagnola" and "Foxtrot" were added in 1940.
Widow Popova insists she remains faithful to her late husband, while her servant Luka doubts her grief. When creditor Smirnov arrives to collect a debt, their quarrel escalates until they aim pistols at one another; instead, they fall in love, leaving Luka astonished.
A spoof of an Edwardian country-house shooting party: six dancers dressed as pheasants open the ballet, then Lady de Fontenoy’s admirer accidentally shoots her during the party. She dies in his arms while the guests look on.
St George and Una are separated by the magician Archimago and the false Una, Duessa. After a sequence of encounters with the knights and the Seven Deadly Sins, St George recognizes the deception, reunites with Una, and departs on a quest after pledging himself to England.
In Troy, Cressida falls in love with Troilus, but during a prisoner exchange she is sent to the Greek camp. Her messages from Troilus are intercepted, and believing he has forgotten her, she accepts Diomede; when Troilus arrives, Calkas kills him, and Cressida dies by suicide.
Frederick Ashton’s commemorative ballet is set in the garden of William Walton’s home on Ischia. It depicts a mild flirtation between La Capricciosa and Lo Straniero.