P7 – FOUNDATIONS OF ROYALTY

Closing the 2025 – 2026 Season in grand style, Program Seven presents a captivating triple bill of masterpieces by renowned choreographers Sir Frederick Ashton, Dame Ninette de Valois, and Sir Peter Wright. Sir Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering gracefully opens the Program with its exquisite choreography. Created in 1956 to celebrate The Royal Ballet’s 25th Anniversary, Ashton choreographed the piece on the company’s seven legendary ballerinas. A grand, sumptuous affair, Birthday Offering takes seven couples through a series of variations set to Alexander Glazunov’s music, arranged by Robert Irving, culminating in a stunning ensemble waltz.

The Program continues with Checkmate, presented in honor of Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet, marking the 25th anniversary of her passing. Checkmate is regarded as the cornerstone of British ballet and is a striking example of de Valois’s dramatic choreography. The ballet brings a chess game to life, infusing the pieces with human emotion. As the ballet unfolds, the ruthless Black Queen hunts her prey—the aging Red King—in a gripping battle of power and fate.

A breathtaking end to the Program is Wright’s Summertide, which will celebrate the choreographer’s 100^th birthday as of November 25, 2026. An abstract expression of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2, this work captures the brilliance of a radiant day in a one-act ballet. Choreographed in 1976 for the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, with the principal role created for The Sarasota Ballet’s very own Margaret Barbieri, Summertide found a perfect home in Sarasota with its 2015 revival.

Repertoire will include:

Birthday Offering 
Choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton
Music by Alexander Glazunov

Checkmate
Choreography by Dame Ninette de Valois
Music by Sir Arthur Bliss

Summertide
Choreography by Sir Peter Wright
Music by Felix Mendelssohn

Featuring Live Music by the Sarasota Orchestra

SARASOTA ORCHESTRA