London Calling: For The Sarasota Ballet, Answering the Call Meant Coming Home

By Scott Ferguson | Photos courtesy of The Sarasota Ballet | September 2024

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When The Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb and Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri were invited to bring The Sarasota Ballet to London this summer to perform at The Royal Opera House, they were thrilled — and just a bit nervous. At various stages in their careers they had been dancers with The Royal Ballet, one of the great ballet companies of the world. Founded in 1931 and based at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden since 1946, the company has a rich tradition of artistic excellence.

The Sarasota Ballet, founded in 1987 and only becoming a full resident ballet company in 1990, is a very young company in comparison. But its stature in the ballet world has grown exponentially.  

 “What an amazing thing for The Royal Ballet director, Kevin O’Hare, to invite us,” says Webb. “But the most exciting thing for me about the trip was to pay tribute to (acclaimed British ballet choreographer) Sir Frederick Ashton, whom I absolutely worship. It’s such an amazing gift for the dancers to be able to perform not just in London, but in the Royal Opera House. For The Royal Ballet, The Sarasota Ballet and the Ashton Foundation to launch a five-year worldwide celebration of his works was quite something.” 

Sir Frederick Ashton (1904-1988) choreographed his first ballet in 1926. Beginning in the 1930s, he served in various roles at The Royal Ballet and its precursors, as principal choreographer, associate director and director. Following his retirement as director in 1970, he devoted his remaining years to choreography. Both Webb and Barbieri trained under Ashton and are in awe of his legacy. 

“It was great to represent Sarasota in London, and for our company to perform at one of the top dance venues in the world,” Webb says proudly. “But it was really about bringing the Ashton ballets back home.”

The Sarasota Ballet took almost 40 dancers and several staff members to London. A group of donors who helped finance the trip and other patrons came along to cheer them on. 

“It was incredible,” says Webb, “an amazing experience. We were so proud of the dancers. They were really tremendous; I couldn’t have asked for anything more than they gave. The audience fell in love with the dancers and obviously they love Sir Fred’s works. But it was quite nerve-wracking. It was the most pressure I’ve ever been under in my whole career.”

Barbieri adds, “It was even more nerve-wracking than if we were up there dancing ourselves. When our dancers were up there on that stage, I’m sure they were nervous, but they got up there and danced and they were beautiful. And even though we were in the audience, in our minds we were dancing every step of every person’s role.”

The Ashton ballets performed by The Sarasota Ballet at the intimate Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House included Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Dante Sonata, Sinfonietta, Diverts and Façade. The Sarasota dancers were joined by members of The Royal Ballet on the main stage for The Walk to the Paradise Garden.

Jennifer Hackbarth, a principal dancer with The Sarasota Ballet, says the productions they took to London “showed such a spectrum of Ashton’s works. It really gave audiences a taste of different facets of his choreography.”

Daniel Pratt, a first soloist, adds, “It’s a really interesting look at Sir Frederick Ashton’s work. Audiences here in Sarasota have seen many of his ballets in recent years, but in Europe people don’t see them as much anymore.”

Reviewers of The Sarasota Ballet’s London appearances noted the irony of British audiences being reintroduced to one of their own ballet icons by an American ballet troupe.

Graham Watts, writing in Bachtrack, the classical music website, said “Bringing Ashton from Florida to The Royal Opera House sounds like ‘coals to Newcastle’ but I think ‘discovering buried treasure’ might be a more appropriate idiom.”

Other critics were also positive. In Gramilano, a website dedicated to dance and opera, Jonathan Gray wrote, “Who could have predicted, when he died in 1988, that it would be a ballet company based in Florida, in years to come, that would best honour the memory of Frederick Ashton? …The company looked marvelous (in their London debut), and should be proud of their achievements. It’s no wonder that Iain Webb was honoured with the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement at the National Dance Awards. I can’t think of a person who deserves it more.” 

Alexander Simpkins, also writing in Bachtrack, was effusive: “Thanks to the efforts of ballet director Iain Webb and his wife, Margaret Barbieri, who has staged most of the ballets, we see Ashton’s work clearly and lovingly presented. … I will miss this company and their repertoire when they return to Sarasota: London will be a duller place without them.”

In Slipped Disc, the classical music news site, Alastair Macaulay praised The Sarasota Ballet’s performance of Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, calling it “one of literally dozens of Ashton ballets that have brought superlative poetry to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Despite all the accolades for Webb’s accomplishments as the director of The Sarasota Ballet, he is quick to credit others.

“Sir Fred has certainly put the Company on the map, but without Margaret’s generosity in passing on her knowledge, as well as her work ethic and dedication, the Company wouldn’t be what it is now. And of course it was very expensive to put our London tour together. Joseph Volpe, our executive director, and Sandra DeFeo, our board chair, have orchestrated raising the money. It’s quite a challenge these days to fund the arts, and we’ve been very lucky that our board and staff are so committed to what we’re doing.”

Webb also credits arts-loving Sarasotans for supporting the Company in greater numbers since he and Barbieri arrived in 2007 and brought their experience and expertise.

“Seventeen years ago, people didn’t really know The Sarasota Ballet. And now we’re sort of flying the flag of the city, shining a light on Sarasota.”

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The Sarasota Ballet’s 2024-2025 Season

The Sarasota Ballet plans another compelling season of dance artistry. Continuing its tradition of performing the works of Sir Frederick Ashton, his ballet Romeo and Juliet is one of the highlights. The schedule includes:

Relative Works (Program One), FSU Center for the Performing Arts, Oct. 25-27, 2024: World Premiere, choreography by Jessica Lang, Virginia B. Toulmin & Muriel O’Neil Artist in Residence, music to be announced; Amorosa,choreography by Ricardo Graziano,music by Antonio Vivaldi; Napoli Act III, choreography by Johan Kobborg, music by Edvard Heisted and Holger Simon Paulli

Giselle (Program Two), Sarasota Opera House, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra, Nov. 22-23, 2024: Production by Sir Peter Wright, original choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli, music by Adolphe Adam

Fanciful Journey (Program Three), Sarasota Opera House, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra, Dec. 20-21, 2024: Rubies,choreography by George Balanchine, music by Igor Stravinsky; Wunderland (Company Premiere), choreography by Edwaard Liang, music by Philip Glass; The Spider’s Feast (World Premiere), choreography by Sir David Bintley, music by Albert Roussel

Quintessential (Program Four), FSU Center for the Performing Arts, Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2025: Rococo Variations, choreography by Renato Paroni, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Brandenburgs, choreography by Paul Taylor, music by Johann Sebastian Bach; World Premiere, choreography by Gemma Bond, music by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Mark Morris Dance Group (Program Five), FSU Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 28-March 3, 2025

Romeo and Juliet (Program Six), Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, March 28-29, 2025: (Company Premiere), choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, production courtesy by Peter Schaufuss; music by Sergei Prokofiev

Movements of Genius (Program Seven), Sarasota Opera House, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra, April 25-26, 2025: Serenade, choreography by George Balanchine, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; In the Night, choreography by Jerome Robbins, music by Frédéric Chopin; A Wedding Bouquet, choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, music by Lord Berners

In addition to these seven programs, The Sarasota Ballet will present Dance Extras, including performances by the Martha Graham Dance Company at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, Oct. 11-13, 2024; and productions of The Nutcracker at Venice Performing Arts Center, accompanied by the Venice Symphony, Dec. 13-14, 2024, and at the Sarasota Opera House Dec. 22-23, 2024 (both featuring The Sarasota Ballet Studio Company, plus students from The Sarasota Ballet School and The Margaret Barbieri Conservatory). 

The final Dance Extra is Images of Dance at the Sarasota Opera House, April 29, 2025 (also featuring dancers from The Sarasota Ballet Studio Company and The Margaret Barbieri Conservatory).

For tickets, contact The Sarasota Ballet Box Office, by phone at 941-359-0099, in person at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, or online at SarasotaBallet.org.

Glowing reviews of The Sarasota Ballet’s London performances can be found on a special page of The Sarasota Ballet website, sarasotaballet.org/londontour.