Frederick Ashton Emerging Choreographer 2025

Our second annual Frederick Ashton Emerging Choreographer performances were held in the Upper School Linden Studio Theatre on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 May. 

The final event in the Ninette de Valois Choreographic Programme for the year, this performance honours the profound significance to the School of the Founding Choreographer of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton. 

Centring choreography in our training, the Ninette de Valois Choreographic Programme is an integral component of our student’s academic and artistic education. The programme provides a platform for our emerging artists to create and explore, allowing them to develop their expressive instincts alongside their technical training. 

2nd Year students receive guidance on developing a choreographic piece, including studio research and improvisation. 

They experience working as a professional choreographer would, taking responsibility for all the elements that make a successful production, from research, casting and rehearsals to staging, props, lighting and costume design. 

16 students presented a diverse array of creative works in front of family members, supporters and staff, each revealing their unique choreographic voices. From themes of love, time and connection, to dreams, organs of the body and aliens, the works explored a vast array of concepts, mesmerising audiences with their originality, creativity and maturity. 

Alongside Choreographic Course Coordinator and Tutor Mikaela Polley, this year the students were mentored by three established young choreographers, Kristen McNally, Jessica Wright and Jacob Wye. 

Our student choreographers first met with the mentors at the start of the Spring term to workshop and discuss ideas. As they finetuned their works, students received further feedback and guidance from their mentors in the lead-up to the performance. 

Following the performance, the mentors and special guests Emma Southworth and Valentino Zucchetti provided invaluable feedback to the students to further develop their works for future performances. 

Congratulations to all students who worked so hard to prepare for these performances, and thank you to the staff and mentors for providing these invaluable opportunities. 

Hear from some of the students about the inspiration behind their pieces: 

Anima Mea by Millán De Benito 

‘Anima Mea explores the evolution of a love story. Through a pas de deux, two animas (souls) move together and apart, feeling a connection they don’t yet understand. Set to Luca Sestak’s playful take on Bach’s Solfeggietto, the piece follows the music’s rhythm of questions and answers, leading the characters closer to their fate.’ 

alecsolis 334 by Fabrizzio Ulloa Cornejo  

‘alecsolis 334 is inspired by the idea of abnormal alien species and the combination of different exoplanets merged together, giving birth to new planetary life and ecosystems; representing the cosmic force of space and its depth.’ 

Vamos by Anna Nouvenne 

‘I was inspired to choreograph from the piece of music I chose, Fon-Fon-Fon by Deolinda, a Portuguese song. It reminded me of the melody from The Seven Dwarfs, and I wanted to convey how all the work and effort put in beforehand eventually leads to recognition and reward. ‘Vamos’ means ‘let’s go’ and holds several meanings in my choreography. I wanted the dancers to say it out loud during the performance—to motivate themselves and symbolise never giving up. The main message I want to share is the happiness and gratitude I felt at the end of last year: after all the hard work, I looked back and realised it had been the best year of my life.’ 

View more photographs in the gallery below:

Photographed by Photography by ASH