Courtly celebration

Homage to the Queen is one of two ballets that Frederick Ashton conceived with a special occasion in mind —the other being Birthday Offering. Created in 1953, Homage was a choreographic celebration of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Not unlike the court masques of the 16th and 17th centuries, the ballet draws upon an allegorical pretext: the queens of Earth, Water, Fire and Air pay their tribute to the newly crowned monarch.

The concept is typically Ashtonian, for it combines his great passion for, and knowledge of, past performing practices with his unique modern approach to classical ballet. Each of the six sections of the work — representing the four elements plus a prologue and final apotheosis — contains references to early aristocratic dance entertainments, Romantic non-narrative works based on similar allegorical pretexts, plus some tongue-in-cheek quotations from less ‘noble’ sources, including spectacular extravaganzas and Hollywood musicals. It is difficult to explain the work’s rapid demise (only the final section, Air, survived).