| Biography | David Ashmole was a dancer, teacher and adjudicator. A principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and Australian Ballet, and an internationally respected guest artist, from Europe to China, he epitomised what Ninette de Valois always claimed to be the backbone of any classical ballet company an artist who served with equal dedication the great classical roles and new creations.
He studied at Kilburn dance school in Northamptonshire, before being accepted for the Royal Ballet school in 1965. In 1968 he joined the company, becoming a soloist in 1972 and a principal in 1975. He then transferred to the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (1976-84). With these companies his leading roles were in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Coppelia, and also in Frederick Ashton's perennial La Fille Mal Gardée, The Two Pigeons, The Dream and Monotones, de Valois's Checkmate and Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet. From 1984 until 1994, he was senior principal artist with Australian Ballet. |