English dancer and choreographer Frederick Ashton was BOTD in 1904. Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador where his father worked for the British consulate, he decided to become a dancer after seeing a performance by Russian ballet star Anna Pavlova. His family disapproved, and sent him to England to complete his education, after which he worked unhappily in an import-export firm. He became a pupil of Ballets Russes star Léonide Massine and later Marie Rambert, who encouraged him to create his own work. Ashton became head choreographer for the Ballet Rambert, and later worked for Ninette de Valois at the Vic-Wells Ballet (later renamed the Sadlers Wells Ballet). As his international reputation grew, he was offered a position with the American Ballet Theatre, turning it down to stay with Valois. Knighted in 1962 for his services to ballet, he succeeded Valois as director and principal choreographer of the newly-renamed Royal Ballet, remaining there until 1970. Many of his works including Cinderella, Ondine and La fille mal gardée have entered the classical repertory, and he worked with most of the leading dancers of the 20th century, including Tamara Karsavina, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Robert Helpmann and Wayne Sleep. He also created dances for Powell & Pressburger’s film Tales of Hoffman and Reginald Mills’ The Tales of Beatrix Potter. Openly gay since forever, he had a long term relationship with Martyn Thomas until Thomas’ death in 1985. Ashton died in 1988, aged 83.