SOURCE: "Scenes de Ballet," in The New York Times, May 18, 1997, p. 14.

[In the following review, Teachout praises Secret Muses for Kavanagh's "skill and sensitivity" while objecting to a lack of "concise critical interpretation" in the treatment of her subject.]

Time was when Sir Frederick Ashton's ballets seemed built to travel. The Royal Ballet danced them to loud acclaim at home and abroad, while the Joffrey Ballet went so far as to offer occasional all-Ashton bills. The visionary decadence of "Illuminations," the genteel surrealism of "A Wedding Bouquet," the crystalline mysteries of "Monotones": all were once staples of the dance life of American balletomanes. Even now, if one were to ask the 10 leading dance critics in America to name the 10 most important choreographers of the 20th century, it's a safe bet that Ashton would make every list.

But times have changed, and Ashton's American reputation, less than a decade...