Trained at the Royal Ballet School, entering The Royal Ballet company at Covent Garden in 1975 and subsequently becoming a Principal dancer. He choreographed his first work in 1984 (A Broken Set of Rules for The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House) and subsequently created many works for The Royal Ballet and other companies in the UK and internationally, developing a reputation for often daring collaborations with designers and composers. His ballet Fearful Symmetries won both a Time Out Dance Award and an Olivier Award in 1994/95, and his dance/theatre piece Room of Cooks was nominated for an Olivier Award in 1999. Both works were commissioned by The Royal Ballet.
After 27 years with The Royal Ballet he became Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet in 2002, re-energising and redeveloping them into an internationally renowned modern ballet company over a 10 year period, winning numerous awards and attracting critical acclaim and new audiences.
Since 2012 he has been freelancing as a choreographer, opera director and artistic advisor, working with many ballet, contemporary dance and opera companies in the UK and internationally. He created the choreography for the ballet film sequences in the Vienna New Year’s Day Concert 2023, which was televised to over 90 countries.
Trained at The Royal Ballet Lower and Upper Schools 1968-1975
Principal dancer and choreographer with The Royal Ballet 1975 – 2002
Artistic Director Scottish Ballet 2002 –2012
Freelance choreographer and opera director 2012 – present
Awards
OBE – The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2006
Honorary Doctorate, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 2012
Frederick Ashton Choreographic Award – 1982
Time Out Award for Best New Dance Production – Fearful Symmetries 1994
Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production – Fearful Symmetries 1995
TMA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance 2004 – Scottish Ballet ‘for surefooted modernisation under Ashley Page and dynamic performances’.
Herald Angel Award – Scottish Ballet Dances Balanchine, Edinburgh Festival 2005
Critics Circle Award – Scottish Ballet for Outstanding Classical Repertoire 2007
Herald Archangel Award 2011 – for his long association with the Edinburgh Festival through Scottish Ballet
De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement – UK National Dance Awards 2012