In May 1940 the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company took the brave, or as some might think foolhardy, decision to go on tour to mainland Europe, several months after the outbreak of World War Two. The result was a hasty retreat from the Netherlands as the Germans invaded.Lucy Ashe joins to talk about the evolution of Ballet from the royal courts of Europe to Versailles and the Sun King, Louis XIV, to the Ballet Russe as the Russians came to dominate. Margot Fonteyne, Ninette de Valois and Rudolf Nureyev all feature.Lucy Ashe LinksSleeping BeautiesClara & OliviaDocumentary on BBC iPlayer: The Magic of DanceLucy on XLucy on InstagramOllie LinksAspects of History - Annual Subscription under £10Ollie on XGet in touch: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices