Birmingham Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée

Birmingham Royal Ballet just brought Frederick Ashton’s glorious La Fille mal gardée to London…

Birmingham Royal Ballet in ‘La fille mal gardée’ (circa 2018), here with Momoko Hirata as Lise, Jonathan Payn as Thomas and Michael O’Hare as Widow Simone. © Bill Cooper.

Birmingham Royal Ballet
La Fille mal gardée
★★★★✰
London, Sadler’s Wells
26 October 2024, matinee
www.brb.org.uk
www.sadlerswells.com

I’d never dream of missing Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, and it ought to be up there with The Nutcracker in terms of ballet popularity - it’s a joyful and easily understood ballet with glorious steps, unique cartoonish designs and an uncomplex and happily touching score.

La Fille mal gardée is the bucolic story of young lovers Lise and Colas, where Lise’s mother (the Widow Simone) has hopes of her daughter doing much better than poor farm hand Colas. Enter prosperous vineyard owner Thomas, who suggests to Simone a union between Lise and his rather backward son, Alain. Do the parents get their way? Of course not, in a silly bit of theatrical unravelling. Along the way, we get a real pony, dancing hens (not real!), wild storms, maypole and ribbon dances - particularly brilliant and a recurring motif.

Fille is the only ballet that can give me a sudden attack of the “Keith Brymer Jones’” as the lovers’ dancing and score come together and deliver pure romantic perfection, and you feel so blissfully happy for them. Not floods of tears, you understand, but my eyes can moisten up with strong performances, and Saturday’s matinee was no different. Fille is a ballet that lifts us up above the tedium of life and touches our souls. Those who don’t know Fille might be rolling their eyes and thinking that I’ve gone all soft & will shortly be taking up reviewing Mills & Boon romantic fiction! ¹

Our winning cast was led by first soloist Yu Kurihara as Lise and Yasiel Hodélin Bello as Colas, a soloist who joined Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) last year from the Cuban National Ballet. Surprisingly, both only made their debuts 2½ weeks ago and were giving their third performance. I have to say that Kurihara looks like she has been dancing Lise for years and was well in command of the steps. But it was her acting and emotional touch that connected with us - a most polished and radiant performance. There was a palpable contrast with Bello’s rough diamond dancing, dancing that seemed to accentuate and suit Colas’s lovable heart and nature. And my goodness, he has terrific attack and a high jump - very exciting prospects ahead as he develops. Together they made for a winning and believable couple of lovers. I also liked Rory Mackay’s Widow Simone for his funny pantomime-dame approach and fabulous clog dancing. Which brings us to Alain, but first, a diversion.

For all Fille’s brilliance, it has a problem that I fear may see it put to one side before long. The problem is the character Alain, who is often portrayed, or thought of, as a ‘village idiot’, there to be laughed at by the cast and the audience for his inappropriate behaviour. Alive to the issue, the programme has a section about Alain that records the thoughts of Alexander Grant, who created the role with Ashton in 1960. Grant specifically says he is not a ‘village idiot’ character but merely a shy, innocent and awkward young lad there to “…appeal to the protective instincts of the public”. And separately, Ashton declared that “Alain should be charming and cute”. That may have been the intention, but sadly, the narrative and choreography show somebody mentally out of kilter with society rather than a shy and inhibited character. And he is laughed at.

Although the dancers’ approach can soften and change any character, there’s only so much you can do, and I think it’s a role that increasingly requires some active change. Our Alain, Tom Hazelby, seemed to take what I’ve often seen as the ‘traditional’ approach rather than the softer Alexander Grant style/advice, and it increasingly grates if it still gets the occasional titter from some in the audience. Although the Wells was packed for the matinee, there is concern that Fille has not generally been selling so well in recent years, and I think this editing and change is badly needed so that it can sail on and unapologetically impress new generations. I’d certainly be mortified to see Fille put to one side and lost.

La Fille mal gardée may be flawed in part, but so much of it is a glorious masterpiece of English ballet, and despite my reservations, I say good on BRB for touring it.