Review: Birmingham Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée in London – a complete joy
Jonathan Gray sees two casts from Birmingham Royal Ballet dancing Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée – “a complete joy.”
| Title | La Fille mal gardée |
| Company | Birmingham Royal Ballet |
| Venue | Sadler’s Wells, London |
| Date | 26 October 2024 |
| Reviewer | Jonathan Gray |
Gallery of photos below
I can’t think of a happier, more joyful stage work in any discipline than Frederick Ashton‘s La Fille mal gardée, so it was good to see the ballet back in London again after far too long an absence at the conclusion of Birmingham Royal Ballet‘s (BRB) short season at Sadler’s Wells. It’s a ballet that audiences love and, by attending both the matinée and evening performances on 26 October, I was able to receive a double dose of happiness. I was also able to marvel again at Ashton’s bountiful facility in creating dazzling choreography and ever-inventive humour. It’s a brilliant ballet, and the world would be a poorer place without it.
I’ve seen less of BRB than I would like in recent years, and by attending these performances there were lots of new dancers in the company to get to know, including one of its rising stars, Yasiel Hodélin Belio, dancing the lead role of Colas to the Lise of Yu Kurihara at the matinée. This young man has technique, and then some, with easy pirouettes, exciting flying jumps, and the strength to pull off those difficult one-hand lifts in the pas de deux with complete confidence; it was hard not to be impressed. Belio did, however, display a little nervousness before the London public, and he doesn’t, yet, have a sure sense of Ashton’s choreographic style, nor the fluency and spontaneity in acting that one expects from a Colas, but goodness, what talent he has. I will be watching him with interest in future.
Like Belio, Kurihara is not yet a natural Ashton dancer, but her light jumps and fine footwork were pleasingly attractive. She could afford to bring more light and shade to the choreography, as well as a faster pace of dancing (Lise, after all, is the most ‘coloratura’ of all Ashton’s ballerina roles and I like to see more effervescence from the dancers portraying her). That said, she was at her best in the last act, where she developed a tender relationship with Rory Mackay as her mother, Widow Simone, which was touching to see. Earlier in the performance, I found Mackay’s Widow a bit too dragonish in temperament, even during the famous ‘Clog Dance’, but I appreciated the greater warmth and attention to detail he displayed later in the ballet. In the other character roles, Jonathan Payn was a bumbling Farmer Thomas, and Tom Hazelby a sweet-natured Alain.
If the matinée was enjoyable, the evening performance fared even better. In Sofia Liñares and Lachlan Monaghan BRB have a natural Lise and Colas. The pair are so attuned, animated and spontaneous, and take such pleasure and assurance in dancing the choreography, that it would be difficult to see them bettered. Liñares is mischievous and adorable, stylish and musical, and she has a wonderful, playful rapport with the happy-go-lucky Monaghan, one of those rare artists who can act as well as he can dance. He is also a glorious partner who takes great pleasure in presenting his ballerina. I found the pair a complete joy. Joining them as Widow Simone was the much more likeable Max Maslen, with Mackay swapping roles to appear as a bombastic Thomas.
The company was on good form, although I’m sure Ashton would have wanted them all to ‘bend’ more and make greater use of their épaulement. The performances were also notable for the debut of the Welsh Mountain pony, Oscar, who trotted into the hoof prints of his predecessor, Peregrine, to take Lise and the Widow to the cornfield celebrations.
Birmingham Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée – 26 October eve
Widow Simone – Max Maslen
Lise – Sofia Liñares
Colas – Lachlan Monaghan
Thomas – Rory Mackay
Alain – Javier Rojas
Birmingham Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée – 25 October
Widow Simone – Rory Mackay
Lise – Beatrice Parma
Colas – Enrique Bejarano Vidal
Thomas – Jonathan Payn
Alain – Gus Payne
Jonathan Gray was editor of Dancing Times from 2008 to 2022.
He studied at The Royal Ballet School, Leicester Polytechnic, and Wimbledon School of Art where he graduated with a BA Hons in Theatre Design. He was on the Curatorial Staff of the Theatre Museum, London, from 1989 to 2005, assisting on a number of dance-related exhibitions, and helping with the recreation of original designs for a number of The Royal Ballet’s productions including Danses concertantes, Daphnis and Chloë, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Jonathan Gray has also contributed to the Financial Times and The Guardian, written programme articles for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, and is co-author of the book Unleashing Britain: Theatre gets real 1955-64, published in 2005. He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
Thank you for the lovely review and photos of La fille mal gardée at Sadlers Wells on 26th October.
It has always been my favourite ballet and as you say, long overdue.
I was there on 26th October, in the evening, and it was such a delightful performance. I sat next to a lady who had never seen the ballet before and assured her before it started, that she was in for a treat.
We both had a wonderful evening..Bravo The Birmingham Royal Ballet!