Review: the welcome return of La Fille mal gardée with The Royal Ballet and debut performances to celebrate

Out of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire for nine years (surely eight years too many?), it was good to welcome back Frederick Ashton‘s La Fille mal gardée to the stage of the Royal Ballet and Opera on Saturday afternoon. One of Ashton’s greatest, funniest works, his joyous choreography is like a constantly flowing cascade of champagne, its fizzing invention and boundless musicality and humour unsurpassed.

Fille is currently celebrating the 65^th anniversary of its first performance, but after such a long absence it occurred to me that most of the young dancers in The Royal Ballet’s present revival have either never danced in Fille before or never even seen it. At the first performance this season, four of the dancers in leading roles were making their debuts, and sometimes their inexperience showed, but the company rose to the occasion, and I left the theatre loving Fille even more and wanting to see it again as soon as possible.

I have long thought Anna Rose O’Sullivan would be perfectly cast as Lise, the fille of the title, and at this performance she confirmed my confidence in her. Although O’Sullivan offered a sketch of the fuller character, she will undoubtedly develop the role with more performances behind her. She already has everything Lise requires: a brilliant, sparkling, quicksilver technique allied with a spontaneous musicality, an expressive face, a warm, sunny personality and a gift for comic timing. I think she could afford to bring a little more pace and speed to her dancing, but already this is a performance to savour and celebrate. Brava.

As Lise’s young lover, Colas, William Bracewell brings to the role just the right sense of charm and irresistible laddish swagger, as well as a firm and confident way with the choreography that allows him to really expand his dancing in his solos with exciting, stylish jumps and pirouettes. He is a strong partner for O’Sullivan, too, with all the intricate patterning of the ribbons firmly under control and Ashton’s spectacular lifts (especially the “bum-lift” at the end of the “cornfield” pas de deux) taken with ease. Bracewell was also a tender actor in those moments when it really counts, such as the mime scene with Lise in the second act, and their final duet, which contributed to his highly likeable and winning performance. Bravo.

I found the performances of character roles a little more problematic but took this as a sign of inexperience in the dancers. Joshua Junker as Alain, Lise’s unwanted suitor, Caspar Lench as the Cockerel and James Large as the Village Notary all went way over the top – they need to trust Ashton more and calm their performances down in the future. Thomas Whitehead, by contrast, was more low-key as Farmer Thomas, Alain’s father. In a surprise piece of casting, James Hay was a very cross Widow Simone who was sometimes lacking in warmth and humour, but he held the stage, especially in the famous “Clog Dance”.  I was pleased to see the corps de ballet dance with youthful freshness and catching my eye as the Boy with the Flute was young Luc Foskett, who has been dancing with the company for just a few years.

La Fille mal gardée is a work that should never really be out of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire at Covent Garden and more must be done to ensure it remains there in future. At this revival, I would have liked to have heard and seen more speed and rhythmic dynamism from both the dancers and the musicians of the Orchestra of the Royal Ballet and Opera (conducted by Jonathan Lo), but with further performances to come this autumn and next spring, this must surely be well within all their capabilities.

Jonathan Gray Guest Author

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.