The Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée, September 2016

[LinMM]

Am a little confused I thought earlier in this thread someone said it was Choe dancing Lise yesterday?

 

When does Choe perform this then if it was Morera yesterday?

[Jan McNulty]

IIRC Morera and Muntagirov were always listed for first night.

 

Here's the ROH page with the rest of the dates and casting on, assuming no cast changes:

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/la-fille-mal-gardee-by-frederick-ashton

[LinMM]

I think it's because on Sept 26th in post 80 annamk asks .....who is dancing in the FGR tomorrow

 

And reply in post 83 is Yuhui and Valentino!

 

Obviously FGR has a meaning above my head!!

[Jan McNulty]

Friends General Rehearsal

[LinMM]

Aha thanks Janet!!

 

Just to add I see Yuhui and Valentino are dancing this Friday on the 30th so will look forward to some reviews of this performance then.

Edited September 28, 2016 by LinMM

[Sim]

I am going on Friday so will let you know what I think.

[Jam Dancer]

Aha thanks Janet!!

 

Just to add I see Yuhui and Valentino are dancing this Friday on the 30th so will look forward to some reviews of this performance then.

 

Yuhui and Zucchetti are dancing on Friday afternoon at the 2:30 pm performance.   Morera and Muntagirov are still dancing the evening performance as scheduled previously.

[zxDaveM]

Some photos from the General rehearsal on Tuesday. This cast dance on Friday 30th Sept (matinée) and October 16th.


Valentino Zucchetti, Yuhui Choe, Tristan Dyer
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Annette Buvoli, Hannah Grennell, Jonathan Howells, Gina Storm-Jensen, Tierney Heap
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Yuhui Choe (and artists of the company)
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set from DanceTabs: Royal Ballet - La Fille mal gardee (2016)
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

[jmb]

I seem to be in a decided minority in that I can't stand the ballet, although in general I love Ashton's work. Maybe because panto dames never caught on in Straya. And I find that my aversion to the impossibly nostalgic setting and some of the characterisation gets in the way of my appreciation of the dancing. Unfortunately, Queensland Ballet is presenting it next year. One less opportunity to go to Brisbane.

[Jan McNulty]

I know another Australian who is not very keen on anything by Ashton.

 

I find it very odd, but the world would be a very boring place if we all liked the same thing!!

[bangorballetboy]

I find it very odd, but the world would be a very boring place if we all liked the same thing!!

 

Exactly wot I was about to say!

[bangorballetboy]

Some really lovely pics Dave, thanks.

[penelopesimpson]

Tonight looking worryingly empty, despite it being Muntagirov.  Maybe I can find 100+ friends to take along!

[Jan McNulty]

I've been looking at the casting of Fille for this run.  Sadly, I can't make any of the performances but I was just wondering that if Tamara Rojo had been appointed as director of the RB she would have made any different casting choices.

 

I started my ballet-watching obsession with LFB (now ENB) in 1984 and I found their rep in the Schaufuss days very much to my taste.  I was exhilarated by their many and exciting mixed programmes.  I gradually lost interest in the bums on seats days and am glad to say that I think Ms Rojo is moving the company in a very exciting direction and I now want to see a lot more of them again!  Let's hope she can continue with her vision.

 

I personally think that the Director of the RB has very little of the same decision making powers that the likes of Tamara Rojo and David Bintley have at their respective companies.  The Director of the RB must have the additional responsibility of "keeper of the heritage" in a way that Tamara Rojo does not at ENB, although there is also an element of this with BRB too.

[Quintus]

I seem to be in a decided minority in that I can't stand the ballet, although in general I love Ashton's work. Maybe because panto dames never caught on in Straya. 

 

 

In my intermittent role as ballet evangelist, I'm taking a friend to see this as her first ballet, based largely on getting bargain tickets.  I'm sure we'll both enjoy it greatly but I don't think it would have been my first choice as an introduction, as it probably confirms preconceptions of quaintness rather than rattling them! On the other hand, even had tickets been available, the new ENB Giselle might have been too far the other way..    

[Beryl H]

I think the casting choices made by Kevin O'Hare for this run of Fille are excellent, I'm really surprised at the empty seats although from my own experience the high prices have helped, I couldn't possibly afford the top amphi seats now although it wasn't that long ago that I regularly sat in them!

 

I think of the RB Directorship as a "poisoned chalice" and I'm sure he can't make as many decisions as Tamara Rojo is able to!

[Tony Newcombe]

Today's review section has a report from Telegraph critic on the Hayward/Sambre performance. Dynamite apparently.

There is also an interview with Sambre in this months Dance Europe and it would seem that he and Hayward are seen as a partnership by the company

Edited September 30, 2016 by Tony Newcombe

[capybara]

Today's review section has a report from Telegraph critic on the Hayward/Sambre performance. Dynamite apparently.

There is also an interview with Sambre in this months Dance Europe and it would seem that he and Hayward are seen as a partnership by the company

 

Unusual for a critic to review a schools' matinee.

 

I rather hope that Hayward and Sambe are not regarded as a 'permanent' partnership. She has amazing interpretative grace and dramatic range and depth which seem to me to point to the need for a variety of partners.

Edited September 30, 2016 by capybara

[capybara]

Tonight looking worryingly empty, despite it being Muntagirov.  Maybe I can find 100+ friends to take along!

 

The picture is same for all performances save the Saturday matinee. As has been discussed elsewhere, this run of Fille has probably come too soon after that in April/May 2015.

[alison]

*And* doesn't have enough Saturday matinees?  How many does Anastasia have?  At least two.

[LinMM]

I agree midweek matinees are a bit strange if not aimed at school children.....though one obviously was as the review says a lot of school children were there....or perhaps retirees like myself.

 

Most working people just cannot make these matinees.

 

Also you would think a ballet like Fille would benefit from some Saturday matinees as it's such a suitable ballet for parents ...grandparents ....aunties etc...to take children along to and again as a "family" outing unlikely to happen midweek!!

 

Whereas Anastasia is not that suitable for under elevens so not quite so suitable for a "family" outing on a Saturday matinee.

[capybara]

Most working people just cannot make these matinees.

 

 

The Schools' Matinees are exclusively for schools/colleges. Today's matinee (30th Sept) was open to all but, I agree, unsuitably timed for working  parents and for children.

[Jan McNulty]

I agree midweek matinees are a bit strange if not aimed at school children.....though one obviously was as the review says a lot of school children were there....or perhaps retirees like myself.

 

Most working people just cannot make these matinees.

 

Also you would think a ballet like Fille would benefit from some Saturday matinees as it's such a suitable ballet for parents ...grandparents ....aunties etc...to take children along to and again as a "family" outing unlikely to happen midweek!!

 

Whereas Anastasia is not that suitable for under elevens so not quite so suitable for a "family" outing on a Saturday matinee.

 

 

Not good for travellers either as we can't get cheap train deals on early morning trains!

[Timmie]

Matinee was superb, Choe was perfect in the role. Phone too small to post much...

 

Looking forward to the eve performance.

[alison]

We'll look forward to your comparison of the two, Timmie

[Nina G.]

Unusual for a critic to review a schools' matinee.

 

I rather hope that Hayward and Sambe are not regarded as a 'permanent' partnership. She has amazing interpretative grace and dramatic range and depth which seem to me to point to the need for a variety of partners.

 

 

Unusual indeed but let's just wait and see if Mr Monahan will attend other programmed Schools'Matinees this Season :) 

[LinMM]

It would actually be useful to have the odd additional Sunday matinee in fact.

 

ENB do some Sunday's and very useful they are too

 

There maybe some logistical reason why the ROH cannot open on a Sunday of course but certainly more useful than weekday matinees are for most.

 

And would love to read a review for Yuhui and Valentino.....she looks very relaxed and happy in the piccies so hoping performance as good etc and if they worked as a pairing and so on.

Edited September 30, 2016 by LinMM

[Sim]

I was at today's matinee and enjoyed it very much. Valentino Zucchetti, in his official debut as Colas, brought Italian sunshine and swagger to the role. No shy, shrinking violet he! He imbued the part with joy and boundless exuberance, and as Colas he gave the impression of the cat having got the cream...not only in his choice of girlfriend, but in his looks, his mates, and life in general. His dancing was excellent, as was his partnering. He and Yuhui worked very well together; she is such a sweet, lyrical dancer, and is a good foil to Zucchetti's swaggering farm boy. Opposites attract, as they say, and here they certainly did. But maybe Lise isn't as sweet as she seems: underneath Choe's pretty face and lovely arms and feet is a steel will, steel that won't warp, bend or break when it comes to who she is going to marry.

 

There were perhaps a couple of slight nervous bits (including a ribbon mishap that meant that Choe couldn't complete the revolution on one foot as her friends walk around her) but if one didn't know the ballet well they weren't really noticeable. Who DOES seem to be a bit nervous at the moment is Poopy Peregrine...today he left his mark in the same place and at the very same moment as he did on opening night. Today was quite comical because the poor young poop shoveller had to come back to the stage three times before everything was cleared up! Giggles from the audience as on first night....amusing but I found it quite distracting. However, what's got to be done, has got to be done!!

 

I didn't much take to Tristan Dyer as Alain; he played him more like an impetuous child who stamps his feet when he doesn't get his way, and that to me is not what Alain is all about. When he realises he isn't getting married, he comes over all cross and spoilt. This moment, and the few after it, should convey Alain's sadness, and perhaps his understanding that he will probably never get married, and certainly not to a girl like Lise. I like my Alains to bring a slight tear to my eye, but this one left me cold.

 

Jonathan Howells as the Widow warmed on me as the performance went on. He was fine and quite understated. However, whereas with Alain I want to shed a small tear, with the Widow I want to laugh a bit, and this didn't happen much. However, Act 2 worked better for me.

 

The orchestra under the baton of the wonderful Barry Wordsworth is on cracking form, the music being the perfect complement to what is happening onstage.

 

Sadly I can't make their evening show on the 15th so I look forward to hearing what others think....and indeed of today's performance.

[alison]

Well, tonight's performance was one of those rather special ones which remind me how much I love this ballet.  A step up from the first night, I think.  Oh, and I'm pleased to report that Peregrine behaved himself impeccably 

[Balletfanp]

I was rather disappointed that Peregrine behaved....????

 

Yes, a very special performance. How I love Laura Morera, but especially in this, and especially in this with Vadim. Such a tender and funny performance, and of course impeccably danced by the two of them. That last Pas de Deux was heaven. And Muntagirov's turns were stunning.

 

The whole cast were on form, and Whitehead was very good as Widow Simone, but didn't quite reach the heights of Tuckett's. Tuckett's farce and daredevil slipping and sliding always looked realistic and positively dangerous, and the other Widows never quite get it - it always looks too choreographed somehow.

 

I always find myself getting quite upset in the middle of Act 2 of Fille, because I know it has nearly finished, and I just want it to go on!

[penelopesimpson]

Oh dear, my first Fille and I'm not going to be as glowing as others.  Yes, I loved it and it made a perfect choice for my guest as a second-timer to ballet.  We giggled in all the right places, went moist about the eyes towards the end and thoroughly enjoyed what was a good romp.

 

However, I can now understand why it isn't selling because having seen it, I won't want to return for at least a few years.  Like chocolate, the first experience is wonderful, a whole bar even better but a constant diet satiates.  There are simply too many performances so soon after it was last staged.  A rare scheduling mistake from KOH, I think.

 

A few observations which are 'amateur' as I've not seen this ballet before but,...  Muntagirov was wonderful - is there nothing this guy can't do?  Fabulous in every way.  Morera was certainly faultless but she did not excite me.  I found her lacking in energy and the essential pertness which I can imagine Lise needs.  She was effortlessly outdazzled by Muntagirov and I found myself thinking that these roles are tailor-made for quicksilver Osipova and cheeky-chappie Macrae.

 

For me, a feelgood evening but I won't be rushing back, Give me the dark depths of Mayerling, the emotional rollercoaster of Winter's Tale and the beguiling mystery of Woolf Works!

[Jan McNulty]

Penelope at least you gave it a go!  

 

I know too many people who pull something apart but mainly because they think they won't like it and not because they have seen it.

 

I felt like you when I first saw Fille.  I wanted something more meaty having, as a newbie, seen Onegin, Mayerling, Manon etc and been blown away by them.  I only saw more Filles because either in the good old days BRB were performing in Liverpool and I felt I should go and support them or it was part of the BRB season ticket.

 

I don't know at what point I realised that it was a masterpiece that I could not live without.  But now I book extra tickets and I am very sad that I cannot get to ROH for the current run.

 

Of course, not everyone is a fan.  I know someone who doesn't like Ashton's works full stop!

 

Thanks for giving us your thoughts.

[Sim]

Penelope, many years ago I was just like you:  I loved the classics, and MacMillan/Cranko, but didn't have time for Ashton's works.  However, largely due to the encouragement of other 'ballet friends', I started going to see Ashton ballets, and now I am a huge lover of his work.  

 

His choreography is meant to be subtle;  it isn't big, brash and bold like a Bolshoi piece.  The fleet footwork, the epaulement, the lithe bends...all these are part of what make up the Ashton style.  Laura Morera doesn't lack energy at all....she understands that Ashton's steps are difficult yet subtle, and she performs them with pinpoint accuracy.  The joy is that when it is done properly, it all looks so easy at first glimpse.  But when you start really looking at his works, you realise how hard and tricky it is to get right.  Many dancers have told me that they find Ashton more difficult to dance than any other choreographer.  An RB Juliet told me last year that "technically, Juliet is easy.  Ashton, on the other hand, is NEVER easy!"   

 

Morera, Nunez and Marquez have all been wonderful exponents of Ashton's choreography over the past decade, and I hope that the upcoming dancers will give forth at least one or two who really get it.  Osipova and McRae (both of whom I really like in other roles) were my least favourite Lise/Colas in Fille last year....they DID dance it like a Bolshoi piece and it wasn't for me.  I haven't bought tickets to see them this time, so I will be very interested to hear from those who are seeing them.