The Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée, September 2016

[Timmie]

I enjoyed both of yesterday’s shows but the matinee was easily my favourite. The matinee felt fresh and innocent whereas the evening was a more mature and knowing performance which meant it lost something for me.

 

I did feel this is one the best performances (probably the best) I have seen from Yuhui Choe. Her dancing is always impeccable but when she had been on stage for about five minutes I did start to wonder if she had been working on her acting over the summer, her stage presence seemed so much bigger. Zucchetti was a great partner for Choe, they looked good together, with his style seeming to match and compliment hers.

 

In the matinee the relationships between Lise and the Widow and between Lise and Colas were perfect. There was just the right level of respect and dissent between mother and daughter, and the romance between Lise and Colas felt like it was at an early stage with the fun and charm that brings. The comic timing between Widow/Lise/Colas was spot on and they did get every laugh there was to be had (there were laughs in the matinee at places where there were none in the evening).

 

Marriott’s Widow Simone was so good, so funny. His clog dance was brilliant with plenty of slips and slides.

 

As Sim says the ‘Peregrine Incident’ was definitely a distraction and I did feel sorry for the girls that had to sit on the floor so soon after… (and it made me glad the ROH don’t sell old pointe shoes as those are some I would not want to have ). I also get what Sim says about Dyer’s Alain but I did enjoy his performance and I didn’t feel as guilty laughing at him as I do when it’s danced with more pathos (as it was in the evening).

 

Morera’s and Muntagirov’s dancing was a pleasure to behold but the whole evening performance did come across as a more mature and sophisticated partnering which took away some of the joy. A lot of the comic interplay didn’t really work for me. Also I am afraid Whitehead’s Widow Simone was not as satisfying as the matinee. The audience were enjoying it immensely though (there were a group of Germans (I think) behind me and they were laughing so hard  ).

 

An example of the differences between the two performances is the act 2 scene where Colas runs a line of kisses up Lise’s left arm, then she puts out her right arm for the same treatment. In Choe’s case it was clearly a surprise to her how much she liked the first kisses and the way she smiles and unfolds her right arm got an auditorium wide chuckle. Whereas for Morera I didn’t notice any audience reaction because it felt that Lise and Colas had done it before (a mature relationship not a fresh and joyous one).

 

The Fanny Elssler pas de deux was the highlight of the evening with M&M strutting their very impressive stuff. Morera fabulous with her power, supple smoothness and speed, and Muntagirov reminding me why he is my favourite male dancer with his amazing turns. And no ribbon mishaps for Morera, her rotation segment went perfectly, I love that bit, so I was happy to see it after Choe’s less successful rotation.

 

Still loving LFMG and looking forward to Marquez next (unless I get another sneaky bargain  ).

 

And I did get that Pizza Express voucher, so apart from an eye-wateringly expensive (though delicious) gin and tonic, I had an excellent day out. Thanks again to Naomi M for code-posting. I am hopeless at finding discount codes and bargains so really grateful for code-posters, please keep it up!

[alison]

An example of the differences between the two performances is the act 2 scene where Colas runs a line of kisses up Lise’s left arm, then she puts out her right arm for the same treatment. In Choe’s case it was clearly a surprise to her how much she liked the first kisses and the way she smiles and unfolds her right arm got an auditorium wide chuckle. Whereas for Morera I didn’t notice any audience reaction because it felt that Lise and Colas had done it before (a mature relationship not a fresh and joyous one).[/size][/font]

Now, interestingly, that's what I *don't* like about that interpretation - which has crept in in recent years, unfortunately, to my eyes, because it never used to happen. I find it totally inappropriate to the character and the period - it's way too 21st-century in the demands it makes. Yes, she needs to hold out the arm, but a bit more modestly, rather than demanding "AGAIN!". IMO.

[penelopesimpson]

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.

Janet - I rather think you may be right.  Taking it easy this morning I can remember so many wonderful bits.  Even seeing it for the first time last night, I noticed the subtle complexity of the much of the choreography.  I will definitely see it again - but not next year!

[Beryl H]

Booked for last night's as I had enjoyed Morera and Muntagirov so much last time, perhaps it didn't quite match the previous one which was Vadim's birthday so maybe he was extra happy then!  Beautiful couple though, if we have to go through M and A again they might be very good together, lots of rapport.  Although I'm never really certain what the Ashton style is I think last night I began to understand, Laura Morera was so fast, yet soft, and lovely swaying movement of the upper body. Wasn't sure about Thomas Whitehead as Simone at the moment, clog dance very funny though. Paul Kay is the perfect Alain, such a difficult role to get right.

 

Peregrine was sweet, noticed they hurried him along more than usual but he did more "dancing" with his hooves, and although the foyers were very quiet to begin with, the amphi had almost filled up by 7.30pm.

 

Looking forward to Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambe on Thursday!

[GTL]

.....Morera’s and Muntagirov’s dancing was a pleasure to behold but the whole evening performance did come across as a more mature and sophisticated partnering which took away some of the joy....

I only saw  yesterday's evening show so can't compare, but I did feel, more than ever in my many viewings of "Fille",  that they were playing it as a secure and well-established relationship: for instance, on several occasions when Lise was discomfited, such as the married life mine, Colas stressed, "But it doesn't matter, this is me!". Given that they have danced it together quite a few times, perhaps this is how they keep their interpretation fresh and that works for me.    I do envy those of you who are seeing the new pairings as well, this run has come at too busy a time for me to manage it.

On the positive side of the poor sales uptake, I felt there were a lot of ballet "novices" in last night's audience: good they saw some Ashton rather than a "Swan Lake".

[Timmie]

A good observation there Grand Tier Left, perhaps I was a bit hard on them.

[Timmie]

Now, interestingly, that's what I *don't* like about that interpretation - which has crept in in recent years, unfortunately, to my eyes, because it never used to happen. I find it totally inappropriate to the character and the period - it's way too 21st-century in the demands it makes. Yes, she needs to hold out the arm, but a bit more modestly, rather than demanding "AGAIN!". IMO.

 

I've just ordered the original cast DVD Alison, I'll let you know what I think .

[Jamesrhblack]

Now, interestingly, that's what I *don't* like about that interpretation - which has crept in in recent years, unfortunately, to my eyes, because it never used to happen. I find it totally inappropriate to the character and the period - it's way too 21st-century in the demands it makes. Yes, she needs to hold out the arm, but a bit more modestly, rather than demanding "AGAIN!". IMO.

Nor me. It seems evidence of a coarsening of tone that has crept in, other symptoms of which concerned me on the first night.

[cavycapers]

"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"

 

I rather agree with you, penelopesimpson. The joie de vivre with which Muntagirov danced the role meant that I couldn't take my eyes off him, and if Morera was taking the subtle approach, it was too subtle in comparison to her partner. It was very sweet, but it highlighted to me their age difference, not something that I would normally think about.

Edited October 1, 2016 by cavycapers

[alison]

I only saw  yesterday's evening show so can't compare, but I did feel, more than ever in my many viewings of "Fille",  that they were playing it as a secure and well-established relationship: for instance, on several occasions when Lise was discomfited, such as the married life mine, Colas stressed, "But it doesn't matter, this is me!".

 

That's a good point, Grand Tier Left.  After all, if they were hoping to marry, one would hope they weren't still in the first throes of being "in lurve", but had moved to something beyond that.  And that's one of the things I love about this ballet: forget the desperate passion of, say, Romeo & Juliet, it reflects rather better the day-to-day realities of marriage, and the comfort, caring and support that entails.

[Jamesrhblack]

[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"

I rather agree with you, penelopesimpson. The joie de vivre with which Muntagirov danced the role meant that I couldn't take my eyes off him, and if Morera was taking the subtle approach, it was too subtle in comparison to her partner. It was very sweet, but it highlighted to me their age difference, not something that I would normally think about.

 

There is a rather grudging review of Morera in today's links from the Sunday Express. Having also been a little less impressed than I'd hoped after the first might and reading penelopesimpson and cavycapers, I am trying to determine what might be amiss and wonder if it is to do with the injury she suffered last season and also, ungallantly, a matter of seniority. On the Insights Evenings for both Frankenstein and Anastasia she comments on the fact that she has been around for a long time (or words to that effect) and I wonder if the slightly muted impression is a combination of these two factors. Injury takes longer to heal in a more mature dancer and, sadly, technique and stamina seem often to fade just as an artist's interpretative insight is maturing most fully.

[Balletfanp]

Yes, but the same reviewer, if I remember rightly, was scathing of her the last time around as well - he also didn't like Muntagirov either time! His is the one review I've seen that isn't good or glowing. Perhaps he is just very hard to please!

[Sim]

Indeed....the other reviews were all highly complimentary, I believe.

[capybara]

Yes, but the same reviewer, if I remember rightly, was scathing of her the last time around as well - he also didn't like Muntagirov either time! His is the one review I've seen that isn't good or glowing. Perhaps he is just very hard to please!

 

Growing older and getting jaded perhaps? Someone even older (Clement Crisp) gave the performance 5 stars and adored everyone.

[alison]

I've just read the Express review, and find it hard to recognise the performance I saw from it.  However, we were in very different parts of the theatre, and I've commented numerous times on how different locations can make you view a piece very differently.

[Sim]

I don't think that has anything to do with it in this instance, Alison. Any critic who sums Alain up as "the evening's light comic relief" has entirely missed the point.

[Fiz]

How crass is that? Paul Kay made me cry last year when he danced Alain.

[alison]

And I've already commented on the effect he had on me on opening night.  I'd obviously only skim-read that bit, Sim.

[penelopesimpson]

I don't think that has anything to do with it in this instance, Alison. Any critic who sums Alain up as "the evening's light comic relief" has entirely missed the point.

I agree.  A very odd description of a character who oozes pathos

[Dance*is*life]

I am in two minds about seeing Fille - one part of me would love to see it again, but another part is a bit afraid, because I have been disappointed in the modern interpretations of the Ashton ballets, at least from seeing them on DVD. Maybe if I got to see them live, I would feel differently, but there never seems to be a ballet performance on my visits to the UK. Most frustrating!  

 

Anyway, I saw one of the first casts several times when I was a student - Nadia Nerina and David Blair - and I never tired of the ballet.  I actually recommend buying the DVD of that cast if you want to catch the essence of Ashton's choreography - as someone said -his work is so subtle, with more depth than it seems, and the choreography so tricky old school British, that for me making it too Russian in style wouldn't work, even though I would love to see Osipova dance in real life.  It's a bit like the ugly sisters in Cinderella.  Ashton and Helpmann were so brilliant - funny, but understated and Ashton even got me feeling sympathy for him - they were characters rather than take-offs, whereas Wayne Sleep and Dowell were too over the top. Of course Blair had quite different technique from what is expected nowadays, but looking at it in a time warp, you can see what made him one of the top RB male dancers of his day.  And Nerina was just brilliant in every way.  I have the DVD of Collier as Lise and she was lovely too, but Nerina was so special in the role. 

 

One of these days, I will treat myself to a visit just to see a performance I fancy and never mind the cost - life is too short.........

[capybara]

It seems (from the ROH website) that Thomas Whitehead is replacing Philip Mosley as Widow Simone tonight (5th) and tomorrow night (6th).

[Beryl H]

It seems (from the ROH website) that Thomas Whitehead is replacing Philip Mosley as Widow Simone tonight (5th) and tomorrow night (6th).

 

That's a shame, Philip Mosley is my favourite Simone, thank heavens it's still Hayward and Sambe, and a new Alain too.

[Quintus]

That's a shame, Philip Mosley is my favourite Simone, thank heavens it's still Hayward and Sambe, and a new Alain too.

 

 

The cast sheet tonight still had Philip Mosley in it, but I'm not familiar with him so wouldn't know whether it was right.  He was very good, I thought.  Alain was James Hay, and whether it's the direction or his characterisation, both I and my companion found Alain really irritating. I didn't find any pathos there as he was played so broad as to be firmly in pantomime territory.  I must admit this is not a favourite ballet as it has far too much 'business' in it for my personal taste (but there again I would also axe the first few scenes of Nutcracker  ), so I'll refrain from commenting further lest I appear unjustly grouchy. 

[daisydance]

The cast sheet tonight still had Philip Mosley in it, but I'm not familiar with him so wouldn't know whether it was right.  He was very good, I thought.  Alain was James Hay, and whether it's the direction or his characterisation, both I and my companion found Alain really irritating. I didn't find any pathos there as he was played so broad as to be firmly in pantomime territory.  I must admit this is not a favourite ballet as it has far too much 'business' in it for my personal taste (but there again I would also axe the first few scenes of Nutcracker  ), so I'll refrain from commenting further lest I appear unjustly grouchy. 

 

There was a cast change slip and it was Thomas Whitehead instead

[Mary]

Alain is  David Yudes tonight I see- a debut?

[alison]

Well, it would be a debut if the cast hadn't already done the schools' matinee or whatever it was the other day.

[cavycapers]

I have the answer for 'Fille Fatigue'. Take a friend whose just lost his mum, and who's never seen a ballet before, as I did last Friday. You will see it with new eyes, and for two lovely hours, will just be charmed anew by the lovely whimsy that is Fille with its dancing chickens and ponies and ribbons, and it's ability to make even the most heavy hearted smile!

[Jamesrhblack]

I was having an unexpectedly intense ballet conversation over dinner last night and the lady with whom I was talking propounded some interesting observations. The Cockerel is a symbol of fertility, the Maypole is part of a fertility rite, ribbons keep people together but can also entangle them, Lise becomes the maypole and then moves towards a marriage in her Act 2 mime which is probably consummated before the final pas de deux. I've read similar observations elsewhere concerning the butter churn and the one handed lift.

 

Fille works at many levels, most enduring art does, and I wonder if it is these deeper levels, not necessarily identified but perhaps sensed, that have kept it in the repertoire. If it were just charming, I think it might have faded by now.

 

Of course, although notionally set in France, it also seems a hymn to the Suffolk countryside that Ashton loved so much: for me, there is something almost heart stopping when the drop curtain goes up on the harvest scene with the synthesis of man/woman and nature through the working of the land that sustains them.

[capybara]

....... just to say that Francesca Hayward and Marcellino Sambe, ably assisted by Thomas Whitehead and David Yudes, brought the house down tonight.

Edited October 6, 2016 by capybara

[Lily_883]

....... just to say that Francesca Hayward and Marcellino Sambe, ably assisted by Thomas Whitehead and David Yudes, brought the house down tonight.

Yes, I made my debut as a ROH audience member this evening, and what a wonderful evening I've had! It was such a treat to be sat in the orchestra stalls (thanks to the considerate forum members who shared the Metro offer). I was blown away by Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé - such a musical and effortless performance from both of them.

[Bruce Wall]

....... just to say that Francesca Hayward and Marcellino Sambe, ably assisted by Thomas Whitehead and David Yudes, brought the house down tonight.

 

Totally agree ... It was an absolutely sublime performance of this sun-kissed ballet.  The delectable genius of Ashton radiated joy universally ... and the performances - ALL the performances - were life enriching gifts, rife in their gems of stunning petit allegro.  Everyone could take pride this evening in the jubilant etching of this vehicle of elated bliss!  May we have many more chances to witness the festive jewel that is this principal pairing.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Bruce Wall

[SPD444]

I was going to wax lyrical about tonight's performance until I read lily_883 and our own dear Bruce who said what I was going to say far better than my words. Just pure magic, a shout for the dancer carrying the basket behind Peregrine too, you can guess why I say this. The corps were wonderful too and in Mr Sambe and Miss Hayward we have two wonderful dancers. More please.

[cackles]

I totally agree with Bruce and SPD444. A wonderful performance. I floated down Floral Street, not too gracefully, with a big smile on my face!