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Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée, Spring 2015


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I enjoyed the first night so much that I went again last night, even with very high expectations it was just as heart-warming, 

 

Me TOO and I absolutely loved it :) what bliss after the disappointment of Thursday cast. Such unaffected warmth and tenderness with the highest quality dancing from Vadim ! Should be filmed. 

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I wasn't too sure about Paul Kay - mainly I think because I didn't entirely get the character.  Is he supposed to have learning difficulties (I guess what used to be called a simpleton, in the La Fille old pastoral context)?  Or is he just very shy or awkward?

 

Paul Kay was a superb Alain (with perhaps the only fault in the lack of falling down the stairs leading to Lise's bedroom). The character is shy, over-protected, and perhaps child-like, which he nails, and his dancing of the slightly weird steps is all but flawlessly executed and delightfully musical.

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What I most enjoyed though was the reactions of those around me who clearly had not seen this Ballet. It was great hearing the chuckles , out and out belly laughs and aahs from those seeing it for the first time. I almost envied them being able to view it as first timers to this Ballet. And not one rustly sweet or annoying phone screen.

Bliss!

 

 

Yes, it was a real pleasure to be surrounded by people enjoying themselves at the ballet so much. And I don't ever remember such applause and cheering at the end of the Act 1 pas de deux as there was last night

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I think I probably do, but not often.

 

With reference to Dave's "delightfully musical", I too was thinking last night how good it was to be able to see so clearly how the steps related to the music.

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The Bolshoi, I believe, now perform Ashton's Fille but there is another production by Gorsky performed by many Russian companies.

 I've been reading the programme and the history of Fille is very complex, the original 1789 version was an arrangement of popular tunes of the day, then Herold wrote his score for the Paris Opera which kept some of the old music, then a new version with music by Hertel was produced in Germany, which was also used in Russia with Petipa and Ivanov mentioned as choreographers, followed by Gorsky. 

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It's ABT since 2004 and ParisOpera since 2007 so the Ashton version seems fairly widespread these days.

 

The Joffrey Ballet have had Ashton's Fille since the 80's when I so fondly remember Stanley Holden's immortal Simone holding an enchanted sway and certainly delighting audiences.  What a gem of a performance it was.  The NYT's chief dance critic at the time, Anna Kisslegoff wrote:

 

"Mr. Holden's widow is blustery and rollicking. It is a treat to see him make every detail theatrically important. "

Edited by Bruce Wall
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I would have like to have seen what she could have made of it. I wouldn't have thought her a natural Swanilda either, but I enjoyed her in Coppelia a great deal at ENB.

Me too. I wonder if she danced it with Scottish ballet ( not Ashton ?)

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I don't believe SB had Fille in their rep until after she had left.  

 

(The production and also Two Pigeons was very generously lent to SB by BRB when the company was in serious danger of closing.)

 

I didn't think Ms Rojo was a natural Swanilda when I saw her last summer and can't imagine her as Lise either.

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I agree I don't think Rojo has that sunny, flirty disposition required. But she does dark drama so incredibly well, I like to see her out of character once in a while, hence my pleasure seeing her smiling and doing in comedy as Swanilda :-)

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Speaking of surprisingly cast Lises, I was looking at the lists and Mara Galeazzi was also cast in 2001 on tour with Kobborg! Before his partnership with Cojocaru really took off, I guess?

 

Edited to add a review: another one I would have liked to have seen. The review makes me quite nostalgic for Sarah Wildor as well...

Edited by Sunrise
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I didn't think Ms Rojo was a natural Swanilda when I saw her last summer and can't imagine her as Lise either.

 

I found her Swanilda very unsatisfactory and felt that she should not have cast herself in the role - but I hear that she is continuing to play it on ENB's current tour in China

 

I am not in the least surprised that she was never cast as Lise with the RB. She would simply not have had the necessary lightness of touch.

 

I agree I don't think Rojo has that sunny, flirty disposition required. 

 

Quite.

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I think Rojo herself said she didn't have the necessary jump for the role?  But yes, I think I've seen Galeazzi in the role, although I can't remember who with.  Kobborg missed his scheduled debut at the ROH due to injury.

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I think Rojo herself said she didn't have the necessary jump for the role?  But yes, I think I've seen Galeazzi in the role, although I can't remember who with.  Kobborg missed his scheduled debut at the ROH due to injury.

I feel like I have seen her too, but I was not sure if I imagined it - I can't find anything about performances in London online. She has only one performance as Lise on the ROH database and that's on the tour. Maybe someone with a better memory can help?

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I personally enjoyed Osipova's performance but agree that with more exposure to the nuances of Ashton she will grow into the role further. She seemed ill at ease in the tricky solo in act one but seemed to relax into the role as the performance progressed.

I enjoyed the vitality and power which McRae brought to the role but as I have not seen other performances it's hard to compare with other pairings. Technically he was on strong form.

 

I would agree with comments re the clog dance. Although I enjoyed Moseley's interpretation of Widow Simone, the clog dance seemed slightly out of time with the orchestra until the friends joined in. Even then there seemed as if something was missing in terms of chemistry and it lacked polish and the strong sense of rhythm needed to carry it off.

The friends performed well but the discrepancy in height of some of the dancers seemed to spoil the look in certain parts.

Despite these small issues, the company seemed on strong form and the performance was clearly enjoyed by the audience.

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Actually feeling quite upset that Luke Jennings in The Observer chose to focus on the Osipova/McRae cast. It would have been fair enough to cover that in addition to the first night line-up but neglecting Morera/Muntagirov altogether is a poor show.

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I have no reason to speak for for Luke Jennings but he only posts once a week on Sundays in the Observer and last week he reviewed Pina Bausch rather than Fille presumably because his colleague in the Guardian, Judith Mackrell, had reviewed the Morera/Muntagirov cast two days earlier.

 

It looks as if, for the time being anyway, any Osipova debut is likely to be reviewed whether on first night or, as in this case, a week into the run.

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I saw the first night cast again on Friday and I thought it wonderful - to the point where I tweeted:

"Thank you Laura Morera, Vadim Muntagirov, Will Tuckett, @paul5kay, @balletboy09 and all on stage for such a brilliant #ROHfille last night"

 

That's not something I do often! I actually though Vadim looked more relaxed in this performance, and the more natural for it. I prefer Morera's softer approach to Lise but in terms of bringing a warm smile to my face there is really not much in it between her and Marquez. Yet to see Osipova - who we are seeing on screen in Bracknell on 5th May. Look forward to it - she is one of the foremost dancers in the world and we are luck to have her. Doesn't mean I'll like what I see of course!

Edited by Bruce
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I love reading the comments on this forum and thought it was about time I started contributing. I have seen three performances in this run so far and have enjoyed each of them. Firstly, I saw Muntagirov and Morera. I thought they made a lovely partnership. Morera was fabulous as Lise and so fleet of foot. Muntagirov was equally wonderful as Colas. Will Tuckett as Widow Simone was excellent as usual on opening night and I also appreciated Paul Kay as Alain.

Then I saw Marquez and Campbell. Both were brilliant and seem to have good chemistry on stage.

This was followed by Nunez and Acosta. Personally, I think Nunez was magnificent as Lise on Wednesday. She seemed to be having real fun out there. To me she is the perfect Lise and brought so much warmth to role. I just hope I can see her again this week. I like the Acosta/Nunez partnership but agree with a previous comment about Acosta looking a little tired that night.

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Speculation is that it was left over from BAFTA awards! It twizzled down from on high at a wonderful moment. And yet another one dropped on Friday, during the storm section, to be very professionally whisked away by a chicken! Seeing her run offstage with a silver streamer in hand is not something I'll forget soon!

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Speculation is that it was left over from BAFTA awards! It twizzled down from on high at a wonderful moment. And yet another one dropped on Friday, during the storm section, to be very professionally whisked away by a chicken! Seeing her run offstage with a silver streamer in hand is not something I'll forget soon!

The streamers were from Il Turco in Italia.

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I saw the Choe/Campbell cast today, along with a large number of children. Choe was a rather more innocent Lise than Morera and danced and acted beautifully. Campbell made a fine Colas with a twinkle in his eye and assured bravura dancing. 

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