Birmingham Royal Ballet 'La Fille mal gardee'

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. La Fille mal gardee is one of the most delightful ballets ever created. I could honestly watch this sunny display every night of the week. The music is sublime, the choreography beautiful and the mime hilarious. I had never seen Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of Fredrick Ashton’s much-loved classic, and with the addition of a few extra touches, they have cemented themselves as a real contender to rival The Royal Ballet’s version. Much remains the same: the costumes, the sets, the choreography. Not much is different from the version we know and love at The Royal; however, there were a couple of added touches particularly during mime sequences that made for laugh out loud audience reactions.

I have to say that Maureya Lebowitz is fast becoming one of my favourite dancers at Birmingham Royal Ballet. Her small frame made her perfectly cast as Lise, the cheeky, rebellious ‘wayward daughter’ whose love for Colas is unaccepted by her mother, Widow Simone. Lebowitz has the ability to be cutesy and delicate but she’s also ferocious and smart, the perfect ingredients to make a successful Lise. Technically she was wonderful too, and tackled Ashton’s notoriously difficult choreography with breeze. I’d love to see her dance in more Ashton; I imagine her in Two Pigeons, or as Titania. She’s danced a lot of classical roles recently, but what about something meaty like Juliet? I really can see her do it all.

There’s no denying that Cesar Morales is a lovely dancer. He’s graceful, lithe and elegant and he was lovely to watch on stage. I think it took him the first act to really warm up the characterisation, but he got there, particularly shining with his comedic approach in the final act. I thought that he partnered Lebowitz well and together they had a nice chemistry. I think even more could have been made of some of the comedy; however, Ashton’s choreography says it all really so to ham it up would ruin it.

Maureya Lebowitz as Lise, photo copyright Bella Kotak

Aitor Galende was a lovely Alain, sweet and incredibly heart breaking in the final scenes of the ballet. I really applaud him for keeping it simple as so many are tempted to overdo the comedy. Alain is a very difficult character to get right. He’s the village idiot, but he’s aware that Lise isn’t interested and this does eventually upset him. Obviously all is right in the end, but it’s important to show the delicate and real side to him. I find it pretty inexcusable when dancers play him as completely void of any emotion or character. Galende remained understated, his Alain a shy boy just as much surprised by the union as Lise yet ready to give it a chance. I liked that a lot.

Similarly, James Barton kept his Widow Simone understated, and I mean this with kindness. He didn’t ham it up or turn her into a drag act to rival Lily Savage; instead, he was believable and used subtlety to create very obvious humour which worked so well to get a crack out of the audience. I was surprised at how little make up he wore, as I’m so used to seeing the lashes of mascara and lipstick on The Royal Ballet’s Widows; however, I don’t think it mattered too much. Again there’s a fine line with Widow Simone, she must be difficult but with a big heart, after all it doesn’t take much in the end for Lise to convince her to accept Colas. She must also have an affectionate bond with Lise. Sometimes dancers make her a bit too mean, but we mustn’t forget all of her actions are in the interest of her family so a caring nature needs to be shown to the audience to get it right. Barton clearly displayed all of the above and really stood out as a great character artist.

Maureya Lebowitz as Lise, Cesar Morales as Colas and Rory Mackay as Widow Simone, photo copyright Bella Kotak

What I liked most about this performance was that it really showed that the company has Ashton in its roots. Many of the dancers are Royal Ballet School trained and even those who aren’t, show such flair in Ashton’s choreography. Comedy in ballet isn’t easy but they all got it spot on. The corps were great too, showing good acting ability with wonderful dancing. I have just as strong a soft spot for Birmingham Royal Ballet as I do for Fille, so seeing the two combined didn’t get much better. An added bonus was meeting Peregrine, the sometimes naughty pony who appears on stage, outside Sadler’s Wells at the end of the show. It took much restraint not to push all the children surrounding him out of the way to get a photo. A restraint my mum ignored. Overall this was a cast who got it right and they certainly knew how to put a smile on every face in the auditorium.

*Thanks to Emma Goodacre, Sadler's Wells and Birmingham Royal Ballet