La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter)

A fascinating comedy, pure pleasure, intoxication by dance! Very suitable for children!

La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) is one of the oldest ballets (it was created in 1789), it is still widely staged and hugely popular. Why is that? Because it celebrates the joy of life and – above all – love. It is colorful and full of humor, dancers make audiences smile.

Will the wild young Lise fight for her love despite her desperately overprotective mother? Will she marry her beloved Colas? Or will she listen to her mother’s words and accept Alain who is wealthy but a little bit “out of his head”?

This masterpiece of Frederick Ashton is inspired by the older French ballet of Jean Dauberval. We are invited to a picturesque countryside similar to Suffolk, a place dear to Ashton’s heart.

The sets resemble cartoons, we enjoy folk festivities, dancing hens and a live pony and are drawn into a merry summer atmosphere.

Despite its joyful character the work is technically highly demanding, there are difficult pas de deux and solos, expressing the passionate nature of the young lovers.

choreography: Frederick Ashton

music: Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold

freely adapted and arranged: John Lanchbery

script: Jean Dauberval

musical arrangements: John Lanchbery

sets and costumes: Osbert Lancaster

lighting design: Jean-Pierre Gasquet

cast: Alina Nanu/Nikola Márová/Alexandra Pera/Ayaka Fujii/Olga Bogoliubskaia/Magdalena Matějková/Evgeniya Victory Gonzalez, Patrik Holeček/Giovanni Rotolo/Paul Irmatov/Federico Ievoli/Matěj Šust/Adam Zvonař/Daniel Camargo ...