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Set in a peasant village in the French countryside, La Fille Mal Gardee ('The Girl Poorly Guarded') is a delightful tale of the turbulent path of young love. Widow Simone is determined to marry her wilful daughter Lise to the hapless son of a rich farmer, but Lise and her sweetheart Colas have other ideas.
ACT ONE
A new day dawns, heralded by the farm rooster and his attendant hens. Lise comes into the yard, her haridan mother, Simone, has banned her from seeing her sweetheart Colas so she leaves him a ribbon tied in a lovers knot. Colas finds the knot and ties it to his staff. The sweethearts meet but Simone chases Colas away and sets Lise to work churning butter. When Simone leaves, Colas returns to join Lise and help her in her work. The farm girls arrive and summon Lise to join them at play but before she can leave Simone catches and scolds her. Thomas, a wealthy vineyard owner arrives with his hapless son, Alain, on a mission to arrange a marriage between Alain and Lise. Alain, with some prompting, clumsily presses his suit but Lise makes it clear she is not interested. Everyone leaves for the harvest.
ACT TWO
It is harvest time and the harvesters are hard at work in the cornfield. When the harvesting is done the workers relax in a joyful dance. Lise and Alain are pushed together by Simone and Thomas but Colas intervenes in their dance and it is obvious that it is he Lise has eyes for. One of the harvesters produces a flute and begins to play. Alain grabs it from him and tries to play it himself but everyone mocks his fumbling efforts. Alain is dragged away by his indignant father leaving the way open for Colas to dance with Lise. Even Simone joins in with the merriment which culminates in a dance around a maypole. Suddenly a storm breaks and everyone rushes away to find cover.
ACT THREE
Simone and Lise arrive home drenched by the rain. They sit down to work, spinning, but Simone is overcome by sleep and Lise tries to take the doorkey from her in order to slip outside to join Colas. But Simone awakes in time and begins to play the tambourine for Lise to dance. Before long however, she is asleep again and Colas pushes open the top panel of the farmhouse door, leaning inside to embrace Lise. The Harvesters arrive for their pay, waking Simone, but Colas sneaks inside with them and hides among the corn sheaves. Simones leaves the farmhouse, taking care to lock Lise inside. Lise is anguished to be locked inside, but soon begins dreaming of married life and children. Colas reveals himself, surprising her, and they dance joyfully. When Simone returns, Lise tries to find somewhere for Colas to hide and eventually bundles him into her bedroom. Simone catches Lise wearing a scarf Colas has given her and pushes her into her bedroom, locking the door. Thomas and Alain arrive with a notary to sign the marriage contract. Simone gives Alain the key to release Lise but is shocked when Colas emerges with her. The marriage contract is torn up and Simone finally agrees to give the sweethearts her blessing and everyone dances in celebration.
As none of theatres in my area were on the tour sheet for this, one of my favourite ballets performed by one of my favourite companies, I had to make the moderate (40 miles) trip across the pennines to pay a first visit to The Lowry on Salford Quays. It was well worth it, I drove there, but I floated back on a cloud of magical memories (alright, alright, but be fair - if you read my previous reviews you should know by now I get soppy about the ballet).
As might be expected from the BRB the orchestra was first class, and the excellent acoustics of the building contributed to them making the most of Herold's wonderful score. The stage at The Lowry looks a little larger than any of my local theatres which really allowed the dancers to express themselves, especially when accomodating the whole corps de ballet. The sets for each of the three acts were simplistic but perfectly adequate. For the first act we are in the courtyard of the farmhouse with the facia of the farmhouse itself to stage left, a barn to stage right, and an entry gate to the rear. In the second act we are in the cornfield for a simple painted backdrop is sufficient. For the third act we are inside the farmhouse with a large segmented door and small window leading to the outside, and a further door leading to Lise's bedroom. Props are kept to a minimum so that the stage floor remains uncluttered. The costumes are first rate. The chickens, and the colourful rooster in particular, were superb, the farm girls are very appealing, and Simone is a typical pantomime widow. Lise wears a simple but beautiful flounced country dress, while Colas is dressed in ballet tights and a short jacket.
The choreography was magnificent and brought many memorable moments. In the first act, the opening dance of the rooster and his hens was both charming and amusing, and the arrival of the farm workers and later the (real) pony and trap were each a delight (the latter elliciting the obligatory "ahh!" from the audience). In the second act, the simulation of a horse and carriage by a group of dancers with twirling ribbons was hugely effective, Colas intercessions between Lise and Alain both touching and humourous, and the maypole dance performed by the corps de ballet as complex as it was fascinating. But best of all was the the clog dance of Simone and four farm-girls (the latter dancing in wooden shoes on pointe!). Thence to the third act which brought the best of the pas de deux between Lise and Colas, and another opportunity for the corps de ballet in the grand celebration at the end.
NB: If you have never attended a live ballet performance, 'La Fille Mal Gardee' would be an excellent choice as a first experience. The music is light and airy and the romantic story is told tongue in cheek with plenty of humour.
Carol-Anne Millar was truly wonderful as Lise, her deft footwork was mesmerising and her poise and balance superb, particularly at one point in the second act where she is called upon to act as a human maypole maintaining balance on single pointe. Her Lise was very much the wilful, mischeivious young girl portrayed equally by her movements and facial expressions. Her marriage and children mime was sublime (especially the spanking and scolding of an imaginary infant). A breif check of the BRB website reveals that Carole-Ann was promoted to senior soloist only last year, an elevation which on this performance was richly deserved. Her pairing with Dominic Antinucci as Colas worked extremely well and there was a clear chemistry between them. Dominic himself gave an energetic performance, lifting and supporting Carol-Anne with seeming ease (at one point raising her with one arm at full extension). Michael O'Hare as Simone treated us to a wonderful clog dance as well as some superb comic moments. Valentin Olovyannikov gave us a portly and self-important Thomas, whilst Robert Gravenor provided a generous serving of comic releif in his portrayal of Alain.
Magnificent. A superb performance of the ballet classic.