Royal Ballet: La Fille mal Gardée

Ballet in two acts (1960) 65 years after its premiere, The Royal Ballet invites you to (re)discover Frederick Ashton’s ballet of pure sunshine. Lise (Francesca Hayward), the only daughter of Widow Simone, is in love with the young farmer Colas (Marcelino Sambé), but her mother has far more ambitious plans for her. Simone hopes to marry her off to Alain, the son of the wealthy proprietor Thomas. Desperate to marry Colas rather than Alain, Lise contrives to outwit her mother’s plans. Whisking us away into pastoral bliss with Hérold’s cheerful score and Osbert Lancaster’s colourful designs, this affectionate portrayal of village life combines exuberant good humour and brilliantly inventive choreography in what is undoubtedly Ashton’s love letter to the English countryside.