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AUGUST 11, 2009                                                         KIM ESPINOSA
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Houston Ballet Caps 40^th Anniversary Season with
La Fille mal gardée
in June 2010

From June 10 - 20, 2010, Houston Ballet will present Sir Frederick Ashton, one of Britain's greatest choreographers, with his glorious romantic comedy, La Fille mal gardée, hailed by The New York Times as "the most enchanting ballet in existence." (March 4, 2003)  Set in the countryside in eighteenth century France, the ballet tells the story of Lise, a young maiden who must choose between the handsome, penniless farmer Colas and the wealthy simpleton Alain whom her meddling mama wishes her to marry.  Audiences will delight in the witty choreography and host of colorful characters in this joyous celebration of love and life that is perfect for the entire family.  La Fille mal gardée (roughly translated in English as The Wayward Daughter) is a two-act comic extravaganza featuring a maypole dance, a clog-dancing widow, dancing chickens and a live pony on stage. 

"It is impossible to imagine British ballet without Frederick Ashton," observed the English dance critic John Percival.  Born in Ecuador in 1904 and raised in Peru, Sir Frederick Ashton was founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet and served as director of that company from 1963 - 1970, creating a body of 80 major works that have become the cornerstone of the British ballet repertory, including Symphonic Variations (1946), Cinderella (1948), La Fille mal gardée (1960), and A Month in the Country (1976).  He lifted English ballet to a worldwide reputation by helping to shape and define "the English style:" a soft, fluid, lyrical, musically sensitive classicism.  The English critic Alastair Macaulay has written, "The ballet style shown in Ashton's ballets is a particularly intricate one, with upper and lower body maintaining a lively activity, and many internal embellishments of head, arms, épaulement and footwork."  Ashton was also the founding choreographer of another seminal British dance troupe, Ballet Rambert, now known as Rambert Dance Company, Britain's oldest professional dance ensemble.  He died on August 18, 1988, in Sussex, England.  Along with George Balanchine, Ashton is regarded as one of two greatest ballet choreographers of the twentieth century.  

The very first staging of La Fille mal gardée premiered in 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, and in some respects the ballet heralded the changes which were about to overtake the political and social structure of France.  To begin with, La Fille mal gardée was first performed in "provincial" Bordeaux, as opposed to Paris, then the artistic and political center of France.  The choreographer, Jean Dauberval, was out of favor in the capitol and had been hired by the well equipped Bordeaux Opera House.  In addition, La Fille mal gardée was a comedy, a rarity in an era when tragedies and allegorical dance-drama abounded.  Last but not least, the theme of the ballet was quite bourgeois and its characters decidedly middle class.  Based on everyday life, La Fille mal gardée brought eighteenth century ballet down to earth.

Utilizing the original score by Ferdinand Hérold, freely adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery, Sir Frederick Ashton's version of La Fille mal gardée received its premiere by The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in London on January 28, 1960, featuring Nadia Nerina, David Blair, Stanley Holden, and Alexander Grant in the principal roles.  Lanchbery, an acclaimed British ballet conductor, collaborated with Sir Frederick and composed pieces to suit Ashton's needs.  He created new numbers for the mime scenes, the first act pas de deux, Alain's comic solo, the clog dance, and the finale, seamlessly melding them with Hérold's earlier work. 

In Ashton's version of La Fille mal gardée, the choreography closely follows the plot of Dauberval's original 1789 staging, making it the oldest existing ballet story in the repertory.  While creating the work, Ashton met with Tamara Karsavina, who taught him several comic and mime scenes.    As a young dancer in St. Petersburg, she danced the role of Lise at the Maryinsky Theater, giving Ashton's choreography a link to past productions.  Another source of inspiration was his love for the English countryside and folk customs.  His additions of the maypole dancing and the clog dance are among the most beloved parts of the work.  The ballet's longevity is credited to its charm and comic universality.  La Fille mal gardée entered Houston Ballet's repertoire in 1992, and the company last performed the work in 2004.  In addition to La Fille mal gardée, Houston Ballet has three other works by Ashton in its repertoire:   Façade, The Two Pigeons and Les Patineurs.