La Fille mal gardée – Adagio pas de deux, Act I (Natalia Osipova, Steven McRae; The Royal Ballet)

Frederick Ashton’s joyful ballet La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) features some of his most brilliant and romantic choreography. Principals of The Royal Ballet Natalia Osipova (Lise) and Steven McRae (Colas) perform the Adagio pas de deux for Lise and Colas in Act I scene 2.

Frederick Ashton’s final full-length ballet La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) is one of his most joyous creations, inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside. It is based on a 1789 French ballet originally created by Jean Dauberval; John Lanchbery created the music for Ashton’s ballet from Ferdinand Hérold’s 1828 score. La Fille mal gardée was a resounding success on its premiere in 1960 and has remained a firm favourite in The Royal Ballet’s repertory.

The ballet displays some of Ashton’s most virtuoso choreography, most strikingly in the series of energetic pas de deux that express the youthful passion of Lise and Colas. The ballet is also laced with exuberant good humour, in a whirl of dancing chickens, grouchy guardians and one very unwilling suitor. Ashton affectionately incorporated elements of national folk dance into his choreography, from a Lancashire clog dance to a maypole dance, making La Fille mal gardée – despite its title – emphatically English. Osbert Lancaster’s colourful designs heighten the production’s delightful pastoral wit.

Frederick Ashton created more than one hundred works during his lifetime (1904–88). For further information, please visit http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/

Enjoy this video? Subscribe to our channel to receive notifications about new ballet and opera clips. To book tickets or find out more about the Royal Opera House, head to https://www.roh.org.uk/