ABT, LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE, MET OPERA HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY, MAY 23, 24 & 27, 2003 |
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Ashton’s pastoral masterpiece returned to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in May (seen May 23, 24, 27), having been greeted enthusiastically by American Ballet Theatre audiences in Spring 2002. This Friend saw three performances---the first with a cast including Xiomara Reyes (Lise), Angel Corella (Colas), Kirk Peterson (Widow Simone) and Joaquin De Luz (Alain)---and of course both of Nina’s performances with Max Belotserkovsky as Colas, Guillaume Graffin as the Widow and Carlos Lopez as Alain. This
delightfully sunny ballet provided much warmth during one of The curtain rises on a painted scene of bucolic splendor, with a picnic basket invitingly in the foreground. The ballet starts at dawn---with a Cockerel crowing to wake up his attendant hens; all delightfully proceed to stretch and preen their feathers. Soon, Lise enters expectantly, but finding no one but the chickens, starts stirring cream and playing with a ribbon, which she ties into a lover’s knot for Colas. The lovers’ eventual meeting is interrupted by the Widow, who shoos the uninvited suitor off. She is about to spank her daughter when Thomas, a rich vineyard owner, arrives with his dimwit son Alain to propose marriage to Lise. All go off to a harvest feast in the fields---Lise and her mother riding in a pony cart. Colas joins the party, successfully inserting himself in Alain’s comic attempts at a pas de deux with Lise. With the help of their friends, the lovers get rid of Alain and are left to dance together. When Widow Simone reappears, she is distracted from scolding her daughter by the request for a clog dance---she is easily persuaded. A sudden storm interrupts the merriment, and Alain and his umbrella are last seen being blown aloft by the winds. Act II takes place inside Widow Simone’s farmhouse. After drying themselves off, Simone tries to keep her restless daughter occupied—first by spinning thread, then dancing to a tambourine. When the mother dozes off, Lise tries to take the door keys from her pocket, but fails. The resourceful Colas soon appears, having opened the top half of the locked door. Their reunion is cut short when Simone wakes up. The harvesters arrive with their sheaves of grain, stacking them on the floor. Simone leaves to deal with them, making sure to lock the door after her. The frustrated Lise is left to her imagination---she soon mimes her wedding to Colas, and having three children with him. When Colas suddenly jumps out of the grain stacks, Lise is overcome with embarrassment, but is soon comforted by the young man. Lise hears her mother returning and hurriedly tries to find a hiding place for Colas---finally secreting him into her bedroom upstairs. Simone smells mischief, and locks Lise in the bedroom, telling her to change to her wedding dress. Alain and his father arrive, accompanied by a notary. After the marriage contract is signed by the parents, Simone gives Alain the key to Lise’s bedroom. When he finds the nerve to open the door, he discovers Lise and Colas in an embrace. The lovers plead for forgiveness, supported by their friends. The Widow gives in and the furious Thomas drags off the baffled Alain, leaving the rest of the company to celebrate the love of Lise and Colas. Reyes and Corella are well suited physically, and both exuded irresistible charm as the lovers who would not be thwarted by parental plans. Corella seems born to play the simple farmer Colas; his buoyant leaps, endless spins and joyful smiles were apt indications of his feelings for Lise. Reyes, though sometimes blurring the intricate, quick steps allotted to her character, has the advantage of naturally sloping shoulders for the rounded port de bras typical of English trained dancers. Kirk Peterson’s Widow Simone was a funnily frenzied mother, unable to keep up with the pranks of her clever daughter. De Luz captured the endearing awkwardness of Alain and competed with Corella in virtuousic dancing. Yet, it was this quality which, for me, marred this otherwise excellent performance. Though Ashton certainly requires strong technique, his style also calls for a flow of movement, the absence of apparent effort. Corella was successful in this much of the time, De Luz less so. Nina’s performances were, of course, characterized by just such a natural flow of movement. Her impeccable technique and strength allows her to breeze through the intricacies of Ashton’s leg beats and tricky changes of directions with smiling ease. Her teasing eyes and clear mime were all in the service of storytelling. Ashton purists may quibble, however, that at dramatic moments, she tended to revert to her Bolshoi training and forget to soften her arms. (As I mentioned last year, those who have seen Nadia Nerina say that Nina evokes fond memories of Ashton’s first Lise – see Clement Crisp and John Percival). Belotserkovsky, with his blond good looks, played Colas with refinement, his beautiful body placement and engaging, innocent quality a pleasure to watch. He was a gentle, attentive partner---he and Nina seemed to have a good time together. Graffin is every bit as funny as he was last year as Widow Simone---and even improved his Clog Dance routine. Lopez struck a good balance in playing Alain—dancing with clarity and fine timing while making the dimwit somehow sympathetic. The most alluring device used by Ashton in telling this love story is a profusion of pink ribbons. We first become aware of it when Lise plays with one early in the first act. When Colas comes in, he is delighted that she has tied it into a love knot for him to find. He puts the ribbon on his staff and dances for joy at this sign of affection from Lise. When they come together soon after, they continue to play with the ribbon---Lise holds both ends as Colas, playing horsey, takes part of the it in his mouth like a bit. (Corella was particularly delightful in this sequence, looking like a highly spirited pony, his leg beats in the air delicately precise,) The young lovers take turns winding the satin thread around their waists to fly in and out of each other’s arms, finally making a cat’s cradle figure when they disentangle themselves. In the second scene, the lovers’ pas de deux and variations conclude with a ribbon carousel. For me, this is the visual climax of the ballet. While her friends hold the outside ends of a circle of ribbons, Lise holds all the inside ends together, balancing on one toe and twirling around in the center of the formation. Nina, with her excellent balance, makes this an especially thrilling scene---she completes two revolutions before being lifted high by Colas. Ashton’s genius in characterization and storytelling through steps is everywhere evident in Fille, and repeated viewings only bring greater appreciation of this glorious ballet.
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