La fille mal garde

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Not to be confused with La fille mal garde (Ashton).

Nadia Nerina (as Lise) and David Blair (as Colas) in the Pas de rubanfrom the premiere of Frederick
Ashton's version of La Fille mal garde, London, 1960.

La Fille mal garde (English: The Wayward Daughter, literal translation: "The Poorly Guarded
Girl" and also known as The Girl Who Needed Watching) is a comic ballet presented in two
acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La rprimande/Une jeune fille
querelle par sa mre. The ballet was originally choreographed by the Ballet Master Jean
Dauberval to a pastiche of music based on fifty-five popular French airs. The ballet was
premiered on 1 July 1789 at the Grand Thtre de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France under the
title Le ballet de la paille, ou Il n'est qu'un pas du mal au bien (The Ballet of Straw, or There is
Only One Step from Bad to Good).
La Fille mal garde is one of the oldest and most important works in the modern ballet
repertory, having been kept alive throughout its long performance history by way of many
revivals. The work has undergone many changes of title and has had no fewer than six scores,
some of which were adaptations of older music.
Today La Fille mal garde is normally presented in one of two different versions: many ballet
companies feature productions which are derived from Alexander Gorsky's version to the
music of Peter Ludwig Hertel, originally staged for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1903.
Gorsky's version was almost entirely based on Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's 1885 staging
for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. The Petipa/Ivanov staging was itself based on Paul
Taglioni's version to the music of Peter Ludwig Hertel, originally staged in 1864 for the Court
Opera Ballet of the Knigliches Opernhaus in Berlin. Modern audiences are perhaps most
familiar with the production staged byFrederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet in 1960.
The appealing simplicity and the nave familiarity of the action of La Fille mal garde have lent
it a popularity that has established it in the repertory of many ballet companies all over the
world.
Contents
[hide]

1 The origins of La Fille mal garde

1.1 The music

1.2 Revivals of Dauberval's original version

2 Jean-Pierre Aumer's new version to the music of Hrold

o

2.1 The Fanny Elssler pas de deux

3 Paul Taglioni's new version to the music of Hertel

4 La Fille mal garde in Russia

o

4.1 Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's revival

4.2 Notation of the Imperial Ballet's production

5 La Fille mal garde in the 20th century

o

5.1 Alexander Gorsky's revival

5.2 Soviet-era productions

6 La fille mal garde in the West

7 Frederick Ashton's Royal Ballet production

8 The Ballet du Rhin's revival of the 1789 original

9 Characters

10 Synopsis

11 Recordings of the music

12 Historic photographs

13 Sources

14 External links

15 References

The origins of La Fille mal garde[edit]

Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's painting Le reprimande/Une jeune fille querelle par sa mre.

La Fille mal garde was the creation of Jean Dauberval, one of the greatest choreographers of
his day. He was trained under the influential teacher Jean-Georges Noverre and is further
distinguished as the teacher of Charles Didelot, known today as "The Father of Russian
Ballet". Legend has it that Dauberval found his inspiration for La Fille mal garde while in a
Bordeaux print shop, where he viewed an engraving ofPierre-Antoine Baudouin's painting Le
reprimande/Une jeune fille querelle par sa mre. The painting showed a girl in tears with her
clothes disarrayed being berated by an old woman (presumably her mother) in a hay barn,
while her lover can be seen in the background scurrying up the stairs to the safety of the loft.
Allegedly this quaint work of art amused Dauberval so much that he immediately set out to
craft a suitable scenario for a ballet.
The ballet was first presented at the Grand Thtre de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France on 1
July 1789. Dauberval's wife, la danseuse Marie-Madeleine Cresp (known to history as Mme.
Thodore), created the role of Lison (or Lise, as the character is known in modern versions),
the danseur Eugne Hus created the role of Colin (or Colas), and Francois Le Riche created
the role of the Widow Ragotte (now known as Widow Simone in modern versions).
The ballet's original title was Le ballet de la paille, ou Il n'est qu'un pas du mal au bien ("The
Ballet of the Straw, or There is Only One Step from Bad to Good"). The work met with public
success and proved to be Dauberval's most popular and enduring work.

The music[edit]
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries scores for ballets were often patchworks (or
a pastiche) of popular airs derived from well-known dances, songs and/or operas. These
scores were often arranged and adapted by either the theatre's director of music or by the lead
violinist of the opera house's orchestra, who at the time also served as conductor (the separate
role of orchestral conductor was not yet established).
The 1789 score for La Fille mal garde was itself an arrangement of fifty-five popular French
airs. The surviving orchestral parts of the 1789 score do not list a composer/arranger, and no
extant contemporary account of the original production mentions a composer. It is possible that
Dauberval himself arranged the score, for he certainly devised the ballet's scenario and was a
competent violinist. If it was not his work, then it may have been one of the musicians
employed by the theatre.

Revivals of Dauberval's original version[edit]

Announcement for the premiere ofLa Fille mal garde at the Pantheon, London, 1791.

Two years after the premiere, Dauberval travelled to London to mount the work for the Ballet of
the King's Pantheon Theatre, and for the occasion he changed the title of the ballet to La Fille
mal garde, as the ballet is now commonly known. For the first performance on 30 April 1791,
Dauberval's wife Mme. Thodore reprised her role as Lise, while Dauberval's student, Charles
Didelot danced Colas.
The 1789 score was loathed by the musicians of the Pantheon Theatre Orchestra. When the
orchestral parts were rediscovered in 1959 by the ballet historian and musicologist Ivor
Guest and the conductor John Lanchbery, they were found to be covered with comments
ranging from the witty to the crude. In the original manuscript the title of the ballet was
sprawled atop the pages. The lead violinist of the first London performance crossed out the
title, and in its place wrote "Filly-Me-Gardy".
Eugne Hus, creator of the role of Colas, staged Dauberval's La Fille mal garde in 1803 at the
old Paris Opra, the Salle de la rue de Richelieu, predecessor of the Salle Le Peletier. Prior to
this production, Hus utilised the ballet's libretto in 1796 for a comic opera titled Lise et Colin,
which was set to the music of Pierre Gaveaux.

Jean-Pierre Aumer's new version to the music of Hrold[edit]

Mme. Thodore Dauberval, creator of the role of Lise. Paris, 1761.

The choreographer Jean-Pierre Aumer, a student of Dauberval, continuously revised Hus's

1803 production throughout his career as ballet master at the Paris Opra. He then travelled
to Vienna in 1809 to mount the work for the Ballett des imperialen Hoftheater nchst der Burg.
On 17 November 1828, Aumer presented a completely new version of La Fille mal garde at
the Paris Opra especially for the BallerinaPauline Montessu. For this revival the
composer Ferdinand Hrold created an adaptation of the original score of 1789. Hrold also
borrowed many themes from the operas of such composers as Jean Paul Egide
Martini and Gaetano Donizetti.

The Fanny Elssler pas de deux[edit]

In 1837, the great Austrian Ballerina Fanny Elssler made her debut at the Paris Opra in
Aumer's production of La Fille mal garde. As was the custom of the time, a ballerina would
commission new Pas and variations to be interpolated into already existing ballets for their own
performances. Making use of the extensive archives in the Paris Opra's library, the ballerina
selected her favourite airs from Donizetti's extremely popular score for the opera L'elisir
d'amore. The library's copyist Aim-Ambroise-Simon Leborne assembled and orchestrated the
music for her.
Elssler's Grand pas was resurrected by the musicologist and historian Ivor Guest for Ashton's
1960 production of La Fille mal garde for the Royal Ballet.

Paul Taglioni's new version to the music of Hertel[edit]

The Italian choreographer Paul Taglioni, uncle of the legendary Marie, was engaged as ballet
master to the Court Opera Ballet of the Knigliches Opernhaus in Berlin from 18521866. On 7
November 1864, Taglioni presented his own completely new staging of La Fille mal
garde under the title Das schlecht bewachte Mdchen (The Badly Guarded Girl). For this
production Taglioni commissioned an entirely new score from the Knigliches Opernhaus's
resident composer of ballet music Peter Ludwig Hertel. This production premiered to a
resounding success, and was retained in the company's repertory for many years.
In May 1876, the Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi made her debut in Taglioni's production in
Berlin. The celebrated ballerina triumphed in the role of Lise, revitalising the work with her
expressive portrayal.

La Fille mal garde in Russia[edit]

La Fille mal garde was staged for the first time in Russia by the Ballet Master Giuseppe
Solomoni in 1800 for Michael Maddox's Petrovsky Theatre (the predecessor of the Bolshoi
Theatre) in Moscow, a production that was later revised by Solomoni's successor Jean
Lamiral in 1808. Both productions utilised the original pastiche score of 1789, perhaps in
adaptations prepared for each respective staging.
The first production of La Fille mal garde to be performed by the St. Petersburg Imperial
Ballet was staged by Jean Dauberval's student Charles Didelot, who performed the role of
Colas in the London revival of 1791. Didelotwho served as Matre de ballet to the St.
Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 18011811 and from 18161837presented his version
of La Fille mal garde on 2 October [O.S. 20 September] 1818 at the Imperial Bolshoi
Kamenny Theatre, under the title La Prcaution inutile, ou Lise et Colin (Vain Precaution, or
Lise and Colin). The work was set to music by the composer Catterino Cavos.
A production of Jean-Pierre Aumer's 1828 version of La Fille mal garde, set to the music of
Hrold, was first staged in Russia at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in 1845 by the
Balletmaster Irakly Nikitin. The great choreographer Jules PerrotPremier Matre de ballet of
the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 18501859staged his own version of Aumer's
production for the company in 1854, and for this production added new music to the ballet by
the composer Cesare Pugni. Perrot's staging was given for the last time in 1880 for a benefit
performance for the Imperial Ballet's Premier danseur Pavel Gerdt.

Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's revival [edit]

Virginia Zucchi as Lise in Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's revival of La Fille mal garde, St. Petersburg,
1885.

The great Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi toured St. Petersburg in 1885, performing
successfully in different works at various theatres throughout the Imperial capital. In August of
that year Emperor Alexander III requested that the Imperial Theatre's director Ivan
Vsevolozhsky invite Zucchi to perform with the Imperial Ballet. Zucchi agreed, and chose Paul
Taglioni's 1864 version of La Fille mal garde to the music of Hertel for her dbut. The director
Vsevolozhsky was required to pay an extremely high price to obtain Hertel's score from Berlin,
while Zucchi herself commanded large fees plus a benefit performance in her contract.
The production of La Fille mal garde was staged jointly by the Imperial Ballet's Premier matre
de ballet Marius Petipa and the company'srgisseur and second ballet master Lev Ivanov,
while Zucchi herself would assist with staging some of the dances she had known from Paul
Taglioni's version. The production also incorporated dances from the Imperial Ballet's old
production to the music of Hrold. The reasons for the joint staging by both Petipa and Ivanov
are not entirely clear, though it may be due to the fact that Ivanov was needed to stage the
numbers brought out from the old production of the ballet. Petipa was responsible for the
setting of all of the new dances, and even commissioned the composer Ludwig Minkus to
score music for two additional variations for Zucchi.
The production premiered under its traditional title in Russia La Prcaution inutile (Vain
Precaution) on 28 December [O.S. 16 December] 1885. Zucchi's performance as Lise instantly
became a legend in Russia, where she was soon known as "The Divine Virginia". During the
famous mimed scene known as "When I'm Married", contemporary accounts tell us that
Zucchi's performance made such an impression that it brought many in the audience to tears.
The ballerina was much celebrated for the famous Pas de ruban, for which Lise and Colas
dance a paselaborated by the use of ribbons, with Colas pretending to be a horse and Lise
running along.
After Zucchi left the Imperial stage, Lev Ivanov mounted an abridged version of La Fille mal
garde for performances at the Imperial Theatre ofKrasnoe Selo in the summer of 1888. The
role of Lise was performed by the ballerina Alexandra Vinogradova, who reprised the role in
October of that same year on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre (principal theatre of the
Imperial Ballet and Opera from 1886). This was the last performance of the ballet until 1894,

when Ivanov again revived the ballet for the visiting German ballerina Hedwige Hantenbrg.
Thereafter the work found a permanent place in the Imperial Ballet's repertory.
La Fille mal garde proved to be a useful vehicle for the great ballerinas of the old Imperial
stage, most notably Olga Preobrajenskaya, Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. For some
time the renowned ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya did not allow any other danseuse to
perform the role of Lise.
A feature of the Ivanov production was the use of live chickens on stage. One evening when
Preobrajenskaya danced the role of Lise, her rival Kschessinskaya let all of the chickens out of
their coops during her variation, with many of them landing in the orchestra pit and even on the
laps of many of the musicians. Preobrajenskaya kept on dancing as if nothing happened.
The difficulties brought upon the Russian ballet as a result of the 1917 revolution caused a
substantial number of works in the Imperial Ballet's repertory to cease being performed and
eventually become lost. The Imperial Ballet's production of La Fille mal garde was performed
for the last time on 10 October [O.S. 27 September] 1917, only one month prior to the October
revolution, with the ballerina Elsa Vill as Lise.

Notation of the Imperial Ballet's production[edit]

As with many of the works that comprised the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet's repertory at the
turn of the 20th century, the Petipa/Ivanov/Hertel production of La Fille mal gardewas notated
in the Stepanov method of choreographic notation by the company's rgisseur Nicholas
Sergeyev and his team of notators. Sergeyev brought these notations with him when he left
Russia in 1917 and utilised them to mount such ballets as the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake,
Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty, the Imperial Ballet's original 1892 The Nutcracker, the
Petipa/Ivanov/Cecchetti Copplia, and Petipa's definitive Giselle for the first time outside of
Russia, primarily for the Royal Ballet.
Today all of these notations, including those for the Imperial Ballet's production of La Fille mal
garde, are part of a collection known as the Sergeyev Collection, which is today housed in the
theatre collection of the Harvard University Library. In 2015 the choreographer and
historian Sergei Vikharev staged a production of La Fille mal garde for the State Ballet of
Ekaterinburg that utilized the notation from the Sergeyev Collection. The production premiered
on 15 May, 2015 at the Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

La Fille mal garde in the 20th century[edit]

Alexander Gorsky's revival[edit]
On 20 December [O.S. 7 December] 1903, an important revival of La Fille mal
garde premiered at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. This version was staged
byAlexander Gorsky, a former danseur of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres who served
as Premier matre de ballet of the Moscow troupe. Gorsky's 1903 version was based on the
Petipa/Ivanov production that he learned during his career in St. Petersburg. Gorsky's version
used much additional music added to the score of Hertel, including pieces byCesare
Pugni, Ludwig Minkus, Lo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo and Anton Rubinstein. It is this version
of La Fille mal garde that would eventually serve as the basis for nearly every production
mounted in Russia, Europe and the Americas for many decades. Gorsky's version of
the Grand pas de deux from the second act, loosely known as La Fille mal garde pas de
deux, is now a famous repertory excerpt on the gala and competition circuit, and is still
performed regularly by the Vaganova School as part of their annual graduation performances
at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Soviet-era productions[edit]

Final scene from Act II of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's revival of La Fille mal garde, St. Petersburg, 1994.

In 1930 the choreographers Asaf Messerer and Igor Moiseyev mounted a new version La Fille
mal garde for the Bolshoi Ballet, which was based on the 1903 edition by Gorsky. For this
production Messerer and Moiseyev added a new act to the ballet titled The Wedding of Lise
and Colas, set to an arrangement of music taken from Glinka's Orpheus. Messerer and
Moiseyev's version remained in the Bolshoi Theatre's repertory for only two years, and was
then revived under the title The Rivals in 1935, with the Hertel/Glinka music revised by the
conductor Alexander Mosolov. This version was given only eighteen performances and then
dropped from the repertory altogether.
The Bolshoi presented yet another revival of La Fille mal garde in 1937, in a completely new
version staged by the choreographerLeonid Lavrovsky. For this production Lavrovsky
commissioned the composer Pavel Feldt to create a new score based on the traditional music
of Hertel, which included all of the interpolated music the score acquired via Gorsky's revival.
After eleven performances Lavrovsky's production was taken out of the Bolshoi Theatre's
regular repertory, only to be presented at irregular intervals until the early 1970s. From then on
the production was relegated only to occasional performances given by the top graduates of
the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.
In 1989 the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's director Oleg Vinogradov mounted a new version of the
ballet for the Kirov Ballet, largely based on the traditional Petipa/Ivanov/Gorsky productions
from the turn of the 20th century. In spite of being a great success, Vinogradov's production
was taken out of the repertory after his departure as director of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet in
1995, and to date the company has no production of the full-length work in their repertory.

La fille mal garde in the West[edit]

The first performances of any Russian version of La Fille mal garde (i.e., derived from Petipa
and Ivanov's revivals) in the West were presented by the touring company of the legendary
ballerina Anna Pavlova, one of the most celebrated interpreters of the role of Lise, who while
touring London in 1912 performed in an abridged version of the ballet.
Bronislava Nijinska staged the first production of La Fille mal garde in the United States
for American Ballet Theatre (then known as the Ballet Theatre) in 1940, a version based on the
Petipa/Ivanov/Gorsky version to the music of Hertel. Nijinska's version was revived in 1941
under the title The Wayward Daughter and in 1942 under the title Naughty Lisette. The 1942
production was revised by Dimitri Romanoff in 1949 and was retained in the repertory of the
company for many years. Romanoff returned to stage a new version of the ballet for the
company in 1972, with the great ballerina Natalia Makarova as Lise. The Romanoff production
proved to be a popular piece in the repertory of American Ballet Theatre, who retained the
production until 1984. Many famous dancers such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey
Kirkland, Susan Jaffe, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones and Marianna
Tcherkassky triumphed in the lead roles of the ballet. Today the company includes Sir

Frederick Ashton's version in their active repertory (originally staged for the Royal Ballet in
1960), though the so-called La Fille mal garde pas de deux derived from the old version is
often performed during gala performances.
In 1942 the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo presented their first production of La Fille mal garde,
staged by the former ballerina of the Imperial Ballet Alexandra Balachova in a version largely
based on Alexander Gorsky's production derived from the Petipa/Ivanov staging of the late
19th century.
Many of the dancers who worked with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo went on to have
successful careers as choreographers, teachers and balletmasters abroad, and would use
Balachova's version as a basis for many revivals throughout the world. The celebrated
ballerina Alicia Alonso danced Balachova's staging of La Fille mal garde throughout the 1940s
and 1950s and she would go on to stage her own version of the work for the Cuban Ballet in
1964. As a result, the majority of ballet companies in the Caribbean and South America
regularly perform productions derived from Alonso's staging to the music of Hertel.
In 1985 Claude Bessy staged her version of La Fille mal garde for the Ballet School of the
Paris Opra, a production inspired by the 1972 version of Dimitri Romanoff for American Ballet
Theatre. For this production Bessy used Hertel's 1864 score in an orchestration by the Paris
Opra's conductor Jean-Michel Damase.

Frederick Ashton's Royal Ballet production[edit]

Main article: La fille mal garde (Ashton)
In 1959, the choreographer Frederick Ashton began creating a completely new version of La
Fille mal garde for the Royal Ballet of London. This production premiered on 28 January
1960,[1] with the ballerina Nadia Nerina as Lise, David Blair as Colas, Stanley Holden as the
Widow Simone, and Alexander Grant as Alen. Since its inception Ashton's staging has become
a celebrated classic of the ballet repertory.

Sara Lamb (as Lise) and Martin Harvey (as Colas) in the Fanny Elssler pas de deux from Ashton's La
Fille mal garde, London, 2005.

Originally Ashton intended to use the 1864 score of Peter Ludwig Hertel, as it had been used
for nearly every revival of the ballet since the late 19th century, but after close inspection of this
music Ashton decided it would not suit his plans for the revival. At the suggestion of the ballet
historian and musicologist Ivor Guest, Ashton studied the 1828 score by Ferdinand Hrold, and
found the light, simple music more suitable for his conception.
Ashton then commissioned the Royal Opera House's composer and conductor John
Lanchbery to orchestrate and edit Hrold's score. After becoming frustrated with the underdeveloped nature of this music, Ashton and Lanchbery decided that Hrold's music would be
better used as a foundation for an entirely new score, for which Lanchbery would compose a
few new numbers. They went even further by incorporating passages of the

original pastiche music from the premiere of 1789 into the score, as well as one number from
Hertel's score which was utilised for the famous Clog Dance.
Ashton was disappointed that Hrold's score contained no suitable Grand pas, and for a while
considered using the well-known La Fille mal garde pas de deux. Ivor Guest found a violin
reduction of the pas de deux that Fanny Elssler had arranged for her performance in the ballet
in 1837, tucked away in an old box of music at the Paris Opra. This number is now known
as The Fanny Elssler pas de deux.
Ashton created what is considered to be among his most masterful choreography for his new
version of La Fille mal garde. He resurrected the Pas de ruban for Lise and Colas, in which
the lovers perform a charming pas with intricate tricks using a pink satin ribbon. Ashton took
this idea to an entirely new level with the Fanny Elssler pas de deux, devising a
spectacular Grand adage for Lise, Colas and eight women with eight ribbons. Ashton also
included Petipa's original mimed sequence known as When I'm Married, a passage that was
performed by all of the great ballerinas of old when they danced the role of Lise. He was taught
this passage by Tamara Karsavina, former Ballerina of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres
and the Original Ballet Russe. She had in turn learned it from her teacher Pavel Gerdt, once
the Imperial Ballet's leading male dancer who partnered all of the great ballerinas of the late
19th century and early 20th century in the role of Lise, including Virginia Zucchi.

William Tuckett as the Widow Simone with members of the corps de ballet in theClog Dance from the
Royal Ballet's production of Ashton's La Fille mal garde, London, 2006.

To inspire Lanchbery to write music for the Clog Dance, Ashton took the composer to a
performance of Lancashire clog dancers. This dance is performed in the ballet by Lise's
mother, the Widow Simone. Lanchbery decided to use the leitmotiv for the Widow Simone from
Hertel's score, the only music by Hertel that Lanchbery's score contains. Ashton fashioned a
humorous number from this music for Simone and four ballerinas, at the beginning of which
Lise tempts her mother with a pair of clogs, which she cannot resist. She puts them on and
whirls into one of Ashton's most celebrated numbers, which also features the dancers using the
clogs to perform sur la pointe (on their toes).
Ashton's 1960 version of La Fille mal garde has been staged for many companies throughout
the world and has become the more or less "traditional" version, replacing the productions
derived from the Petipa/Ivanov/Gorsky versions danced in Russia to the music of Hertel.
Among such companies are the Bolshoi Ballet (2002), and American Ballet Theatre (2004). In
spite of this, the famous La Fille mal garde pas de deux, which is taken from the
Petipa/Ivanov/Gorsky versions of the ballet, is still performed with regularity as a gala excerpt,
and is often used by various young dancer on the ballet competition circuit.
After Ashton's death, the rights to his staging of La fille mal garde passed to Alexander Grant,
the original performer of the role of Alain. In the 1981 version, the role of Alain was performed
by Alexander's brother Garry Grant.

In 2007, the Paris Opra Ballet invited Alexander Grant to supervise a staging of Ashton's
version, which premiered at the Palais Garnier on 22 July 2007 with Dorothe Gilbert as
Lise, Nicolas Le Riche as Colas, Simon Valastro as Alain, Stphane Phavorin as the Widow
Simone and Gil Isoart as the Piper.
As part of a contract between the BBC and the Royal Ballet signed in 1961, La fille mal
garde was one of nine ballets filmed for television, and was broadcast over Christmas 1962
with the original cast.[2]
In 1984, Ashton's production was filmed at Covent Garden, with Lesley Collier as Lise, and
Michael Coleman as Colas. A later recording, featuring Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta,
was made in the mid-2000s; both are available on DVD.
In 1962, Lanchbery recorded excerpts of music from his adaptation of Hrold's score, and in
1983 he recorded the complete work, again for Decca Records.

The Ballet du Rhin's revival of the 1789 original[edit]

The performance history of La Fille mal garde came full circle in 1993, when the Ballet du
Rhin of Mulhouse, France presented a revival of Dauberval's original production of 1789. The
production was staged by Ivo Cramer, an expert in late 18th century and early 19th century
dance theatre, and the Ballet du Rhin's artistic director, Jean Paul Gravier. They painstakingly
researched the original production, locating a copy of the original score in Stockholm, which
describes the 1789 production, including details of the original mime passages. The original
score was restored and orchestrated by the conductor Charles Farncombe. The
designer Dominique Delouche created sets and costumes inspired by the designs used in the
original. Though Dauberval's original choreography is lost, Cramer crafted dances in the style
of the period, with heavy influence from folk dancing, as in the original. Cramer also restored
the original scheme for the ballet's finale, in which the dancers, singing along with the music,
shout out the refrain Il n'est qu'un pas du mal au bien ("There is Only One Step from Bad to
Good"). The production was presented under the original title, Le ballet de la paille ("The Ballet
of Straw").

Characters[edit]

Lise, (the badly guarded daughter)

Colas, (Lise's beloved)

Widow Simone, (Lise's mother, traditionally danced by a man)

Alain, (Lise's rich dimwitted suitor)

Thomas, (Alain's father)

Notary

Farm workers, friends of Lise and Colas

Rooster and 3 hens

Synopsis[edit]
Lise and Colas are in love and want to marry. However, the Widow Simone wants Lise to marry
the dimwitted, but extremely rich, Alain, and has arranged (with Alain's father Thomas) for a
marriage contract between Lise and Alain. The Widow Simone does her best to keep Lise and
Colas apart, but is unsuccessful in her attempts to do so.
At harvest time the Widow Simone and Lise are taken to the field for a picnic lunch by Thomas
and Alain. The farm workers join in a ribbon dance around a maypole, and the girls also join in
a clog dance with the Widow Simone. There is a thunderstorm and everyone rushes for shelter.
Alain is carried away on the wind by his open umbrella.
The Widow Simone and Lise return to their home. The widow wants Lise to sit down at the
spinning wheel and spin, but Lise spins while she is up dancing, nearly strangling the widow.
After a while, the widow wants Lise to dance, and Lise shows signs of unhappiness, but
obliges. The widow takes a tambourine to play in time with Lise's dancing. When the widow is
asleep, Lise tries to steal the key from the widow's pocket, to prevent the widow from locking
her in, but is unsuccessful. The crops are brought in by the farm workers, and the widow then
leaves the house (after locking the door behind her to prevent Lise from leaving the house).
Lise thinks about Colas and mimes being the mother of a large number of children. To her
embarrassment, Colas suddenly rises from the stacked crops. At the sound of the Widow
Simone's returning to the house, Lise and Colas look around desperately for a place where he
can hide. Not finding anywhere suitable in the living room, Lise takes Colas to her room, and
she returns to the living room just before Widow Simone enters the house. The Widow Simone
orders Lise to go to her room and put on her wedding dress for her forthcoming marriage to
Alain. The horrified Lise tries to remain where she is, but the Widow Simone pushes Lise into
her room and locks the door.
Thomas arrives with his son Alain (who is still clutching his umbrella). They are accompanied
by a notary who is to act as witness to the marriage. The farm workers (friends of both Lise and
Colas) also arrive. The Widow Simone gives Alain the key to Lise's room. When Alain unlocks
the door to Lise's room, Lise appears in her wedding dress, accompanied by Colas. Thomas
and Alain take offence, and the enraged Thomas tears up the marriage contract. Thomas, Alain
and the notary leave the house in dudgeon. Lise and Colas then beg the Widow Simone to
look favourably upon their suit. Love conquers all and the widow relents. Joyfully celebrating
the happy outcome for Lise and Colas, everyone leaves, and the house is left quiet and empty,
until Alain returns for his umbrella which he had accidentally left behind. So Alain is also happy
with the love of his life his umbrella.