ABT 2016 La Fille Mal Gardee

[stuben]

Sorry about that. Here is what he says, "In the nuptial pas de deux of "La Fille mal gardée", Colas twice goes down a diagonal with a big gesture as if he's preparing to partner Lise in a spectacular fish dive. Instead, however, she simply nestles into the crook of his arm: it's the most poetically render anti-climax in ballet. Here is Frederick Ashton rehearsing Nadia Nerina and Davjd Blair in this exact moment before the 1960 premiere. Photo: Zoë Dominic. In the forty-one years I've been watching this ballet i've never known this moment so well realised as it has been this week by American Ballet Theatre. (At the Royal they tend to get the heads and arms all wrong.)"

Thank you It sounds like he is doing his reviews now on social media vs NYTimes? Hopefully they match up!

[its the mom]

Thank you It sounds like he is doing his reviews now on social media vs NYTimes? Hopefully they match up!

He is still doing his NY Times reviews, but he seems to be posting at each of the shows he attends.

[canbelto]

Last night's Fille was basically the greatest thing ever. Marcelo Gomes' Widow Simone was absolutely a joy to watch, as were Abrera, Whiteside, and Scott. More thoughts here, plus impressions of Wilde Times:

http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2016/05/magical-fille-mal-gardee-not-so-wilde.html

[Bored_on_Wall_Street]

Last night's Fille was basically the greatest thing ever. Marcelo Gomes' Widow Simone was absolutely a joy to watch, as were Abrera, Whiteside, and Scott. More thoughts here, plus impressions of Wilde Times:

http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2016/05/magical-fille-mal-gardee-not-so-wilde.html

Very nice writeup. I don't have much to add to the superlatives you and others have provided in this thread other than to emphasize how alive this production was, particularly last night's performance. Ashton's fluid choreography moves the narrative forward by itself (particularly with the ever-present use of props), but the way that the cast embraced it was a site to behold. I often grumble about how ABT has turned some of their big warhorses into dusty museum pieces, and this was a great antidote to that.

And to any ABT marketing people in this thread: i went last night with a friend who has only seen two ballets, and she loved La Fille. This is the kind of ballet that could be a big hit, I think, with many demo groups. It was a fairly grey crowd for the performances I went to, but this has cross over appeal to families, younger people like my friend who want to see a ballet but are inclined to see something with a story, or something "fun" (and not too long...), tourists who couldn't get tix to a broadway show, etc.

I can only hope we don't need to wait 12 more years until this excellent production returns...

[Emma]

I've never seen Stella dance before but OMG WOW I'M IN LOVE. She was so fantastic! As was Whiteside and Gomes, the latter of which can clearly do anything! (sexiest man alive in the Car Man, Prince Desiré, Widow Simone).

[canbelto]

Very nice writeup. I don't have much to add to the superlatives you and others have provided in this thread other than to emphasize how alive this production was, particularly last night's performance. Ashton's fluid choreography moves the narrative forward by itself (particularly with the ever-present use of props), but the way that the cast embraced it was a site to behold. I often grumble about how ABT has turned some of their big warhorses into dusty museum pieces, and this was a great antidote to that.

And to any ABT marketing people in this thread: i went last night with a friend who has only seen two ballets, and she loved La Fille. This is the kind of ballet that could be a big hit, I think, with many demo groups. It was a fairly grey crowd for the performances I went to, but this has cross over appeal to families, younger people like my friend who want to see a ballet but are inclined to see something with a story, or something "fun" (and not too long...), tourists who couldn't get tix to a broadway show, etc.

I can only hope we don't need to wait 12 more years until this excellent production returns...

I think this week's performances demonstrate that Ashton is both the most delicate of choreographers and the most resilient. Delicate because many of his steps are not nearly as important as excellent acting, mime, and really FEELING the story. But this also makes it resilient -- if you have the heart, and the spirit, for Fille, you basically have the audience. Last night's performance simply had so much heart and spirit.