La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)

Set on a sunlit country farm, this filmed Royal Ballet staging tells a lighthearted love story centered on Lise, the spirited daughter of Widow Simone, and Colas, a young farmer who loves her. Lise's affections clash with her mother's wish that she marry the awkward Alain, and the action moves between flirtation, scheming and comic set pieces rather than heavy drama. Ashton's choreography emphasizes youthful energy in a string of lively pas de deux, while character dances and visual jokes, like dancing chickens, a maypole and a clog dance, keep the tone buoyant. Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae bring physical daring to the leads, making the rural setting feel immediate and playful. Scenes emphasize rustic humor and local color.

Filmed in 2015 for The Royal Ballet, this production was directed for screen by Ross MacGibbon and draws on a long theatrical lineage beginning with Jean Dauberval, reframed through Frederick Ashton’s staging. Osipova and McRae notably headline the recorded performance.

The filmed ballet had a limited theatrical and home-video release aimed at ballet audiences, with cinema screenings and broadcasts instead of a wide mainstream roll-out. Festival screenings, live cinema events and television broadcasts further reached specialist audiences and online platforms.

Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée is one of the Royal Ballet repertoire's most recognizable crowd-pleasers, with signature moments like the maypole sequence, comic farmyard dances and the Widow Simone clog dance entering ballet lore. This recorded staging reinforced those images and helped showcase Osipova and McRae’s chemistry to wider viewers.

Critics and audience members often praise this staging for its light humor, sparkling choreography and strong partnering work, especially in the pas de deux. The production highlights rural romance, class tensions around marriage and community celebration, all delivered with an emphasis on physical comedy and rhythmic folk-inflected dance and wit.