Cheerful Bickering Between a Ballerino Mom and Her Ballerina Daughter

National Ballet's Comic Ballet 'The Stubborn Daughter'
Male Ballerino Cross-Dresses as Mother 'Simon' Role
August 8-12 at Seoul Arts Center Opera House

The National Ballet Company will perform the comic ballet 'La Fille mal gardee' from the 8th to the 12th at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center.

The National Ballet Company premiered 'La Fille mal gardee' in Korea last year using the version by the Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom, and this year they will reprise the same production after one year. The Royal Ballet created the version of 'La Fille mal gardee' choreographed by its founding choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904?1988) in 1960, and the Ashton version has become a mainstay of the Royal Ballet's repertoire. Ashton served as the artistic director of the Royal Ballet from 1963 to 1970.

'La Fille mal gardee' is considered a representative comic ballet alongside 'Don Quixote.' The main characters are the lovable stubborn daughter 'Lise' and her lover, the earnest young country lad 'Colas.' Lise's mother 'Simone' tries to separate her daughter from Colas and marry her off to the wealthy son 'Alain.' This leads to a series of chaotic and humorous events.

[Photo by National Ballet Company]

The cheerful story combined with the dancers' entertaining acting evokes laughter from the audience. In particular, the role of the overbearing but clumsy mother 'Simone' is played by a male ballet dancer in drag, creating amusing scenes as she bickers with her daughter Lise.

The scene where Simone, worn down by Lise's persistence, changes her shoes and performs the 'Clog Dance' is an unmissable highlight. Ashton choreographed this iconic scene borrowing from traditional English folk dance.

The ribbon dance between Lise and Colas is also famous. The ribbon symbolizes the connection of their emotions. The feelings of the two lovers are expressed through various shapes and movements of the ribbon. In Act 1, Scene 1, Lise and Colas are connected as one through the ribbon, then play a string figure game to create a love pas de deux, and in Act 1, Scene 2, they complete the 'Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux' with eight other dancers.

Fanny Elssler (1810?1884) was an Austrian-born ballerina who captivated the 19th century. Elssler debuted as Lise in 'La Fille mal gardee' on the stage of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1837. At that time, it was customary for ballerinas to add new choreography to existing works upon request, and Elssler added new choreography to the melody of Gaetano Donizetti's (1797?1848) opera 'L'elisir d'amore,' completing the 'Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux' named after herself.

[Photo by National Ballet Company]

Additionally, various characters and props are used to create a consistently cheerful and witty atmosphere, such as the humorous dance and march of the chicken character representing the countryside scenery, and the red umbrella carried by the innocent wealthy son Alain.

'La Fille mal gardee' was created by French choreographer Jean Bercher de Beauvoir (1742?1806). It premiered on July 1, 1789, in Bordeaux, France, just before the French Revolution. Jean de Beauvoir was inspired to create the comic ballet 'La Fille mal gardee' after seeing a painting through a glass shop window depicting a daughter being scolded by her mother in a small country barn and a young man fleeing behind them.

'La Fille mal gardee' is also notable for being the first work to feature commoners as protagonists rather than nobles, royalty, or artificial characters.