This weekend, the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre shall welcome its latest premiere: the youthful and joyful ballet "La Fille mal gardée" by composer Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold.
"This is the last premiere of this season – classic, charming, joyous, unpretentious in its content and, I would say, very suitable for the blooming spring. This production helps to preserve the balance of classical and modern ballet works in the theatre’s repertoire. It is suitable for all audiences, both children and adults, ballet connoisseurs and those just starting their acquaintance with the wonderful art of ballet," – says Laima Vilimienė, General Manager of the LNOBT, also reminding that this year is special for the company: after all, in December 2025 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lithuanian ballet.
Jurgita Dronina, artistic director of LNOBT’s ballet company, claims that it is thanks to the classics that the art of ballet has survived on stage for so long: "Classical performances allow us to objectively assess the level of the company. Performing classical ballet well is always a difficult task, and presenting it on stage easily and joyfully is even more difficult. This production of " La Fille mal gardée" is a masterpiece by British choreographer Frederick Ashton; the audience will probably not think about dance technique while watching, but will simply enjoy and experience it’s beauty together with the characters within the story," – J. Dronina is convinced.
The Production is like an Animated Film
"La Fille mal gardée" is one of the oldest ballets ever created: its world premiere took place in Bordeaux, France, back in 1789. The first choreographer in the long history of interpretations of this ballet was the Frenchman Jean Dauberval.
Over the course of a couple of centuries, dozens of choreographers around the world have tried their hand at staging "La Fille mal gardée". However, the most special, and the most widely recognized and staged version was the interpretation by the legendary British choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904–1988), which was first appreciated by the audience of the Royal Theatre in London in 1960.
Ballet master Jean Christophe Lesage has been traveling around the world for many years, helping various companies recreate the ballet "La Fille mal gardée" conceived by F. Ashton as accurately as possible. Vilnius is the ninth city where this ballet is being revived with the help of J. Ch. Lesage.
"Every time you come to a new company, you don't know the dancers and you don't know who you'll encounter. The most interesting part of my job is to discover what suits each individual performer and help them to reveal themselves as clearly as possible. In this production, the dancers must perform using unusual props: ribbons, sticks and umbrellas, which you need to learn to control. In addition, there is a lot of pantomime in it – in this respect, the production slightly resembles an animated film. And the storyline is very simple: the widow Simone wants to marry her daughter Lise to the rich heir Alain, but Lisa is in love with a simple village guy Colas... Of course, love wins, not calculation, nobody dies, and everyone becomes happy” – says revival choreographer J. Ch. Lesage.
Ballet Through the Eyes of Dancers
Ballet dancer Nora Straukaitė, who will dance Lise in the first premiere, says that during rehearsals she had to find ways to convincingly express her character's likes and dislikes: after all, because of her love for Colas, Lise dares to disobey her beloved mother. Jonas Laucius, who plays Colas, claims that his hero is simply drowning in love and does not pay attention to anything else except his beloved. Meanwhile, Jonas Bernardas Kertenis, who dances Alain, describes his character as naive, passive and unable to behave properly around girls.
Ballet soloist Voicech Žuromskas, who at the premiere will perform the comical but usually popular character of widow Simone, tries to see positive traits in her: "I play a mother who loves her daughter but strictly controls her, who seeks to ensure a peaceful future for her child by marrying her off to Alain. Of course, this does not work. And from my side, as a performer, I can testify that it took time to learn how to dance on stage in high heels and especially in clogs," – smiles V. Žuromskas.
For the premiere of "La Fille mal gardée", the LNOBT ballet company has prepared as many as four pairs of performers of the principal roles of Lise and Colas: in addition to N. Straukaitė and J. Laucius, we will also see Olesia Šaitanova and Genadijus Žukovskis, Marija Kastorina and Edvinas Jakonis, Kristina Gudžiūnaitė and Andrea Canei. Each of the pairs will give their characters unique colours, so the audience is invited to watch this ballet more than once.
The premiere performances of "La Fille mal gardée" at the LNOBT shall be unveiled already on 16–18 and 21–24 May. If you didn't manage to get tickets for the premieres, no problem: the new ballet production will also delight the audience this fall, on 23–26 October.
