By james art 
Photo gallery below
I can think of no happier, more joyous stage work in any discipline than Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardéeso it was good to see the ballet back in London after too long an absence at the end of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) short season at Sadler’s Wells. It’s a ballet that audiences love, and by attending both the matinee and evening performances on October 24, I was able to get a double dose of happiness. I was also able to marvel again at Ashton’s generous knack for creating dazzling choreography and always inventive humor. It is a brilliant ballet and the world would be a poorer place without it.
I’ve seen less of BRB than I’d like in recent years, and by attending these performances, there were many new dancers in the company to get to know, including one of its rising stars, Yasiel Hodelin Belio, dancing the lead role of Kola to Lise of Yu Kurihara at the matinee. This young man has technique and then some, with easy pirouettes, exciting flying jumps and the strength to pull off those difficult one-arm pas de deux lifts with complete confidence; it was hard not to be impressed. Bellio, however, showed a bit of nervousness in front of the London audience and still doesn’t have a sure feel for Ashton’s choreographic style, nor the fluidity and spontaneity in acting that one expects from Colas, but gosh, what talent he has. I will follow it with interest going forward.
Like Belio, Kurihara is not yet a natural Ashton dancer, but her light leaps and fine footwork were pleasantly appealing. She could have done with more light and shadow in the choreography, as well as a faster dance tempo (Liz is still the most “coloratura” of all of Ashton’s ballerina roles, and I like to see more sizzle from the dancers who depict her ). That said, she was at her best in the final act, where she developed a tender bond with Rory Mackay as her mother, the widow Simone, which was touching to see. Earlier in the performance, I found Mackay’s Widow too draconian in temperament, even during the famous “Dance of the Clog,” but I appreciated the greater warmth and attention to detail he displayed later in the ballet. In the other heroic roles, Jonathan Payne was clumsy farmer Thomas and Tom Hazelby was soft-spoken Alain.
If the matinee was enjoyable, the evening performance performed even better. In Sofia Liñares and Lachlan Monaghan BRB have natural Lise and Colas. The pair are so attuned, lively and spontaneous and have such pleasure and confidence in dancing the choreography that it would be hard to see them better. Linares is mischievous and delightful, stylish and musical, and has a wonderful, playful relationship with the happy-go-lucky Monaghan, one of those rare artists who can act as well as dance. In addition, he is a great partner who takes great pleasure in introducing his ballerina. I found the couple a complete joy. Joining them as the widow Simone was the much more likeable Max Maslen, with Mackay switching roles to appear as the bombastic Thomas.
The company was in fine form, although I’m sure Ashton would have liked them all to “bend” more and make better use of their épaulement. Performances were also notable with the debut of the Welsh Mountain pony, Oscar, who ventured into the hoofprints of his predecessor, Peregrine, to lead Liz and the Widow to the cornfield festivities.
Birmingham Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée
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Jonathan Gray was editor of Dancing times from 2008 to 2022
He studied at The Royal Ballet School, Leicester Polytechnic and Wimbledon School of Art, graduating with a BA Honors in Theater Design. He was on the curatorial team at the Theater Museum in London from 1989 to 2005, assisting with a number of dance-related exhibitions and helping to recreate original designs for a number of Royal Ballet productions including Concert dances, Daphnis and Chloeand Sleeping beauty. He has also contributed to the Financial Times and The Guardian, written program articles for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-authored the book Liberating Britain: Theater Gets Real 1955-64published in 2005