This is a ballet with an interesting and unusual history. First performed in Bordeaux in 1789, it features no kings or aristocrats of any sort, even in disguise, but robust and jolly peasants whose mission is to thwart the plans of the rich, self-important owner of a local vineyard and his dopey son.
The original version had no composer as such, but the ballet master Jean Dauberval made an ‘arrangement’ of more than fifty popular French songs. He was inspired to create the story by a popular painting showing a beautiful peasant girl being soundly berated by her mother for having a roll in the hay with her lover, who can be seen in the background sneaking off. In 1828 it went into the repertoire of the Paris Opera with a completely new score by Ferdinand Hérold, and in 1864 it performed at the Berlin Opera House with another completely new score by Peter Ludwig Hertel.
All this in its history long before the version we are probably most familiar with, the 1960 revival by our own Frederick Ashton with yet another new score, this time by John Lanchbery, for the Royal Ballet. Ashton and Lanchbery famously incorporated parts of all the previous scores into theirs, and they sort of reached down through history to include famous (and wonderful) pieces of traditional choreography. For example, Lise’s exquisite fantasy in Act II, ‘When I’m Married’, was taught to Ashton by Tamara Karsavina, former principal dancer of the Ballet Russe, who in turn had been taught it by her teacher Pavel Gerdt. In Gerdt's heyday as principal male dancer with the Imperial Ballet, he danced it with all the great ballerinas of the late 19th century including the great Virginia Zucchi. Oh, it gives me shivers of delight just thinking about that. There can be few classical ballets that are so often performed that have been so extensively and brilliantly tinkered with.
This version uses Hertel’s music, and is therefore just a touch strange and disappointing to those familiar with the Ashton/Lanchbery score. The story, too, is a little bit different, and considerably less explicit. But the production, and the company, are delightful beyond words, and I would happily go back and watch Swan Lake (Tuesday and Wednesday this week). Ballet is certainly a very weird art form, and perhaps short comic ballets are weirder than most. The story lends itself surprisingly well to comedy, and has two superb comic characters: the Widow Simone, scheming to marry her beautiful daughter Lise to the proprietor’s son Alain; and Alain himself, a shy simpleton who would just as soon play with his butterfly net. Alain was performed by Denis Pogorely last night, and his dancing was simply astonishing, defying the laws of physics and causing the audience to gasp and stretch its eyes. Lise was played with incredible grace and charm by Elena Pogorelaya, and her handsome sweetheart Colas by Vyacheslav Kapustin. The Widow Simone was brilliantly brought to life by Alexander Kuimov, who is just a huge star – the other roles all circulate but Simone is always him. The village youths and maidens are without exception young and stunningly beautiful, simply a joy to watch. This version does contain a sweet and much simplified Pas de ruban in which Lise and Colas dance with just one long pink ribbon. It also contains the famous clog dance at the end (this is the only bit of Hertel’s score that made it into Ashton’s version). It is all the more remarkable that the company appears so brimming with energy and vitality, since they are almost at the end of a gruelling UK tour which started in December 2014.
This is short as ballets go, barely two hours for the two acts, with an interval between, so your attention span will not be put under very much stress. It will certainly make you feel good – though you’ll now have to go to Ipswich or Canterbury to catch it. Highly recommended.