La Fille Mal Gardée

The Telegraph“So much to adore in Frederick Ashton’s tale of love-among-the-hay-bales..” A crumbly 37 in June, Acosta has lost his jaw-dropping ability to break clear of the ground, but he is still a technical force to be reckoned with (his Act 2 fouettés are as perfectly centred as any I’ve ever seen)...

Whatsonstage.com“A rural rom-com that is easy to watch and easy to like...” For all its charm and apparent lightness, Fille is not easy to dance, and not all ballerinas are temperamentally suited to its happy heroine. Easily the current best is Marianela Nunez who opened The Royal Ballet’s revival...

Ballet.co.uk“La Fille mal gardee is one of London’s hottest tickets and no wonder...” The couple’s two love duets, one with ribbons in a meadow, the other celebrating their ultimate betrothal, were the evening’s climaxes, as Ashton designed them to be...

London Dance“A life-affirming shot of simple, candy-coloured joy... ” I’d recommend La Fille Mal Gardée as a first-time ballet-watching experience. It may lack the passion and theatrical drama of other classic, narrative ballets but it’s a simple story, easily told, with magical imagery...

Financial Times“This masterpiece is alive and glorious still...” It is a national treasure, something as essentially English as pantomime (to which it pays its dues), enshrining a way of dancing and playing – and under-playing – comedy that is essentially ours...

Guardian“Fille still ranks as the funniest work on the classical stage...” Whipping her pirouettes into dizzy, flirty speeds, arching her back or rounding her arms with luxuriant delight, Nuñez didn't just portray Lise as a charming, witty, headstrong girl, but as a woman discovering love...

The Independent“Marianela Nuñez is an exuberantly naughty Lise...” Spring is finally coming: on a frosty night, the sheer sunshine of La Fille Mal Gardée makes it feel like summer. Ashton's ballet is a warm-hearted village comedy...

this is london“It’s hard not to rave about La Fille mal Gardée...” Flinty-hearted post-Modernists will pick at this eternal summer, and even fans may find the dancing chickens a bit much. Everyone else will leave wide-eyed at the ingenuity of the ballet and its double-edged joys...

The Stage“A work of charm and each generation of dancers makes it their own...” This show has much to please, from the cockerel of Paul Kay, and his four hens, the real pony, the charming ribbon dance, the maypole and, typical of any English picnic, a storm...

The Times“Guaranteed to lighten winter’s grey spirits...” The entire cast bubbled like champagne, while Ashton’s vision of a bucolic paradise (modelled on the soft pleasures of a Constable painting) was irresistibly appealing and his tender love story filled with an obvious and genuine affection...