DVD + Blu-Ray:
The Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée (2025)

Escape to the country; brimming with humour and choreographic invention, this is the perfect ballet for all the family.

Lise is the only daughter of Widow Simone, the owner of a prosperous farm. She is in love with the young farmer Colas, but her mother has higher ambitions for her, hoping to marry her off to Alain, the son of the wealthy proprietor Thomas. Desperate to marry Colas rather than Alain, Lise contrives to outwit her mother’s plans.

When La Fille mal gardée premiered in Covent Garden on 28 January 1960, it instantly won all hearts. Inspired by Jean Dauberval’s French ballet, Ashton’s version combines exuberant good humour and an affectionate portrayal of village life. The Royal Ballet’s Founder Choreographer, Frederick Ashton, hoped to capture the ‘leafy pastoral of perpetual sunshine...the suspended stillness of a Constable landscape of my beloved Suffolk, luminous and calm’. Osbert Lancaster’s colourful designs bring the charm of the countryside to life.

“...the most joyous of ballets providing a sunny, humorously romantic break” (Bachtrack ★★★★)

Genre Ballet
English title The Wayward Daughter
Dance Company The Royal Ballet
Choreography by Frederick Ashton
Conductor Jonathan Lo
Orchestra / Band Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Sets Osbert Lancaster
TV Director Ross MacGibbon
Soloists Francesca Hayward, Marcelino Sambé, Joshua Junker, James Hay, Christopher Saunders
Composer Ferdinand Hérold