Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 15 minutes ago
This is a longish section from the film of the Royal Ballet’s ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ (1962).
vimeo.com/233993201
The cast includes:
Nadia Nerina as Lise
David Blair as Colas
Stanley Holden as Widow Simone
Alexander Grant as Alain
Leslie Edwards as Thomas
The section here is from where Lise is cosseted at home away from her love Colas, to the end of the ballet where they live ‘happily ever after’.
I saw David Blair dance his last Colas in ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ - it was at Covent Garden in the early 1970s. The evening was very emotional. And then things were even more emotional when when the dancer died not long after at the very early age of 43. This upload from a performance by the original cast of this Frederick Ashton version of the ballet is dedicated to Blair’s memory.
The footage here ends with Alain coming back into the darkened room where all the final action has taken place to retrieve his umbrella - a vignette reminiscent of the last moments of Richard Strauss’ ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ where a turbaned attendant rushes on stage at the end of the opera to find a handkerchief. I suspect Ashton had his idea from the opera.
This is the mid to last part of the Royal Ballet’s 1962 film of ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ – from where Lise is cosseted at home away from her love Colas, to the end of the ballet.
Enjoy!
This is a longish section from the film of the Royal Ballet’s ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ (1962).
vimeo.com/233993201
The cast includes:
Nadia Nerina as Lise
David Blair as Colas
Stanley Holden as Widow Simone
Alexander Grant as Alain
Leslie Edwards as Thomas
The section here is from where Lise is cosseted at home away from her love Colas, to the end of the ballet where they live ‘happily ever after’.
I saw David Blair dance his last Colas in ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ - it was at Covent Garden in the early 1970s. The evening was very emotional. And then things were even more emotional when when the dancer died not long after at the very early age of 43. This upload from a performance by the original cast of this Frederick Ashton version of the ballet is dedicated to Blair’s memory.
The footage here ends with Alain coming back into the darkened room where all the final action has taken place to retrieve his umbrella - a vignette reminiscent of the last moments of Richard Strauss’ ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ where a turbaned attendant rushes on stage at the end of the opera to find a handkerchief. I suspect Ashton had his idea from the opera.
This is the mid to last part of the Royal Ballet’s 1962 film of ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’ – from where Lise is cosseted at home away from her love Colas, to the end of the ballet.
Enjoy!
