A new production for the Ballet School
Friday 14 and Sunday 16, 2023 the Teatro alla Scala welcomes the young talents of its Academy, Ballet School and Orchestra, the latter debuting at the Piermarini.
On stage, a new premiere version of La fille mal gardée, choreographed by Frédéric Olivieri on Peter Ludwig Hertel's score, with sets and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli, reworked by Angelo Sala and Maria Chiara Donato.
On the podium, David Coleman. The ballet was realised thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Milano per la Scala balletto and Ms. Hélène de Prittwitz Zaleski.
La fille mal gardée ranks among the oldest ballets remaining in the repertoire, having originated at the time of the French Revolution. It was Jean Bercher Dauberval who supervised the first choreography of the ballet, entitled Le ballet de la paille, ou il n’est qu’un pas du mal au bien, which was staged at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1789 based on a zibaldone of French popular themes and songs. Over time, the ballet went through numerous editions and many changes in the title, charcater names, choreography and musical score. The Academy's Director chose Hertel's score, composed in 1864 for Paolo Taglioni's choreographic version for the Berlin Hofoper, which was performed at Teatro alla Scala in 1880. The playbill of the time featured also the Ballet School students.
Among the numerous editions of the ballet over the course of the 20th century (including, in particular, the highly successful one by Frederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet in 1960 to music by Ferdinand Hérold arranged by John Lanchbery with Rossinian and Donizettian inserts), mention is made of the version that Heinz Spoerli created for the Paris Opera in 1981, revived by the Teatro alla Scala in 1987 in which Carla Fracci, Gheorghe Jancu, Bruno Vescovo and Biagio Tambone shone, with sets and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli, the same as those now reworked by Angelo Sala and Maria Chiara Donato for this new edition by Olivieri.
A few words on the plot. The story, which takes place in a quiet country village, tells of the idyll between Lise and Colas, opposed by her mother, the widow Simone, who prefers for her daughter the young Alain, simpleton scion of the rich landowner Thomas. Simone decides to lock her daughter in her room to be able to organise the wedding quickly, not knowing that Lise herself had previously hidden her beloved Colas there. At the moment of signing the deed, in the presence of the notary, Simone opens the room and Lise and Colas are discovered. No longer able to oppose the union between the two young people, the ballet ends with a celebration of love triumphing.
On stage about sixty students from the 2nd to the 8th Course for professional dancers.
Among the most significant moments of the ballet, which presents several pantomime numbers as required by the tradition of the 18th century genre and which will put the young dancers to test, are the Dance of the May Tree, a scene in which the harvest is celebrated, with the dancers dancing among a series of coloured ribbons tied to a decorated pole; the 'dance of the clogs', which M.me Simone performs with four peasant women, so called because of the shoes that generate a rhythm similar to that of tip-tap; Lise's dance when she dreams of married life with Colas surrounded by many children, and the final Pas de deux to celebrate her marriage.
For the Orchestra's young musicians, just back from their recent success in Oman where at the Royal Opera House in Muscat they performed Le nozze di Figaro under the baton of Sesto Quatrini in Giorgio Strehler's historic staging, this is their debut in the Piermarini hall. A debut as long-awaited as it was demanding.
And, as is now customary for performances featuring the Academy's artistic ensembles, students from other courses are also involved, such as the tailors, who, after tailoring the costumes, will be backstage working on stage tailoring, the make-up artists and hairdressers, who will prepare the artists' make-up and hairstyles before they go on stage, and the students from the photo, video and new media course, who will be called upon to document the various stages of the performance.
