La fille mal gardée - The Clog Dance from Act I (The Royal Ballet)

Will Tuckett as Widow Simone and Marianela Nuñez as Lise with Cindy Jourdain, Sarah Lamb, Laura Morera and Deirdre Chapman and artists of The Royal Ballet in the Clog Dance from Act I of Frederick Ashton's La fille mal gardée.
Find out more at www.roh.org.uk/productions/la-...
Frederick Ashton's final full-length ballet is one of his most joyous creations, inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside. It is based on an 1828 French ballet and the music was adapted by John Lanchbery from Ferdinand Hérold's original score. La Fille mal gardée was a resounding success on its premiere in 1960 and has remained a firm favourite in The Royal Ballet's repertory. The title translates as 'The Wayward Daughter'.
La Fille displays some of Ashton's most virtuoso choreography - the youthful passion of Lise and her lover, Colas, is expressed in a series of energetic pas de deux. The ballet is laced with good humour and a whirl of dancing chickens, grouchy guardians and a halfwit suitor take to the stage. Ashton affectionately incorporated elements of national folk dance into his choreography, from a Lancashire clog dance to a maypole dance, making La Fille mal gardée (despite its title) The Royal Ballet's most emphatically English work. Osbert Lancaster's colourful designs reinforce the bucolic wit of the production.

[@RoyalOperaHouse]

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[@mayaangel2838]

I seriously love when they put humour into ballet

[@eroupopper]

It looks so charming💗 I was smiling through the whole performance!

[@jeromedavies2408]

Have you seen the Royal Ballet's Alice in Wonderland. Many comic moments throughout.

[@gondametzger6146]

Watch this it is hilarious kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6DXfqqtnt2Dqdk

[@mayaangel2838]

Jerome Davies I have actually !! I went to the show here in Australia. I absolutely loved it 💞

[@waleraper]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5Kuf2effdmNgtk

[@others95]

I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it is to make the ‘mistakes’ look so effortless! A simple trip or skid must have taken hours and days of practise to make it perfect then to add it to the timing of the performance and act as thought it’s ‘not meant to be there’/part of the act !!! Bravo to Will Tuckett for not only making this exquisites part excellent but also comedic in timing!

[@maryannetesh4105]

I have a ballerina friend, quite a beautiful, well known dancer, who had to stop her career. When she went (?) 'en point' and would spin on one toe, she would release violent farts, even heard over the orchestra. She would be in tears, but the public would be hysterically laughing. So sad and awful for her.

[@annickborys2465]

​@@maryannetesh4105Ah Ah Ah !

[@daffo595]

The single most happy ballet I've ever watched.

[@mimi3570]

And now in full for 2 weeks

[@johnkennedy5705]

I was there

[@ritawing1064]

Would love to see a video of how the dancers with pointe shoes inside their clogs prepare!

[@scouttyra]

I think that if you have a pair of well fitting clogs (at least the kind I grew up with, thick wooden bottom (1/2 to 1 inch if I'm estimating correctly) with leather top, in a slipper like design (picture google "trätofflor")) it's pretty easy to go en pointe. Might have tried myself at some point, but I'm not certain of that memory.

[@scouttyra]

Tried it when I once again had access to my clogs, and while I don't have the flexibility, strength, or the dexterity required, I think it very possible.

[@namjoonie936]

scouttyra can i ask what clogs are in your culture ?

[@EdwardHitchon1993]

​@@namjoonie936 I just happen to be passing, but as per scouttyra's suggested image search, the clogs they are describing are typical of many northern european clog designs; thick wooden soles in whatever the local preference - mine (Northern England) are beech, onto which are nailed (or sometimes stapled) shaped leather uppers in a number of styles. Dutch Klomps and French sabots are made entirely from wood and for whatever reason are what most English speakers assume are clogs. You'll note that the ones in this video are in fact leather topped, but in a tan colour - presumably to make them look more like sabots.

[@waleraper]

Tsiskaridze is dancing the party better ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5Kuf2effdmNgtk

[@amhunter9619]

Well I've compared this with the other offerings on KZbin and as far as I'm concerned, Will Tuckett is streets ahead. His sense of comedy is brilliant and his timing exquisite.

[@jedbland7825]

Was there nearly an oops moment at 1:30?

[@amhunter9619]

Depends on what you mean by an oops moment!!

[@roundandroundmyworld]

It's an intentional oops moment -- part of the show.

[@knochildiko]

You are soooo right! I had done the same before I read your remarks and I had come to the same conclusion. He is lightsome and witty. His virtuosity is breathtaking.

[@KSfan4ever]

I agree, and I even watched my favorite dancer, the incomparable Bolshoi star Nicolai Tsiskaridze, do this role, and I think Will Tuckett is even better!

[@balletfan4154]

Will Tuckett is surely the world’s best Widow Simone. An astonishing masterful performance!!

[@williamwoolhouse3702]

Yes he is truly superb, but the master in this role will always be Ronald Emblem ,I loved Brian Shaw also in this role..

[@kiraoo5201]

Ballet Fan try to see Tsiskaridze in this role :) so good

[@annaalexandrovna2832]

@@kiraoo5201 Tsiskeridze is the best

[@angusmcdonald6569]

@@williamwoolhouse3702 and nikolai tsiskaridze

[@bekezsuzsa4716]

The world's best Simone is Tsiskaridze. Sorry....

[@AnaisAzuli]

Me and my Dutch friends trying to be quiet at 2 am

[@rachelvanderzee414]

Anaïs if you ain’t dutch you ain’t much. i come from a *very* dutch community

[@CaptainCrankyBeard]

@@rachelvanderzee414 coming from a dutch person.. the netherlands sucks ass... and not in good way..

[@gemmastone285]

Daarna gaan wij naar de dichtstbijzijnde coffeeshop

[@rachelvanderzee414]

Andreos Rusch lol really? South of Chicago there’s a community called South Holland. I’m from there and I moved to Saint John in Indiana. It’s a pretty dutch community but i have nooo idea about the netherlands other than my name means from the sea in dutch

[@morgan.r_taylor]

@@rachelvanderzee414 so cool! I live near there! Not Dutch tho 🤣

[@intake152]

Makes me smile every time. They make it look easy ... but we know it's not. Perfect timing. Lovely adaptation of the score.

[@NicholasWingComposer]

Will Tuckett's performance is thoroughly engaging, dynamic and masterful. Also, his heel click at 2:14 is perfectly in time with the second beat of the measure. Take a well deserved bow, sir... (ahem) "Ma'am."

[@carlotaruisanchez1250]

Nicholas Wing me pa

[@crunchykitkat7957]

It's MA'AM!!! (its a meme btw xd)

[@shahafcarmieli3858]

That's Ashton ballets for you. Every little thing has a count and a place

[@glynnwright1699]

The give the 'dames' a bouquet of flowers at the end. :)

[@ailsamedd6994]

Will Tuckett is wonderful in this.... lovely performances from all!

[@maryannetesh4105]

I have a ballerina friend, quite a beautiful, well known dancer, who had to stop her career. When she went (?) 'en point' and would spin on one toe, she would release violent farts, even heard over the orchestra. She would be in tears, but the public would be hysterically laughing. So sad and awful for her.

[@valmogendorff7091]

My absolutely favourite ballet - I think it's the best first ballet to take children to see. My granddaughter was transfixed when she was 16 months old!

[@balletmadxxxxc2060]

same I love this ballet I watched the one with natalia osipova and steven McRea

[@valmogendorff7091]

Magical!

[@fizzao1342]

It was the first one we took our daughters to see as well.

[@Loulizabeth]

This was the ballet that made me fall in love with ballet. Almost felt cheated when I realised how so many famous ballets are tragedy's. However recently discovered quite a few more happy ballets so am going to be able to watch these too and once again fall in love with ballet. Though I'll never be a fan of the tragic ones so many are fans of.

[@bellbird]

I took my girls to see this ballet when they were six. All they told their teacher the next day was how another child had fallen into the orchestra pit and was luckily caught by the tympanist. So much for introducing them to ballet.

[@gloriasegura2744]

No sé cuantas veces lo he visto y nunca me cansa el excelente trabajo de todos y especialmente sus expresiones faciales!!! La viuda Simone : sencillamente extraordinaria....

[@saintexupery8406]

In these dark COVID-19 days I watch this clip several times each week - I love how much it makes me grin.

[@precious7597]

Ain't nobody gonna talk about the cute guy at 0:04? No? Just me?

[@momo-ts7sm]

oh god stop

[@anniespencer7879]

The cute guy was very cute.

[@gohatinas]

Ik kan dit wel honderden maal bekijken en steeds vind ik dit zo mooi ..

[@2charliep]

Love Will Tuckett accessing full pantomime dame mode and as always utterly on point with technique and musicality.

[@matthewlewis2072]

I am not an opera fan, but I remembered this piece of music from my childhood. This is one of my all-time favourite clips of anything. Wonderful.

[@johnmh1000]

At 2.08 is a heart stopping, wonderful phase of music. It echoes through my life.

[@edwardhowie6102]

Will, Tucket is brilliant as widow Simone he looks ungainly yet never misses a beat if you think it's easy try to keep time with your fingers and then imagine doing it with clogs on.

[@scouttyra]

I personally find it pretty easy to move in clogs, biggest difference from regular shoes is that the sole is completely stiff. But then I've been using clogs periodically since I was pretty young.

[@charlaville7658]

My old dutch friend used to do quadruple high somersaults off dining room tables with his clogs LOL - he was the best clog master I've ever seen!! He was a Dutchman who'd moved to Outback Australia.

[@simoneephraim3986]

I can't stop replaying this

[@corradopampaloni6938]

What an amazing actor he is (beyond a great dancer). In this self isolation times, with the grimness that there is outside he made me smile "inside", which is so rare now

[@FJMLAM]

Absolutely brilliant timing and humour. The best Widow Simone ever

[@lyn100]

jeez, i can't imagine clogging while still wearing pointe shoes. props to all the dancers, this is amazing!!

[@Froggybootyy]

As someone who is dutch, i can in fact say that we totally 100% dance and dress like this

[@stefannydvorak7919]

The ballet "La Fille Mal Gardée" is set in France ,lol.

[@jellehoekstra6654]

not quite😂😂

[@yiselsanchez6846]

La mejor que he visto ! Me encanta la interpretación ,demasiado gracioso 😆

[@davidquinlan6782]

Absolutely adore this piece of music,the comedic moments and genius of it makes me smile every single time I watch/listen to it......and the ballerina with the yellow apron is just perfectly exquisite.

[@tiishue]

Why is the music low-key bad ass? I'm in love with this dance 🤩🤩

[@silviazeta7019]

La miglior interpretazione in assoluto!

[@lizb853]

I absolutely ADORE this cast with Will Tucket and Marianella Nunes, I could watch it all day long, but there is also a russian alternative to this same act 1 stunner. I only know the name of the artiste portraying the widow Simone,,wnd HIS name is Gennady Yanin. I suppose you could say, that he's Russia's answer to our Will Tucket. They're both completely different character dancers but both of these dancers bring the same cheeky, lovable and even ridiculous character of Widow Simone to life in their different ways. This ballet is always a joy to see, no matter who is the lead in it though.

[@TheBorzoilover]

My late Brother loved this I had the music played at his funeral.

[@lyndaseager2295]

One of the best humorous sides to ballet and such a 'sweet' piece of music, quite haunting.

[@JudyMansfieldCherish]

This has made me smile so much! Skill, timing, staging, comic interpretation, music - all just perfect!

[@mariawhite2190]

I have watched this several times, I love it. All the dancers are superb.

[@welshpete12]

amusing and charming , thank you for posting !

[@carolenewman2234]

Will Tuckett- simply unbeatable as Widow Simone.

[@user-mh4rw4ix2b]

Carole Newman See our Tsiskaridze and Yanin in this part. I believe all men who dance Simone are different but wonderful.

[@carolenewman2234]

​@@user-mh4rw4ix2b I've already seen them both but still prefer Will Tuckett's more benign view of a man playing a woman. However, I agree with you that all Widow Simones make telling statements about women and about the men that play the role.

[@MegaMesozoic]

It'll never happen, but I'd love to see Steven Macrae in that part just for that dance!

[@user-dg7hk1en4v]

Лучший исполнитель!!!

[@user-hw7qo4cb7c]

Лучший Цескаридзе!!!

[@ingmo9]

Just totally wonderful. ❤️

[@irenemwrench8594]

I love this. Makes me happy.

[@PLuMUK54]

I have watched a number of versions of this, and with most performers you do not forget that it is a man. In this, however, there is a delicacy in the dancing, even at its most amusing, that makes you forget that it is not an older women reliving her youth.

[@fan2jnrc]

That's EXACTLY what impressed me. In this case you forget it's a man, you really see a touching old woman...

[@Sandrah326]

Sensacional! Adorei!🙏❤️💐👏👏👏🇧🇷🖖

[@kathleenlynch5763]

Oh i love this my favourite baller .i keep playing it over and over.

[@user-dm3wo2vk4r]

Очень понравилось. У этого танцора четко очерченные, выразительные движения. В танце много смешно подмеченных мелочей. И актёрская игра немаловажна. Хочется наблюдать за его лицом, когда он танцует.

[@andrew1598]

This ballet is just a joy to go and see one of the best

[@frankieperussault9474]

superbe ! complètement dans l'esprit de ce ballet. un grand merci !

[@MugzD]

the dancer is reallly good at majestic tripping

[@thomaswilkinson3241]

Right up my alley. Fine Music and magnificent Ballet witch a lot of humor.

[@jaeljaven]

That performance was amazing

[@maryannetesh4105]

I have a ballerina friend, quite a beautiful, well known dancer, who had to stop her career. When she went (?) 'en point' and would spin on one toe, she would release violent farts, even heard over the orchestra. She would be in tears, but the public would be hysterically laughing. So sad and awful for her.

[@plantmom4909]

We did a dance like this in my ballet studio's production of Babes in Toyland. Same music almost the same steps, But we did it with tap shoes and pointe shoes.

[@user-bh4pm7dx4p]

Каждый раз смотрю и восхищаюсь!

[@lynnomara601]

Love this music and ballet so much

[@user-pv1lb1ls3j]

я не могу на это насмотрется!!!! Браво!!!

[@LanaW123]

Royal ballet never stops to surprise you

[@auntyhayte]

I saw this as a child and loved the clog dance so much, I even learned to do it when I was an adult. Looking at it now all these years later, it is unclear what tradition any of the steps are from (probably because they are not) - I can only recognise hagworm from the Lancashire tradition. Nor is there a break at the opening and closing of each set of steps. In reality it is not a clog dance at all, just a made up "clown" dance. But still immense fun.

[@user-ms1zf5ql6q]

Ах, это так красиво! Все таки и танцоры умеют изысканно шутить! Смотрю перед уроками, привет из Сибири.

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

Привет из Германии 😊🙋🏻‍♀️

[@louisebuck91]

Love me some Widow Twanky! One of my fave ballets

[@lourdesbigland4983]

Delightful to watch indeed.I must see it again when it is back at the ROH.

[@Olivia-tm3ii]

Love the dancing!!

[@lizb853]

IF IFEEL VERY DOWN, ILL OR TIRED, IT'S THE CLOG DANCE THAT REALLY DOES MAKE ME SMILE.A

[@annabellethedoll4032]

I've seen many of these and I have to say this one's my favorite! How she uses her hat as not just a hat, but a comedic prop. Others don't. Not really anyway. Facial expressions are perfect!

[@originalveghead]

This is truly magnificent

[@bluebullybully3104]

hahaha I will love to see this live, so much fun

[@ferdiriordan1]

What a charming performance (I have the entire ballet on dvd) Best "Clog Dance" I have ever seen -William Tuckett simply astonishing -how he avoids a REAL fall or slip is amazing (as well as hilariously funny) Thanks to all of Royal Ballet.A treasure.

[@eroupopper]

I wish i could see it.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

Will Tucket reminds me so much of Arthur Lucan in his role of Old Mother Riley!

[@MrsMagpie]

Wasn't expecting humor, this made me smile, Fantastic.

[@candicewei6266]

Thoroughly adorable and enjoyable. I love dancers who show us that ballet is as much about acting as dancing.

[@tomkellycartoons]

Love this! ❤️

[@JB-yc7vs]

Best I've ever seen!

[@azzahamdy7537]

My favourite clog dance

[@rubyangel9707]

binging royal ballet videos, can't watch this scene enough. makes me crack up so much

[@Antifogasta]

Joyous and perfect!

[@PthaloGreen2]

How interesting! I've never seen this before. Very charming!

[@dsdfsdfdsfsdfds3800]

fantastic performance.

[@susanalabbe2433]

siete meravigliosi!!

[@glyniswhiteman5951]

I’m enjoying it again, it’s lovely to watch them enjoying it

[@giselediniz]

Missing this shoes that i used use when i was 11 years old

[@tonychyc8278]

One of the funniest videos I've seen on KZbin!

[@stanbattle7436]

Unfortunately we don't see Sir Fredric Ashton, himself playing the part of Widow Simone, I'm sure they have it in their archives if they would only put it on KZbin, the same as the ballet Cinderella, there is a very memorable scene where Sir Fredric Ashton and Sir Robert Helpmann were the ugly sisters, what a performance and so funny.

[@user-um6lg8kk5y]

браво!

[@maritaurin3044]

This made me smile

[@pascalmassie4706]

This is lovely!

[@stepet1237]

It's make me smile every time when I see this dance. And very interesting to compare different actors. As for me Russian variance more complex and interesting and piquant.

[@eugeniobarrancoperez8718]

Fantastico!!!!

[@jacquelinedeigan776]

Amazing..thank you

[@chaoticgoodclara4979]

0:18 :I’m not gonna do it girl I’m just thinking about it, I’m not gonna do it- I did it 💃🏻

[@alextelford5176]

brilliant

[@protocolofficer2629]

Just excellent!😁

[@franzwallner4281]

Love it !

[@grandhouse2717]

Wonderful!

[@barryhossin2000]

Fantastic. !!!

[@emmamotet3225]

Je m’en lasse pas

[@lacouerfairy]

Sarah Lamb is such a standout.

[@maxinejacobson4006]

Brilliant!

[@TheSorub]

Great were else would you see two principal dancing a secondary part brill!!

[@marycrawley3828]

... because they were not principals then!

[@87lucylu]

Both Sarah Lamb and Marianella Nuñez have been principles for years. Way before this was filmed...

[@exballet202]

I can't believe i never seen this before today. It is amazing

[@neatpaws]

Wonderful.

[@domusoscella3602]

Straordinario.

[@user-oc5he5qf1p]

Потрясающе!

[@AndrogyneMichinaga]

Perfection