1960 – Premiere of Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée by The Royal Ballet

One of Frederick Ashton’s most loved, successful and widely performed ballets, La Fille mal gardée is a sunny, bucolic version of a work dating back to the end of the 18th century. The great Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina passed on the mime and use of ribbons to Ashton as she remembered them from her pre-revolution performances in St Petersburg of Petipa and Ivanov’s 1885 production. Ashton’s version represented a departure from his established dance collaborators (Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes) in favour of two younger dancers (Nadia Nerina and David Blair) who brought youthful exuberance to the tale of young love. With music by Férdinand Hérold arranged by John Lanchbery, and designs by Osbert Lancaster, the original cast also included Alexander Grant and Stanley Holden, and the ballet continues to delight audiences the world over.