Company Member Holly Lynn Fusco takes you behind-the-scenes of La Fille mal gardée, opening June 2!
Just two weeks until opening night of Pennsylvania Ballet's La Fille mal gardée, and here in our East Falls rehearsal studios, we’re hard at work! La Fille is a lighthearted, comedic ballet that dates back to 1789. It is a joy to watch, and even more fun to dance. Comprised of two acts featuring Sir Frederick Ashton’s choreography and Ferdinand Herold's playful score, La Fille has something for everyone!
Ballet Master Jeffrey Gribler and Soloist Ian Hussey. Photo: Holly Lynn Fusco.As a first timer with this production, I have to say that I am thrilled to be going through the rehearsal process. There are so many different roles in the ballet that, at any given time, walking past a certain studio, I find myself smiling at my coworkers, as they cluck away as chickens, weave the enormous maypole in a flurry of skips, or haul their hay stacks and sickles across the room for their next entrance. One of the most exciting aspects of this production, however, is the addition of the Pennsylvania Ballet artistic staff into certain roles. Our Ballet Master Jeffrey Gribler will be performing the hysterically funny Widow Simone, and PBII Director William DeGregory will play Thomas, the father of another awkwardly humorous character, Alain. The Widow Simone and the friends of Lise, the main female character, get to do a dance in clog shoes, which is challenging, yet so fun! This has definitely been the highlight of my rehearsal process. We slip actual clogs over our pointe shoes! At first it was scary because of the weight of the clogs, but once you get used to it, everything is okay.
Company Member Andrew Daly and PBII dancers Ryoko Sadoshima and Lara Clemens rehearsing as the cockerel and hens. Photo: Holly Lynn Fusco. This production also has a great deal of interesting props. In the harvest dance, the villagers dance with bales of hay and curved sickles. There is also a 'stick' dance for the men, and of course, the maypole, as I mentioned before, which is the largest of all the props. The production also will have a live pony, as well as a butter churner, and an intricate pas de deux between the two principals using ribbons.
Artists of Pennsylvania Ballet rehearsing the stick dance. Photo: Holly Lynn Fusco. All in all, this is a production you won’t want to miss. And just in case you can't get enough of our dancing, you can hear all of our lovely voices singing in the finale of the ballet, as we exit the stage in a long, linked line, doing the grapevine!
