If you’re familiar with ballet, you might know a ballet called La fille mal gardée. This ballet (the name translating to The Poorly Guarded Girl) is one of the oldest surviving ones, although not with it’s original choreography, or music. What we know as La fille mal gardée can be traced back to other choreographers: Frederick Ashton’s 1960 production, Alexander Gorsky’s 1903 production, Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa’s 1885 production, and Paul Taglioni’s 1864 production. But who was the original choreographer, and what were his contributions to dance?

In Spotlight On, I aim to focus on individuals, or theatrical shows, that have contributed a lot to the art as a form. For individuals, I aim to provide a glimpse into their life and works, and make people more familiar with them. For shows, I aim to provide a history of them, while also focusing on the people who have brought them to us today.

Birth & Early Life

Jean Bercher, also known as Dauberval, was born in Montpellier, France, on the 19th August 1742. His father was Étienne-Dominique Bercher who, slightly confusingly, also went by the name of Dauberval. Étienne (9th January 1725-5th August 1800) was an actor. He debuted with the Comédie-Française in 1760, and became a sociétaire in 1762. Among the roles he played were Horatio (renamed Norceste) in Jean-François Ducis’ 1769 translation of Hamlet, and Dorante in Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. He retired in 1780.

As a student, Jean studied with Jean-Georges Noverre. Noverre was a revolutionary talent in the dance world. In 1760 his Lettres sur la danse, et sur les ballets was published. In this book, Noverre criticises the conformist Paris Opera (as the ballet and opera were under a single name), and proposes a more expressive form of ballet, inspired by his observations of actor David Garrick. This form of ballet would be called ‘ballet en action‘, but would become known as ‘ballet d’action‘, being retroactively coined by critic and writer Théophile Gautier in 1855.

Noverre would become maître de ballet at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1776, but would resign in 1781. During his time he staged ballets he had choreographed, including Jason et Médée, one of his greatest choreographic successes, and Les petits riens, which premiered at the Opera Ballet in 1778 and had music by Mozart. His premier danseurs at the time included his student, Jean Dauberval.

Career

Dauberval the younger made his debut at the Paris Opera on the 12th June 1761. As not much is known about the ballet repertoire of the day, the roles he danced are unknown. However we can get an idea of what type of roles he danced. In 1763 he was appointed premier danseur de demi-caractère. Demi-caratère was the bridge between the the noble style of dance, and the comique style of dance, and favoured mime and expression. Jean became known as a first rate mime, and was promoted to premier danseur noble in 1770.

On the 8th June 1781, 20 years after Jean’s debut, there was a fire at the Opera House in the Palais-Royal, which had only opened in 1770. Jean was the first to spot the flames, and as the performance was nearly over, he managed to get the curtain lowered and the audience out without them even knowing of the fire. While lives were lost, Jean averted a greater tragedy. The same year, Noverre resigned, leaving Jean and fellow premier danseur Maximilien Gardel as joint maîtres de ballet. But this arrangement wouldn’t last long.

Between 1777 and 1782 Mademoiselle Théodore, who’s real name was Marie-Madeleine Crespé, was a ballerina at the Paris Opera Ballet. Marie-Madeleine was born in 1759, and had made her debut on the 26th December 1777. In 1782 she danced in London, in the ballet troupe of Noverre. Dauberval had fallen in love with Marie-Madeleine, and in 1783 they resigned from the Opera. Both of them seem to have had problems with the management, particularly Maximilien Gardel, and after their resignation they would never return. On the 30th October 1783, they were married.

Bordeaux

Jean and Marie-Madeleine would choreograph and dance respectively at the King’s Theatre, London, England, from 1783-1784. After this, they’d settle in Bordeaux, France, where Jean was appointed maître de ballet at the Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux. He would continue in this post until 1791.

As not much has survived from the era it’s hard to know what ballets premiered there, or even a complete list of his ballets, but amongst his ballets were:

• Alcimadure (1778), was choreographed at the Paris Opera Ballet, and premiered on the 27th August. Had music by Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, and was most likely based on the Fontaine fable Daphnis et Alcimadure.
• La fille mal gardée (1789), the most celebrated of his ballets.
• Le page inconstant (1787) was to the music of Adalbert Gyrowetz, and was revived by Jean’s student Jean-Pierre Aumer at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, Paris, in 1805, and at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1823. It was an adaptation of the play Le Mariage de Figaro by Beaumarchais, most known for being adapted into Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro.
• Les Jeux d’Églé (?) was revived by Aumer at the Porte-Saint-Martin in 1802
• Le Déserteur (?), which was revived in both 1803 and 1804 at the Porte-Saint-Martin, again by Aumer
• Annette et Lubin (?), based on the characters from Jean-François Marmontel’s moral tale of the same name. It was revived by Aumer at the Porte-Saint-Martin in 1804
• Télémaque dans l’île de Calypso (?), based on the Greek mythological figures. A ballet of the same name was choreographed by Pierre Gardel for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1790, but these are two different ballets.

In The Complete Book of Ballets, Cyril W. Beaumont writes that Jean’s ballets were ‘distinguished for their artistic conception and skillfull arrangement’, and that dancers in the roles needed to be ‘fine artistes’ to bring the characters to life. Ivor Guest writes in his book on the Paris Opera Ballet that Jean was a ‘choreographer of fine genius’. As a choreographer, he’s considered one of the fathers of the ballet d’action, and comedic ballets as a whole.

After leaving the Grand Theatre in 1791, he would choreograph at the Pantheon Theatre in London. The Pantheon was a turned into an opera house in 1791, but only completed one season of performances burning down. While there we know he staged La fille mal gardée, and most likely some of his other existing ballets as well.

We lose track of Jean and Marie-Madeleine after 1792. As the French revolution was taking place, it’s possible that they just stopped performing. Marie-Madeleine died in Audegne, in the South-West of France, on the 9th September 1799. Jean died in Tours, France, on the 14th February 1806.

Influences and Pupils

Jean had pupils who, like himself, would influence ballet and the ballet d’action in particular. Although Jean would not return to the Paris Opera Ballet, some of these students would.

Jean-Pierre Aumer (1774-1833), as mentioned above, was a champion of Jean’s ballets, staging them after his death. Aumer followed Jean to Bordeaux, learning much about choreography and dance from Jean while there. In 1798 he became a premier danseur at the Paris Opera, continuing in that role until 1809. He choreographed at the Porte-Saint-Martin, before becoming maître de ballet at theatres in Kassel, Germany and Vienna, Austria. In 1828 he staged La fille mal gardée at the Paris Opera Ballet.

Charles-Louis Didelot (1767-1837) studied under Jean before Jean left Paris. He went on to be a premier danseur at the Paris Opera Ballet from 1791-1794, and was also a choreographer in London, Paris and Saint Petersburg. His most well known ballet, Flore et Zéphire (1796), was the first to employ wires to give the effect of flight. It was first produced at the King’s Theatre, London, in 1796, then at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1815 and the Imperial Ballet in Saint Petersburg in 1818. Didelot would be maître de ballet of the Imperial Ballet from 1816-1829, and laid the groundwork for the Russian ballet boom later in the 19th Century.

Salvatore Viganò (1769-1821) danced under Jean in Bordeaux and London, and was another pupil who went on to choreograph. He danced with his wife Maria in Germany, Prague and Vienna, and was maître de ballet at the Austrian Imperial Theatres in Vienna from 1799-1803. He then moved back to Italy, choreographing ballets before being appointed maître de ballet at La Scala, Milan. He held this post until his death. He also staged La fille mal gardée, at the Teatro San Samuele, Venice, in 1793.

All three of Jean’s most celebrated pupils were proponents of the ideas of Noverre. Viganò had an artistic admirer, the writer Stendhal, who compared his imaginative genius to that of Shakespeare, while Pushkin wrote that Didelot had a ‘rich imaginative quality’. Aumer staging his teacher’s ballets at the Opera kept his legacy alive, as did the contributions his students made to dance.

La fille mal gardée

Dauberval the younger’s legacy also shines through La fille mal gardée. Although multiple changes have been made to the ballet, Dauberval is still its creator.

The original production premiered on the 1st July 1789 in Bordeaux, just days before the Storming of the Bastille. The premiere title was a bit of a mouthful: Le ballet de la paille, ou Il n’est qu’un pas du mal au bien (which translates to The ballet of straw, or there is only one step from bad to good). The music was originally an arrangement of 55 French airs.

While the characters are now usually known as Lise, Colas and Widow Simone, they originally had different names. Jean’s wife Marie-Madeleine danced the role of Lison (Lise), Eugène Hus Colin (Colas), and François Le Riche danced Widow Ragotte (Simone). The role of Simone, like that of a pantomime dame, is usually performed by a man en travesti.

The ballet itself has also changed names. The change from the original Le ballet de la paille to La fille mal gardée seems to have occurred around 1791, the year Dauberval staged the ballet in London. In Russian the ballet has been known as Тщетная предосторожность, which translates to Vain Precautions. Other companies have translated La fille mal gardée, like the Royal Danish Ballet (Den Slet Bevogdtede Datter) and the Vienna State Ballet (Das übelggehütete Mädchen).

Needless to say, the ballet was a success. But over its lifetime the ballet gone through many changes, and productions. I’d like to go over some of the most iconic ones.

Productions

Pantheon Theatre, London, England, 1791. Staged and choreographed by Dauberval to the 55 French airs. Cast included Marie-Madeleine (Lise), Charles Didelot (Colas). Premiered 30th April.

Paris Opera Ballet, France, 1828. Staged and choreographed by Jean-Pierre Aumer after Jean Dauberval to a new score by Ferdinand Hérold. Cast: Pauline Montessu (Lise), Marinette Launer (Colas), Bernard-Léon (Widow Simone), Klein (Alain) [The last two named were both comedic stage actors brought in to play Widow Simone and Alain]. It remained in repertory until 1854. In 1837 a pas de deux was inserted for the celebrated ballerina Fanny Elssler, using music from Donizetti’s opera L’elisir d’amore. This music was later used in Ashton’s production, for a pas de deux known as the Fanny Elssler pas de deux.

Dresden State Opera, Germany, 1864. Staged and choreographed by Paul Taglioni to a new score by Peter Ludwig Hertel.

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia, 1903. Staged by Alexander Gorsky after Ivanov/Petipa, to the score by Hertel but with additional pieces of music. Premiered 20th December [N.S] (7th December on the Julian calendar).

Pavlova’s Company, London, England, 1912. Abridged version staged by Anna Pavlova after Ivanov/Petipa to the Hertel score. Cast: Anna Pavlova (Lise), Laurent Novikov (Colas), Enrico Cecchetti (Widow Simone).

Mordkin Ballet, New York, 1938. Staged by Mikhail Mordkin after Ivanov/Petipa/Gorsky to the Hertel score. Cast: Lucia Chase (Lise), Dimitri Romanoff (Colas), Mikhail Mordkin (Widow Simone)

Ballet Theatre (American Ballet Theatre), 1940. Staged by Bronislava Nijinska after Ivanov/Petipa/Gorsky to the Hertel score. Cast: Patricia Bowman (Lise), Yurek Shabelevsky (Colas), Edward Caton (Widow Simone).

Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, England, 1960. Staged and choreographed by Frederick Ashton to Hérold’s score. Cast included Nadia Nerina (Lise), David Blair (Colas), Stanley Holden (Widow Simone), Alexander Grant (Alain). Premiered 28th January.

Dancers of Lise and Colas (A-Z)

Note: This list is not fully comprehensive.

LISE

Nina Ananiashvili (born 1963), with the Royal Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Ashton’s production

Alexandra Balashova (1887-1979), danced at a benefit performance for victims of the Russian famine at the Paris Opera on 23rd February 1922

Irina Baranova (1919-2008), with American Ballet Theatre

Patricia Bowman (1908-1999), originated the role in the 1940 Ballet Theatre production

Jane Burn (born 1973), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Lucia Chase (1897-1986), with the Mordkin Ballet

Yuhui Choe (born 1986), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Alina Cojocaru (born 1981), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Lesley Collier (born 1947), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Laura Connor (born c.1950), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Helen Crawford (born c.1980), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Wendy Ellis (born 1951), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Fanny Elssler (1810-1884), with the Paris Opera Ballet and Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet

Sofia Fedorova (1879-1963), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Gorsky’s production

Mara Galeazzi (born 1973), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Dorothée Gilbert (born 1983), with the Paris Opera Ballet in Ashton’s production

Belinda Hatley (born c.1970), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Margaret Illman (born 1965), with the Rome Opera Ballet in Ashton’s production

Maria Jacob (fl.1836-1849), with the Paris Opera Ballet in Aumer’s production

Ann Jenner (born 1944), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Marilyn Jones (born 1940), with the Australian Ballet in Ashton’s production

Karen Kain (born 1951), with the National Ballet of Canada in Ashton’s production

Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet, and later mime assistant for Ashton’s 1960 production

Alexandra Kemmerer (fl.1861-1879), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet pre-1885

Gelsey Kirkland (born 1952), with the American Ballet Theatre in Nijinska’s production

Mathilde Kschessinskaya (1872-1971), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet

Zsuzsa Kun (1934-2018), with the Hungarian National Ballet in Ashton’s production

Sarah Lamb (born 1980), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Brenda Last (born 1938), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Tina LeBlanc (born 1966), with the Joffrey Ballet in Ashton’s production

Kerstin Lidström (born c.1944), with the Royal Swedish Ballet in Ashton’s production

Svetlana Lunkina (born 1979), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Ashton’s production

Natalia Makarova (born 1940), with the American Ballet Theatre in Nijinska’s production

Roberta Marquez (born 1977), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Pauline Montessu (1803-1877), originated the role in Aumer’s 1828 production

Laura Morera (born 1977), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Gillian Murphy (born 1979), with the American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

Nadia Nerina (1927-2008), originated the role in Ashton’s 1960 production

Marianela Nuñez (born 1982), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Arantxa Ochoa (born 1974), with the Pennsylvania Ballet in Ashton’s production

Natalia Osipova (born 1986), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Solveig Østergaard (born 1939), with the Royal Danish Ballet in Ashton’s production

Annette Page (1932-2017), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Merle Park (born 1937), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet and her own touring company

Olga Preobrazhenskaya (1871-1962), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet

Anna Prikhunova (1830-1887), with the Imperial/Mariinsky pre-1885

Xiomara Reyes (born 1973), with the American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

Nicola Roberts (born c.1960), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Sonia Rodriguez (born 1972), with the National Ballet of Canada in Ashton’s production

Gislinde Skroblin (born 1944), with the Bavarian State Ballet in Ashton’s production

Meriç Sümen (born 1943), with the Turkish State Ballet in Ashton’s production

Mademoiselle Theodore (Marie-Madeleine Crespé, 1759-1799), originated the role of Lison

Fiona Tonkin (born 1961), with the Australian Ballet in Ashton’s production

Ashley Tuttle (born 1971), with the American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

Maria Medina Viganò (?-1833) at the Teatro San Samuele, Venice, in 1793

Sarah Wildor (born 1972), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Miyako Yoshida (born 1965), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Virginia Zucchi (1849-1933), with the Berlin Ballet in Taglioni’s production, and originated the role in the 1885 Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet production

COLAS

Carlos Acosta (born 1973), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Frank Augustyn (born 1953), with the National Ballet of Canada in Ashton’s production

Mikhail Baryshnikov (born 1948), with the American Ballet Theatre in Nijinska’s production

Maxim Beloserkovsky (born c.1972), with the American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

David Blair (1932-1976), originated the role in Ashton’s 1960 production

Andrei Bolotin (born 1978), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Ashton’s production

Heinz Bosl (1946-1975), with the Bavarian State Ballet in Ashton’s production

Fernando Bujones (1955-2005), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Alexander Campbell (born 1986), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Stuart Cassidy (born c.1970), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Ricardo Cervera (born c.1975), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Michael Coleman (born 1940), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Ángel Corella (born 1975), with the American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

Charles Didelot (1767-1837), at the Pantheon Theatre, London

Imre Dózsa (born 1941), with the Royal Swedish Ballet in Ashton’s production

Wayne Eagling (born 1950), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Ferdinand (Jean La Brunière de Médicis, 1791-1837), with the Paris Opera Ballet in Aumer’s 1828 production

Sergei Filin (born 1970), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Ashton’s production

Pavel Gerdt (1844-1917), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet pre-1885 and originated the role in the 1885 Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet production

Dmitry Gudanov (born 1975), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Ashton’s production

Antonio Guerra (1810-1846), at the Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples, Italy, in 1825

Martin Harvey (born 1978), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Eugène Hus (1758-1823), originated the role of Colin

Lev Ivanov (1834-1901), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet pre-1885

Stephen Jefferies (born 1951), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Niels Kehlet (born 1938), with the Royal Danish Ballet in Ashton’s production

Johan Kobborg (born 1972), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Marinette Launer (?-1853), originated the role in Aumer’s 1828 production

Bryan Lawrence (1936-2017), with the Australian Ballet in Ashton’s production

Nicolas Le Riche (born 1972), with the Paris Opera Ballet in Ashton’s production

Nikolai Legat (1869-1937), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet

Brian Maloney (born c.1980), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Kenneth Mason (1942-2005), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

David McAllister (born 1963), with the Australian Ballet in Ashton’s production

Steven McRae (born 1985), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Irek Mukhamedov (born 1960), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Vadim Muntagirov (born 1990), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950), with the Imperial/Mariinsky Ballet

Laurent Novikov (1888-1956), with Anna Pavlova’s touring company

Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Raffaele Paganini (born 1958), with the Rome Opera Ballet in Ashton’s production

David Palmer (born c.1961), with the Joffrey Ballet in Ashton’s production

Johan Persson (born c.1970), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Lucien Petipa (1815-1898), with the Paris Opera Ballet

Ivan Putrov (born 1980), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Dmitri Romanoff (1907-1994), with the Mordkin Ballet

Viktor Rona (1936-1994), with the Hungarian National Ballet in Ashton’s production

Viacheslav Samodurov (born 1974), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Bruce Sansom (born 1963), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Yurek Shabelevsky (1911-?), originated the role in Nijinska’s Ballet Theatre production

Victor Smoltsov (1900-1976), danced at a benefit performance for victims of the Russian famine at the Paris Opera on 23rd February 1922

Thiago Soares (born 1981), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Piotr Stanczyk (born c.1975), with the National Ballet of Canada in Ashton’s production

Ethan Stiefel (born 1973), with both the Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre in Ashton’s production

Vasily Tikhomirov (1876-1956), with the Bolshoi Ballet in Gorsky’s production

Salvatore Viganò (1769-1821), at the Teatro San Samuele, Venice, in 1793

David Wall (1946-2013), with the Royal Ballet in Ashton’s production

Sources

Beaumont, Cyril W. (2020 reprint, originally 1930). A History of Ballet in Russia. Noverre Press, Hampshire, England.

Beaumont, Cyril W (1956). The Complete Book of Ballets. Putnam, London, England.

Guest, Ivor (2006). The Paris Opera Ballet. Dance Books, Alton, Hampshire, England.

Guest, Ivor (1966). The Romantic Ballet in Paris. Pitman and Sons, London, England.

Étienne-Dominique Bercher (French): https://www.comedie-francaise.fr/fr/artiste/dauberval#

Jean Bercher (French): https://cesar.huma-num.fr/cesar2/people/people.php?fct=edit&person_UOID=100270

Ashton Foundation- La fille mal gardée: http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/fille.html

ROH Database entries for La fille mal gardée: https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/production.aspx?production=1721&row=0

Small Ballet Encyclopaedia on La fille mal gardée: http://www.ballet.classical.ru/d_malgardee.html