by Carol L. Stefan
They say it started with a painting! The 18th century choreographer, Jean Dauberval, was amused and inspired by a work of art by Pierre Antoine Baudouin called La Réprimande/Une Jeune Fille Querellée Par Sa Mère. He created a dance, originally called Le Ballet de la Paille (Ballet of the Straw), relating the story of a young village girl, Lise, who tries to trick her widowed mother into letting her marry a farmer named Colas, whom she loves, and not the man her mother has chosen for her, dim-witted Tom, son of a rich countryman.
The ballet was first performed in Bordeaux, France in 1789. It is a comedic piece and is one of the oldest still performed today! It has gone through many versions over the years—in staging, music, and title. It is now called La Fille Mal Gardée (The Badly Guarded Girl) and was first staged with that name in London in 1791.
In 1885, choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov decided to bring the dance to the Imperial Ballet in Russia, where it stayed in repertoire until the Russian Revolution in 1917, accompanied by the music of Peter Ludwig Hertel. A more modern version was choreographed by Alexander Gorsky but based on the work of Petipa and Ivanov. Another rendition, commonly performed today, was choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton.
As part of their 22nd Season Celebration Performance and Gala Dinner on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, Diablo Ballet will be performing the pas de deux and finale from La Fille Mal Gardée. Lauren Jonas, Artistic Director, has staged this ballet based on the work of Petipa and Ivanov.
It will be performed along with Tears from Above, by renowned choreographer Val Caniparoli, and accompanied by two cellos; Sonya Delwaide’s Sérénade pour Cordes, a marvelous mix of contemporary and classical dance set to Ernö Dohnányi’s Serenade in C major for String Trio, performed by a trio of musicians; Pitch Pause Please, created and danced by Robert Dekkers; the solo from Gary Master’s Diablo Opus; and finally an exciting World Premiere, by Robert Dekkers, Diablo Ballet’s resident choreographer, collaborating with film-maker Walter Yamazaki. In 2011, Dekkers was named a “25 To Watch” artist by DANCE Magazine and called a “mad genius” by the Huffington Post. He founded his own San Francisco dance company in 2009: “Post:Ballet.” Diablo Ballet is thrilled to welcome Dekkers back to the stage after an injury last March kept him sidelined.
The 22nd Anniversary Performance begins at 6:30 p.m. Then, the celebration continues with the Gala at Scott’s Garden at 8:00 p.m., with a wine tasting, an auction, and dinner with the dancers—tickets for the performance and the dinner are sold separately.
For tickets, go to https://diabloballet.org/tickets or call (925) 943-1775 for information.