Acosta’s true class brings us sunshine in La Fille mal Gardée

At the ballet’s close, the wedding party dances away into the night. We hear them singing off-stage, as if in some far-off garden, and it seems as if we can join the lantern-lit fun. We almost feel the night dew. Ashton’s genius is to make us think we can, only to remind us, in the gentlest, tenderest of ways, that we probably can’t, at least not for very long.

Along the way, he also provides wonderful comedy and glorious steps. Nuñez and Acosta lead from the front as Lise and Colas. The young couple love each other but her mother wants a more advantageous match with Alain, the son of a rich landowner. The poor boy is not much of a ladies’ man, in fact he’s barely a man at all, and his father knows it, despite his best efforts to dress him up as a catch. Changeling or mooncalf would be a better description. The opening night cast know the ballet well and relished every step. Nuñez dazzled, and Acosta, who often looks tired, was both settled and sizzling. Will Tuckett as Lise’s mother and Christopher Saunders as Alain’s father are old muckers at the Royal, and their long association showed in their peerless acting and perfect comic timing.

Flinty-hearted post-Modernists will pick at this eternal summer, and even fans may find the dancing chickens a bit much. Everyone else will leave wide-eyed at the ingenuity of the ballet and its double-edged joys.
In rep until 28 April. Information 020 7304 4000. www.roh.org.uk

The Royal Ballet: La Fille Mal Gardee
Royal Opera House
Floral Street, WC2E 9DD