Alain seems as uninterested in marrying Lise as Lise is Alain. Simone persists on making the match until eventually her good nature gets the better of her, and she gives Lise and Colas her blessing.

The ballet displays some of Ashton’s most virtuoso choreography, most strikingly in the series of energetic pas de deux that express the youthful passion of Lise and Colas. The ballet is also laced with exuberant good humour, in a whirl of dancing chickens, grouchy guardians and one very unwilling suitor. Ashton affectionately incorporated elements of national folk dance into his choreography, from a Lancashire clog dance to a maypole dance, making La Fille mal gardée – despite its title – emphatically English. Osbert Lancaster’s colourful designs heighten the production’s delightful pastoral wit.

Frederick Ashton created more than one hundred works during his lifetime (1904–88). For further information, please visit www.frederickashton.org.uk.