#TBT: Miyako Yoshida in "La Fille mal gardée"

November 28, 2001

Think of dancing in front of the love of your life. Suddenly, the thousands of hours you’ve spent rehearsing leave you stunned as excitement and bashfulness consume every move. Dance presents a new hurdle once it becomes an open expression of love—a gesture Lise offers Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée. In this Act I variation, Lise seemingly performs to the audience, but each step expresses the joy she feels for Colas as he watches her from stage right.

The Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Miyako Yoshida performs this variation with controlled precision beneath each brightly lit step, revealing her character’s subtle shyness. She approaches Colas only for a second, with a blown kiss in arabesque, before rushing away to continue dancing. Yoshida captures the audience with her quiet romantic gestures, making you wish this short clip would reveal what happens next. Happy #ThrowbackThursday!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ynsOneRmPZs