Ballet Report Giselle

Ballet Report: Teatro alla Scala

Teatro alla Scala’s “Giselle” is about a peasant girl named Giselle, who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover, Albrecht, is to marry another woman, Bathilde. The Wilis, a group of mystical women who dance men to their demise, summon Giselle from her grave. They target her lover for death, but Giselle's magnanimous heart frees him from their wrath. The Wilis are particularly haunting characters, and are the spirits of girls that died before they married and have been very popular in Romantic era ballets. The Queen of the Wilis, Myrtha, leads them to gain their power in numbers as they effortlessly move through dramatic patterns and harmonized movements, and control the stage with their
This particular performance was performed in the 2011/2012 season. The choreography is by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot while the music is composed by Adolphe Adam and conducted by Paul Connelly. The set and costumes are made by Aleksandr Benois. The star dancers are Svetlana Zakharova, a prima ballerina and star at Teatro alla Scala, as Giselle and a principal dancer Roberto Bolle as Albrecht. This particular video performance guest starred Olesya Novikova, from the Mariinsky Theatre, and principal dancer Leonid Sarafanov from the Mikhailovsky
Each step she took looked like she was floating across the stage, yet, each step was very defined and sharp. The historical period is not disclosed but it looks like a folk and peasant ish town, so around mid 1800’s which is not too long before the time the dance was created. The lighting is warm and bright in Act I and after Giselle dies in Act II, it is a cold dark blue color. In conclusion, the dance is beautiful and I love the story it tells. It is very expressive and moving and is almost like watching a silent movie. I believe a lot of people can relate to the tale and can resonate with Giselle and her story. For example the scene where Giselle decides to spare her lover although he did her harm, I know a lot of people in general can renounce a time they have forgiven someone who has done them emotional harm. I love the combination of acting and dancing and I can appreciate how the dancer must be multi talented to correctly perform this dance. I was only able to watch the video and was moved by it and I hope to watch it live, the experience would be other