English National Ballet's Giselle

A night at the Coliseum is always one to remember. With its beckoning dome, sweeping staircases and expanse of red velvet seats, the spell has already been cast as the curtains lift on this glorious revival of Mary Skeaping’s Giselle. Brought to life with impeccable detail and exceptional skill by the English National Ballet, Skeaping’s critically acclaimed Giselle premiered in 1971 and reflects much of the 1841 original. It really is the perfect treat for a chilly January evening.

The story is tightly focussed on a single, romantic drama which is part of its allure. Giselle, a beautiful young peasant girl who loves to dance despite her weak heart, is caught between her love for Loys a stranger who has moved into a cottage opposite and the gamekeeper Hilarion. When the noblemen ride into the forest and come to taste the wine in her cottage, she discovers that Lloys in in fact a Duke and he is already betrothed. Giselle’s weak heart cannot bear the shock and after a desperate last dance she collapses on the ground and dies.

In the second Act, the rich earthy tones and youthful energy of the forest from Act 1is swept away. As darkness falls, we enter the unearthly realm of night and by the gravestone of Giselle, the haunting vision of the Wilis appear; ghostly apparitions in their torn wedding dresses. The Willis were said to be the spirit of brides who have died before their wedding day luring the men who betrayed them to their deaths. They make a truly disturbing site, a slow shadowy procession across the stage that shocks even today.

There have been many successful reinventions of Giselle but it’s refreshing to see the power of the female protagonists and chorus in such a traditional production too. A reminder that these young women who had no power in society, hold all the power in the drama where they enact a brutal revenge.

There’s much to recommend this detailed production, the extraordinary precision of the dancing foremost but also least the quality of the acting from the main protagonists, and of course Adolphe Adam’s lush score performed by the English National Ballet Philharmonic. This sumptuous production of Giselle is a New Year’s reminder that ‘old fashioned’ is not always a bad thing. Indeed for many, this revival of Giselle will epitomise the traditional, romantic ballet of our imaginations.