Irmgard

This is where I think Mary Skeaping was so clever at stagecraft. Although she kept it as a pas de deux, she placed it much earlier in the action so that it could not possibly upstage Giselle's mad scene (its original intention) and, of course, in her production, Giselle's famous Act 1 solo comes immediately after the pas de deux, and it is far enough in advance of the complete Pas des Vendanges for Giselle and Albrecht, which contains solos for both of them, not to detract from either this or the mad scene which follows.

I believe it may now be thought to be by Pugni. As far as I am aware, the Act 2 waltz is definitely by Pugni. The only music in "Giselle" by Burgmueller is the suite of dances used for the Peasant pas de deux (or quatre or six, depending on the production!).

Just another thought about the wings. This is Cyril Beaumont's translation, published in his book "The Ballet Called Giselle" of the libretto of "Giselle" by Saint-Georges and Gautier which was available to audience members in Paris in 1841 (I have a copy of the one for Swedish audiences a few years later) and which gives a detailed synopsis of each scene in the ballet: "On Myrtha's white shoulders tremble and flutter the diaphanous wings with which the Wili can envelop herself as though in a gauzy veil". "Giselle appears swathed in her thin shroud. She goes towards Myrtha, who touches her with her branch of rosemary; the shroud falls off and Giselle is changed into a Wili. Her wings grow and unfold". Of course, there is some artistic licence taken with the libretto compared to what might have actually happened onstage but the engravings and lithographs at that time all show the Wilis (including Giselle) with wings.

Just to answer a few points. No, Berthe (played by the wonderful Laura Hussey) does not know how many pins there are to remove, as each Giselle has a different hair style which can take a different number of pins, depending on the day! In consultation with ENB's excellent wig mistress, Amelia Carrington-Lee, we went back to original thoughts on the production and so several of the Giselles wore their hair down for Act 1, just tied back off the face with some flower clips (I have vivid memories of Eva Evdokimova wearing her hair this way). And yes, there were times when not all the pins were removed and the hair looked particularly disheveled, as it is meant to - particularly Khaniukova at the last performance, adding to the poignancy of her incredible mad scene. I am glad that you appreciated that so many of the solos were done by the lower ranking dancers and were done so well. Having watched the company very closely over the last couple of years, I wanted to highlight the talent that there is at all levels of the company and happily Aaron Watkin agreed with me when we were doing the casting. As per a previous post, it is impossible to change the lighting for individual dancers as it is computerised these days and so has to be the same for each performance. However, I may see if it is possible to make it slightly less dark at certain moments in Act 2 in future without losing the wonderful effect when the Wilis are chasing the gamekeepers. Thank you for your lovely final comment! I think there are a lot of dancers who would also be very happy to dance it at least every other year!

In the 1841 piano reduction of Adam's score (a treasure trove of stage directions), there is the following direction for Myrtha just before Giselle launches into her temps leves en tournant: "Myrtha le touche de son rameau et les ailes lui poussent", i.e Myrtha touches Giselle with her branch (rosemary in the score) and her wings appear. In the Skeaping production, Giselle does not have wings, I believe purely for the practical reason that they would get in the way during the pas de deux, but I believe it was Alicia Markova who wrote about how nervous she was that she would not be able to break the thread for her wings to sprout in time so that she could start her turns. The Wilis in Skeaping's production, on the other hand, have very beautiful wings! As they are meant to arrive from all over the world at that particular glade on that particular night to initiate Giselle, they would definitely have needed some mode of transport to get them there!

Burgmueller was not Adam's assistant. He was a contemporary of his. When "Giselle" was created in 1841, his music was used to create a suite of dances (now known as the Peasant Pas de Deux) for etoile Nathalie Fitzjames and her partner, interpolated into the ballet just before the mad scene to upstage the new star, Carlotta Grisi - a purely political move. Adam objected strongly to this interpolation and later sued Burgmueller when he published one of the pieces as the 'famous waltz from Giselle'. The suite consisted of an entree and adage, two solos for the female and two solos for the male, plus the coda. Most productions from the 20th and 21st centuries also include Giselle's now-famous Act 1 solo to music long attributed to Minkus and the Act 2 waltz solo attributed to Pugni, both added in Russia in the 1880s.

In the version he did for the National Ballet of Canada, it was definitely a pas de quatre.

It is actually part of the production that Giselle shows the necklace to Albrecht, who recognises it as belonging to Bathilde and we should see a reaction of surprise/worry from Albrecht (which Giselle does not see), but sometimes that moment might get lost in all the commotion with the cart being brought on. In fact, this is why Giselle does not go into the house with the royal party - she runs off to find Albrecht because she is so excited to show him the necklace.

Myrtha only has the one long diagonal with veil on, and then bourrées across the back, having removed her veil. Mary Skeaping also disliked the lilies in Act 2 but they are part of the David Walker designs and she had to defer to him about those, but she said it looked like Albrecht had stopped off at the local florist on is way to the grave. She also thought it should look like he had gathered wildflowers - and her comment to me predated Gielgud's "Steps, Notes and Squeaks". I agree that Albrecht should not take his eyes off Giselle on those crossings and I think I managed to convince at least one of my casts to do this but obviously note the one you saw.

Thank you very much. The unsigned parts were a joint effort between the Marketing Department and me.

Just to point out that Khaniukova and Arrieta did the dress rehearsal the night before opening night, meaning that they actually gave three full performances of the ballet on three consecutive nights, as they danced full out at the dress rehearsal. I salute them for this amazing achievement and am very grateful to them for leading the company for Mary Skeaping's "Giselle", and in such an exemplary and selfless way.

It will definitely be Frola dancing with Kase tomorrow afternoon as, sadly, Saruhashi has not recovered enough from his minor injury to perform.

I have not been bothered by the laughing at the various stage effects at most of the performances (I am at all of them) as it has been quite gentle, as if they are laughing with delight rather than finding anything particularly funny. In fact, it is much as audiences reacted in the baroque era -they expressed their delight quite noisily at the various stage effects.

Usually I feel it would be inappropriate of me to 'review' casts in this production as I have been so heavily involved with it and with all of the dancers but I have to say that I was extremely proud of Shiori Kase making her debut (!) as Giselle tonight with a partner with whom she had had about half an hour's rehearsal. She gave a highly accomplished performance, and Frola was there, supporting her all the way, partnering her as if they had been dancing together for years. The camaraderie of the dancers in this company is awe inspiring!

It was a match made in heaven!

Yes, the last time Mary Skeaping's production was performed in London, prior to Derek Deane taking over as Artistic Director, was 1991 at Royal Festival Hall. It was brought back by in 2005 by Matz Skoog. Aaron Watkin appeared in it as a member of the corps de ballet in 1991, hence his desire to present it during his first season as Artistic Director. Skeaping went with Pavlova's version regarding the sword, in that it is a shiny thing which Giselle, in her demented state, sees as a toy to play with and will not let the villagers take it away from her but, yes, Takahashi's Hilarion was a bit slow off the mark in snatching it from her last night! The joys of live performance!

Cojocaru was on maternity leave during the Belfast performances.

Just to answer a couple of points. Skeaping follows the original scenario written by Gautier and Vernoy St. Georges which calls for Bathilde to present Giselle with the necklace on becoming entranced by her and finding out that she, too, is engaged. It is almost as if she is presenting her with a dowry. Amongst Gautier's musings on the plot is Bathilde's wish to take Giselle back to the castle with her as a lady-in-waiting (obviously highly improbable in real medieval times as ladies-in-waiting had to be of high birth, but just one of Gautier's many flights of fancy). In the original outline of the action for the ballet, there is no solo for Giselle to dance for Bathilde either before or after she gives her the necklace. Therefore, it is up to the producer to decide whether or not to include the interpolated solo (to music generally attributed to Minkus) in the ballet and where it most usefully serves a dramatic purpose. Gautier makes no mention of Giselle committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide. It is much more in keeping with the ethos of the Romantic era for a heroine to die of a broken heart but, again, it is up to the producer to decide which approach to take. Skeaping followed the leads of Pavlova, Spessivtseva and Nicholas Sergueyev in having Giselle die of a broken heart. The fact that Giselle is buried in a woodland glade is also from the Gautier scenario and does not signify that she is buried in unconsecrated ground but, rather, gives a beautiful setting for Act 2. There is always some suspension of disbelief in ballet or opera plots of this era but, even today, it is not unknown for people to be buried in places other than cemeteries. As per my previous post, in the original scenario, there were two separate groups of men appearing in Act 2: the gamekeepers and then peasants returning home from a party. Presumably for budgetary reasons, Skeaping combined the two in her later versions of her production, with the instruction that the gamekeeper who have fled from the first vision of the Wilis have been rounded up by other Wilis haunting the woods. With regard to the fugue, this is an essential element of the original score and scenario to show that Myrtha's power is being challenged by Giselle, who constantly thwarts her until the sunrise which does break her power. It also shows that the Wilis' power is not stronger than the cross, conflict between the religious and the supernatural being another favourite element of the Romantic era. When the Wilis fail to draw Albrecht away from the cross (his protecting factor), Myrtha commands Giselle (who must still obey Myrtha) to dance seductively to lure Albrecht away from the cross, which is exactly what happens.

The lovely Erina Takahashi was on maternity leave during the last run at the Coliseum in 2017 but made it back onstage within three months of her son's birth to perform Giselle in Belfast in June 2017 with the fabulous Cesar Corrales as her Albrecht.

It was not that she did not like the production, it was just that there were elements she did not embrace, such as the mime scenes, preferring to do her own thing which could be rather disconcerting for her colleagues onstage. It would be lovely to have a proper film of the production - the late, great Eva Evdokimova planned to do so in the 1980s but sadly it never happened.

ENB's website has finally been updated to show that Frola will dance with Khaniukova this evening. This is not due to any injury to Arrieta. Arrieta has graciously stepped aside to allow Frola to have a second performance, as he had to miss his show last Friday. Khaniukova would have done the same for Oliveira but she is still injured. I love the wonderful camaraderie amongst all these dancers🥰 ! Khaniukova and Arrieta will dance the last show together (21st) as planned.

In the Skeaping production, the castle and all the surrounding lands belong to the Prince of Courland and his daughter, Bathilde, so Albrecht (Duke of Silesia, which is not in the Rhineland) is on an extended visit to his fiancee (perhaps for the actual wedding ceremony) which is why no-one in the village recognises him (and there would be many villages attached to the Prince's lands so some of the villagers may never have seen the Prince or Bathilde before, either). HIs resourceful squire, Wilfred, would have ascertained that there was an empty hut or cabine in Giselle's village for Albrecht to use when he is escaping from the Court. In Skeaping's production, there is no lock on the door (it is too humble a dwelling to have such a thing) but, as Albrecht closes the door, the rusty latch sticks, which is why Hilarion has to use his knife to gain entry. Of course, the audience does not know about the latch sticking, but that is the dramatic motivation given to Hilarions when rehearsing the scene.

"Stupid idiot" is exactly what Albrecht says to himself in Skeaping's production when he realises he is still wearing his cloak and sword 😁. He's so anxious to see Giselle that he's forgotten to take off his cloak and sword before he gets to the village. Wilfred arrives after Albrecht has hidden his cloak (not an expensive one in this production) and sword in the hut (referred to by Gautier as a "cabine") to tell him to stop this folly and come back to the castle with him...

I am completely baffled as well, as I am sure Theophile Gautier who wrote the scenario would be!!!

Cupid out of his Humour was actually commissioned from Mary Skeaping and the Royal Swedish Ballet by the King of Sweden for Queen Elizabeth's state visit to Sweden in 1956 but has been performed many times since then for the general public at Drottningholm and, in the 1950s, it was toured to Bath and the Edinburgh Festival.