English National Ballet - Giselle (Khan) - Autumn 2016

[Jan McNulty]

Gorgeous slide show on Dance Europe's website:

 

http://www.danceeurope.net/gallery/giselle-ch-akram-khan-enb

[DancingShoes]

Those who have seen this production- would you take a 12 year old? I've been advised against it but I'm not sure as I think she would enjoy it.

[Jan McNulty]

Its themes are darker than the traditional Giselle.  When she was 12, I would have confidently taken my older niece but not my younger one at the same age.

 

There doesn't seem to be an age warning on the website so I guess it depends on whether you think the child could cope with the darker themes.  

[DancingShoes]

Thanks Janet x

[Ian Macmillan]

Not often that we see a New York Times review for ENB - see today's Links - and for a premiere away from London?  Roslyn Sulcas makes similar points on the narrative flow being made elsewhere, but is highly enthusiastic.  Tamara Rojo is clearly doing something right.  

[SPD444]

No disrespect to Mr O'Hare but I wonder if the RB missed a trick with Ms Rojo.

[penelopesimpson]

No disrespect to Mr O'Hare but I wonder if the RB missed a trick with Ms Rojo.

 

 

An interesting thought.

 

And Mr. Kobborg?

[Tony Newcombe]

No disrespect to Mr O'Hare but I wonder if the RB missed a trick with Ms Rojo.

Too soon, but in the future ?

[Two Pigeons]

I think it is debatable that Ms Rojo would have been allowed anything like the freedom of action had she taken over the RB as she enjoys at ENB.

[Snape]

Dancing shoes, my friend and I took our 12 year old girls, one of who is a toughy the other more sensitive, both were transfixed and would love to go back and watch again. If they are sensitive maybe sit further back. I think it is the music that heightens the sensation of darkness. Most 12 year olds I know would not be too frightened. So depends on your little person.

Ps I just loved the bit they call the jelly fish. When they encircled Giselle, it reminded me of an internal living organ. Also where the cast made a wall with their bodies and the bit that reminded me of a sewing machine.

I really enjoyed Stina Quagebeur she appeared to be floating! And James streeter has a lovley almost slightly feminine quality. Couldn't take my eyes off Oscar chacon I had not heard of him before but I will look out for him now and of course Tamara rojo. Hope we get to see it again sometime.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Snape

[DancingShoes]

Thank you, I now need to see if I can fit it in!

[FLOSS]

As to whether the RB missed a trick by not appointing Rojo I don't think so. After the disaster of Ross Stretton's directorship I don't think anyone wanted to take a gamble with the appointment of the AD to succeed Mason.After all there was no obvious Monica Mason figure in the background available to step in and pick up the pieces if everything went wrong. Kevin's advantage in all this was his experience working in various administrative jobs with the RB and other companies.As far as I am concerned the only person with something akin to the experience required was Bruce Sansom but most of his experience was US based and not necessarily transferable to Covent Garden..

 

As far as Rojo and Kobborg are concerned appointing either of them would have been far too much of a gamble. In both cases they lacked experience. The transition from dancer  to director is very difficult . It is made even more difficult if the untried director is going to run a company with which were recently appearing as a dancer and will be managing former colleagues. Managing former colleagues can be extremely challenging and it will be interesting to see how Madame Dupont fares at POB.

 

Being a successful director is a mixture of strategic planning, apparently infallible artistic taste  and a great deal of luck. It's not just a question of programming which pleases the punters. It is a question of getting the balance right between nineteenth and twentieth century repertory and staging new works;building for the future by providing opportunities for the entire company, not just the principal dancers, and recruiting dancers the company needs and will need in the future. It is relatively easy to put on ballets that principal dancers will want to dance, the real skill lies in selecting repertory which will provide opportunities for the promising young dancer to show what he or she can do without overburdening them with responsibility for which they are not ready. I think that this is much more difficult to do this in a company with an extensive back catalogue of masterpieces calling for a wide range of performers and performance styles than it is with a company with a limited number of repertory pieces which are revived and toured with some regularity or one which has an undistinguished repertory.

 

ENB's core repertory is fairly limited and its programming is to a large extent determined by the need to cover its touring losses. I can't help thinking that it is somewhat easier to appear innovative in circumstances where after you have performed the nineteenth century classics or Romeo and Juliet, there are no expectations for the company to meet and the director has a blank canvas to fill than it is at the Royal Ballet where there is a real problem about showing a sufficient proportion of the company's twentieth century repertory each season. Rojo is a twenty first century director who has a real understanding of publicity and the media and how it can be made to work for her company. something which the Royal Ballet does not seem to have grasped. Every director brings their experience and their artistic preferences as a performer to their role as AD it will be interesting to see how ENB develops and grows under Rojo's stewardship.Is there perhaps an over emphasis on technique for its own sake? When the company last danced Le Corsaire I was aware of the physical effort that the men were putting into achieving their effects in the roles they were dancing it wonder whether it will be the same with Giselle? Kobborg seems to have had a pretty awful time in Romania I wonder what he will do next? I don't foresee any vacancy arising at Bow Street in the near future. All those debuts in role by the new generation are likely to ensure that.

Edited September 29, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jan McNulty]

Dancing shoes, my friend and I took our 12 year old girls, one of who is a toughy the other more sensitive, both were transfixed and would love to go back and watch again. If they are sensitive maybe sit further back. I think it is the music that heightens the sensation of darkness. Most 12 year olds I know would not be too frightened. So depends on your little person.

Ps I just loved the bit they call the jelly fish. When they encircled Giselle, it reminded me of an internal living organ. Also where the cast made a wall with their bodies and the bit that reminded me of a sewing machine.

I really enjoyed Stina Quagebeur she appeared to be floating! And James streeter has a lovley almost slightly feminine quality. Couldn't take my eyes off Oscar chacon I had not heard of him before but I will look out for him now and of course Tamara rojo. Hope we get to see it again sometime.

I love your descriptive imagery.

[capybara]

Some of the issues mentioned by FLOSS concerning Rojo and the RB would surely have been writ larger had she decided to pursue her own dancing career as she has done at ENB.

[northstar]

I went to see Khan's Giselle on the opening night (the 'world premiere' with Cojocaru and Hernandez) and the following night (Rojo and Streeter). Great as always to read the reactions on the forum.

 

I've only seen one work of Khan's before (Techne, danced by Sylvie Guillem in her final tour) and I'm not generally a great admirer of modern dance.

 

It certainly was a spectacle, with a sombre, spare, brutal quality. I very much agree with Janet's comment about the level of commitment shown by the dancers. While I find the classical Giselle enrapturing I would call Khan's version mesmerising, but I tried (perhaps not always successfully) to see this an individual work in its own right and not to constantly compare. For the most part I admired rather than loved its qualities. I remember impressive dynamic ensemble scenes where the dancers moved like flocks of birds or herds of animals, intense dramatic moments of stillness involving the main characters. There was a natural expressiveness in it, for which the acting ability of the dancers must be highly applauded. None of it felt forced or melodramatic.

 

But the spare, intense, minimal nature of some of the action (perfectly matched by the music) was quite oppressive sometimes. I once sat through Wagner's Valkyrie and felt similar sensations. Of the reviews I've read I like, and agree with, Terpsichore's most (thanks for the link Janet), I did find the bareness of the atmosphere, and post-industrial theme, became quite oppressive and grim. It seems completely intended, and is thus extremely successful, but it's not something I naturally embrace. 

 

The purpose and vitality of ENB seems so impressive under Rojo's direction and Khan's Giselle seems to represent perfectly the boldness and artistic ambition of the company. I would not say I would rush to see such a piece again, but Rojo's drive to generate this level of interest in her company I have nothing but admiration for. And her ability to maintain her own performance standards alongside her leadership role is mind boggling. 

Edited September 29, 2016 by northstar

[FLOSS]

Each AD of ENB/LFB has made their contribution to the company's repertory but those contributions rarely outlast the director who introduced them. I leave it to you to decide whether or not this is a good thing. Perhaps a company like ENB which was  created to tour does not need a permanent core repertory other than the nineteenth century classics and a version of Romeo and Juliet. Here is a brief indication of the contribution of some of them. During Dame Beryl's tenure the company was quite strong on the Diaghilev repertory and did some Balanchine as well. It danced ballets like Massine's Parade and Balanchine's Night Shadow while Scheherazade seemed to be a staple of the company's repertory year in year out as did Etudes which the company seemed to be able to toss off with consummate ease unlike its recent London revival which  seemed overly careful and rather laboured. Schaufuss gave the company La Sylphide and Ashton's Romeo and Juliet. Eagling introduced Manon.

 

In addition to contributions of tried and tested ballets each director has commissioned new ballets both full length and one act works. If the tried and tested pieces have disappeared over the years because they were considered old fashioned and unsuited to modern tastes or more likely because they did not conform to the next director's personal tastes the new commissions have also failed to retain their place in the company's repertory.It is as if the first task undertaken by a new director is to abandon the last director's new repertory. I say this because we have had a new dawn with each new director, new ideas, new choreographers, new works and works new to the company but very little of it has lasted beyond the tenure of the director whose initiatives they were.

 

Staging an entirely new work is a gamble however eminent the choreographer is. Even if a work is deemed successful in its first season by critics and the paying public alike it does not guarantee that it will be a ballet that has long term staying power.Some ballets only work in their initial season with their original cast while others prove to be more robust. Whether the new Giselle is a one season wonder or a ballet which becomes a permanent part of the company's repertory throughout Rojo's directorship remains to be seen. Rojo is to be congratulated on her enterprise and her luck. At the end of the day I suspect that to be a successful ballet director requires a good fit between director and company. a good relationship with the Board, a good relationship with the media and lots of luck. Now of course you can do quite a lot to create your own good luck  being media savvy helps, but you can only do so much.At the end of the day the question to ask about a ballet director is much the same as the one Napoleon asked about his generals which was not about their competence but whether they were lucky.

Edited September 29, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jan McNulty]

I saw my final (sadly) outing of Giselle during this run at the matinee today.

 

The cast was led by Fernanda Oliveira, Fernando Bufala, Lauretta Summerscales and Oscar Chacon.

 

So a third cast, very different and also very wonderful!

 

I was sat on the opposite side of the auditorium this afternoon and I don't know whether it was because it was my third viewing or whether it was because I was sat in a different place but I saw even more in the production.

 

A few people have asked why it looks as though Hilarion is trying to strangle Giselle when she is already dead in Act 2.  I have come up with this theory:

 

At the end of the death scene in Act 1 you see 2 of the Landlords grabbing hold of Giselle and her struggling.  As the stage clears she is lying dead on the floor with Hilarion holding her.  My interpretation of Hilarion looking as though he is strangling her in Act 2 is that Myrthe is accusing him of Giselle's death in forcing him to re-enact it.  Just my thought anyway.

 

I have loved the three performances of this production that I have seen over the past week.  The strength and commitment of the dancers of ENB has shone through and, as I have already said, I have seen more in it at every performance.  I can't catch it anywhere else on tour so I hope it is soon back in the rep.

 

I think this has been a triumph for Tamara Rojo and ENB.

[aileen]

Ok, I haven't seen it yet but is it possible that the audience is being told that Hilarion did actually kill Giselle, which is left open at the end of Act 1? Alternatively, does Hilarion think that Giselle is actually alive (ie she had only been unconscious rather than dead) and so he tries to kill her as before (he's a resentful rejected suitor as well as a fixer)? Alternative 3 is that he feels threatened by the ghost of Giselle and lashes out to protect himself. It would be interesting to hear from Akram Khan what he had in mind but perhaps he wanted this scene to be ambiguous so that members of audience could find their own interpretations. Can't wait to see it now.

[penelopesimpson]

As to whether the RB missed a trick by not appointing Rojo I don't think so. After the disaster of Ross Stretton's directorship I don't think anyone wanted to take a gamble with the appointment of the AD to succeed Mason.After all there was no obvious Monica Mason figure in the background available to step in and pick up the pieces if everything went wrong. Kevin's advantage in all this was his experience working in various administrative jobs with the RB and other companies.As far as I am concerned the only person with something akin to the experience required was Bruce Sansom but most of his experience was US based and not necessarily transferable to Covent Garden..

 

As far as Rojo and Kobborg are concerned appointing either of them would have been far too much of a gamble. In both cases they lacked experience. The transition from dancer  to director is very difficult . It is made even more difficult if the untried director is going to run a company with which were recently appearing as a dancer and will be managing former colleagues. Managing former colleagues can be extremely challenging and it will be interesting to see how Madame Dupont fares at POB.

 

Being a successful director is a mixture of strategic planning, apparently infallible artistic taste  and a great deal of luck. It's not just a question of programming which pleases the punters. It is a question of getting the balance right between nineteenth and twentieth century repertory and staging new works;building for the future by providing opportunities for the entire company, not just the principal dancers, and recruiting dancers the company needs and will need in the future. It is relatively easy to put on ballets that principal dancers will want to dance, the real skill lies in selecting repertory which will provide opportunities for the promising young dancer to show what he or she can do without overburdening them with responsibility for which they are not ready. I think that this is much more difficult to do this in a company with an extensive back catalogue of masterpieces calling for a wide range of performers and performance styles than it is with a company with a limited number of repertory pieces which are revived and toured with some regularity or one which has an undistinguished repertory.

 

ENB's core repertory is fairly limited and its programming is to a large extent determined by the need to cover its touring losses. I can't help thinking that it is somewhat easier to appear innovative in circumstances where after you have performed the nineteenth century classics or Romeo and Juliet, there are no expectations for the company to meet and the director has a blank canvas to fill than it is at the Royal Ballet where there is a real problem about showing a sufficient proportion of the company's twentieth century repertory each season. Rojo is a twenty first century director who has a real understanding of publicity and the media and how it can be made to work for her company. something which the Royal Ballet does not seem to have grasped. Every director brings their experience and their artistic preferences as a performer to their role as AD it will be interesting to see how ENB develops and grows under Rojo's stewardship.Is there perhaps an over emphasis on technique for its own sake? When the company last danced Le Corsaire I was aware of the physical effort that the men were putting into achieving their effects in the roles they were dancing it wonder whether it will be the same with Giselle? Kobborg seems to have had a pretty awful time in Romania I wonder what he will do next? I don't foresee any vacancy arising at Bow Street in the near future. All those debuts in role by the new generation are likely to ensure that.

Another great post Floss which nails all the issues.  I just threw Kobborg in for discussion, not really having any idea of the totality of his experience.  I guess I still smart from the way they were 'let go.'

 

But yes, seems to me KOH has done and is doing a pretty good job.  We have had some interesting new work and he has allowed his choreographers to experiment, even when the results have been poor as in Raven Girl.  I think his judgement deserted him when he allowed Accosta to choreograph.  Don Quixote did not demonstrate any particular talent for this role so mounting the expensive abomination that was Carmen seemed ludicrous.  I still wonder what went on there.

 

His judgement his more evident vis a vis his casting (with the exception of putting Hayward and Golding together) and recent promotions.  I appreciate there is a considerable body of opinion that would have liked to see Yuhui Choe as a Principal and I admire that he didn't bow to buggins turn and instead appointed Principals who have that little extra sparkle.  That is NOT to denigrate Ms Choe who is a lovely dancer but, for me and many others, lacks stage presence.

 

So, all in all, we seem to be in good hands with KOH.

[Jan McNulty]

And now ... back to English National Ballet and this production of Giselle please!

 

Did I mention how much I love the score for this new production.  The orchestra has sounded magnificent and the score melds the live with the recorded seamlessly.

 

Sitting a few rows further back yesterday I could actually, at times, notice the individual dancers of the corps more clearly.  For me, Sarah Kundi stood out from the crowd.

 

I wanted to particularly mention that Lauretta Summerscales was very spooky indeed as Myrthe.

 

Not everyone, BTW, likes this production.  A friend who was also there yesterday afternoon refused to make any sort of comment on it!  Mind you, as I said on another thread just now, if we all liked the same thing the world would be a very boring place.

 

I can't wait to hear what other members think of this production...

[Living the Dream]

Janet and Aileen you are correct in your thoughts that in Act 2 you get to see how Giselle died in Act 1. LTD

[LinMM]

At the rehearsal and discussion evening with Akram Kahn and some of the dancers I thought I may have misheard him when I thought he said that Hilarion actually kills Giselle.

Because I thought he said this I was wondering on the way home whether this would be a good thing or not .....certainly another knife into any lingering romanticism of this ballet ....as dying from grief and shock at betrayal has been at the essence of Giselles character.

 

However in the grim realism that the ballet seems to be set in ...murder would make perfect sense!!

 

And in a way makes more sense of the Hilarion character because his treatment in the traditional ballet has always seemed highly unfair!! But if he murders Giselle out of rage etc then he deserves all he gets later on!!

 

Will have to wait till 27th October to find out....but does it mention this in the synopsis at all?

[Jan McNulty]

No it doesn't, which I think is what leads to the confusion!

 

Or perhaps we are supposed to just put our interpretation on it...

 

Anyway some more random thoughts.  Either on this thread or in a review I saw that there is no "nod" to Hilarion realising that Albrecht is actually an aristo.  In actual fact there is, but it is very subtle.  In one tiny scene Hilarion mimes the wearing of a hat and tipping it to Albrecht.  That ties in neatly with his wheeler dealer role because The Landlord presents him with a hat to show that, at the very least, he is liaising with them.

 

I think you could approach this as a visually stunning work, which I guess most of the general population would but for avid ballet-watchers it bears repeated viewings as more and more of the subtleties of the plot emerge.  We are the lucky ones who see it over and over and can be enriched by watching it over a period of time.

[Ian Macmillan]

ENB has released a number of fairly striking images from the production, including some that look to me as if the photographer was onstage:

 

http://giselle.ballet.org.uk/photography/production-images

 

Regrettably, I can't see one of Begoña Cao's "strikingly beautiful and gorgeously costumed" Bathilde -  I quote Graham Watts, in today's Links for Bachtrack.  And the Wilis do look scarier than in 'accustomed' productions.

[Living the Dream]

I'll be there tomorrow for the matinee and evening, if anyone wants to say hello. LTD

[Duck]

I'll be there tomorrow for the matinee and evening, if anyone wants to say hello. LTD

 

I've sent you a PM regarding the matinee tomorrow 

[annamicro]

Re Giselle death: at a second view and from the circle, it's evident that when she lies behind the Landlord and between the two attendants, Hilarion is called to do the dirty job. Obviously they don't want the rebel and her bastard around.

 

Another interesting point: when Giselle and Albrecht are Alne for the first time, he mimes the hat but she has already moved to another direction and doesn't notice it. So he tried to tell her, but too blandly

[aileen]

Ian, Begona is featured in the video that ENB released a couple of days ago. The Dance Europe site also has some photographs. I definitely think that I have seen a full length picture of Begona's dress somewhere.

[Jan McNulty]

There are three pictures of Begona Cao as Bathilde in "that dress" on the Dance Europe Gallery:

 

http://www.danceeurope.net/gallery/giselle-ch-akram-khan-enb

[alison]

Of course, the Wilis in ENB's previous production of Giselle, by Derek Deane, looked pretty scary, too (although without the loose hair, of course)

[Ian Macmillan]

Aileen, Janet: Many thanks - very striking!

[Duck]

I saw the matinee yesterday. It was good to meet Living the Dream during the interval J

Akram Khan and his team have created very powerful images of a menacing atmosphere in a desolate environment – the grey wall and the dark lighting, the simple shirts and dresses for the workers which are in extreme contrast to the stupendous costumes for the landlords, the cold stares and restricted movements by the landlords counter to the much freer movements by the workers, Bathilde taking off her glove and, rather than giving it to Giselle, dropping it on the floor, the group dances with the canes, the scene in act 2 that shows how Giselle dies in act 1, Myrtha towering over everyone else. Set against this, the emotional PDD in act 2 with its reunion and final goodbye, leaving Albrecht in utter isolation. A matching dark score that, for the PDD, includes elements of the original score so beautifully.

Among the massive commitment of all dancers on stage, Oscar Chacon stood out for me in his depiction of Hilarion and through his movements that reminded me of an elastic spring.

Ruth Little’s description in the programme book of the global shifts of the textile industry over the centuries and their impact on those involved extended the timelessness of the topics of love and forgiveness into other areas and made a performance in Manchester ever more poignant.

Standing ovation in most of the stalls. A few more curtain calls – including, specifically for the corps - would have allowed the audience to show their appreciation even more.

[Don Q Fan]

Happy to say I went to see Friday's performance of Giselle with Tamara Rojo, James Streeter and Oscar Chacon.  I wasn't disappointed.  In fact a second viewing was good because I could pick out even more nuances in the choreography.  The Rojo/Streeter lead was different to Cojacaru/Hernandez so that was interesting to see. Plus I am a huge James Streeter fan and thrilled he has been given a lead role!  I really liked Tamara's portrayal of Giselle not quite as soft as perhaps Alina's Giselle and I liked her clarity.  James Is a more gentle dancer and I noticed that where Isaac Hernandez did some huge cartwheel like jumps James did straight pirouettes so it is nice that the dancers have a little leeway to do what they feel comfortable with. I have never seen Oscar Chacon before but he was good as Hilarion (although not quite Cesar Corrales but who could compete with him?!) Begona Cao was again a wonderful Bathilde and Stina Quagebeur a fantastic Myrtha.  I loved seeing the "jellyfish" again it really is a very clever piece of choreography - I thought of it more as a rose bloom opening and closing but jellyfish will do!   I also very much liked the Wilis use of the sticks/needles to make rhythmic patterns.  

Friday's music was a tad quieter I felt (thankfully) and was conducted by Gerry Cornelius.  Some pieces are still going round in my head.  (The only thing spoiling the whole of the show were the 2 girls in front of me who munched noisily wrapped sweets and drank fizzy drinks ALL the way through - so selfish.)

After the show I had the pleasure to meet Akram Khan at stage door as well all the stars so my evening was complete!  I wish that ENB could do this on a cinema relay so everyone can get a chance to see it.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Don Q Fan