Giselle, Australian Ballet, Melbourne, Aug-Sept 2018

[jmb]

The drought is finally over. (I thought long and hard about using 'drought' because we have a very non-metaphorical drought, possibly the worst ever, that is bankrupting farmers, killing lifestock and starving wildlife, but I couldn't think of an appropriate alternative). So my metaphorical drought is over ... no live ballet since the beginning of May and even then, I've had to come to Melbourne for Giselle. This was my first live Giselle; I've seen many performances on DVD DVD, but never a live performance. And what a performance it was. David Hallberg (now TAB resident guest artist) gave us an interesting Albrecht, initially an aristocratic adolescent who has never come across the idea that actions have consequences. He starts with only seduction in mind, (hardly the first adolescent with this attitude). We see his increasing fascination with Leannne Stojmenov's sunny and open Giselle. At first confused and shy, she rapidly regains her confidence and sense of fun. Albrecht however is still mentally about 15. When Giselle shows him the necklace  Bathilde (Natash Kusan) has given her, we see his horrified recognition of the gift before he pushes the thought away. Giselle is here and her friends like him so nothing to worry about. Once his deception is revealed and Giselle goes mad with grief, we see his appauled recognition that this is the consequence of his actions, and that, in spite of his high state, he cannot rectify the situation. 

Act 2 opens with a fore-screen (sorry, I don't know the proper word) behind which is a terrified Hilarion (Andrew Killian). Unfortunately the moon on the fore-screen does not correspond to the moon on the backdrop, resulting in two moons in the sky. Well might Hillarion be terrified. 

But for me, given that I was focussed on Albrecht, rather than Giselle, the principle interest of Act 2 relates to whether, and how, Albrecht continues the moral dvelopment begun so catastrophically in Act 1. And here is my one niggle with the performance. I remember seeing a Youtube clip of Baryshnikov as Albrecht as he retreats, under Giselle's protection, to the sanctuary of the cross. As he does so, he looks at Giselle, a look mixing astonishment, relief and guilt in equal parts. Astute psychology. Of course in Act 2, Albrecht is primarily concerned with staying alive, there is little room for moral development, but Baryshnikov showed how to do it. I would have liked something similar this time. Finally, however,  Albrecht is left bereft, and all too aware of his responsibility. 

Great performances, Hallberg and Stojmenov especially. I loved the lightness that Stojmenov brought to Act 2, floating or flying across the stage and hovering protectively over Hallberg even as she was forced to urge him again and again to get up. Love and anguish, and then relief as the bell sounds, rapidly replaced by grief as she takes what she knows is the final farewell. 

The final conundrum relates to Giselle. Can you imagine her emerging again from her grave to harry other young men to their deaths? I can't. I am not even sure she was a real willie in the first place. But that's for another performance.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by jmb

[alison]

She wasn't, jmb.  Given the opportunity to take vengeance over her faithless lover, and become a wili, she instead chooses to forgive the undeserving man and save him from the wilis, which is why her spirit is able to return to her grave quiet, never to emerge again.

 

Quote

 I remember seeing a Youtube clip of Baryshnikov as Albrecht as he retreats, under Giselle's protection, to the sanctuary of the cross. As he does so, he looks at Giselle, a look mixing astonishment, relief and guilt in equal parts. Astute psychology.

 

That would have been in the 70s (The Turning Point?), or maybe even 80s?  I am starting to wonder whether the sidelining of religion, Christianity in particular, in the 21st century is having an effect on the understanding/interpretation of this ballet these days.   As you say, it's to the sanctuary of the cross that Albrecht retreats, not just that he's stepping back to her gravestone to get away from the wilis (and then ultimately he gets lured away from it, because otherwise you'd have a rather short and very dull second act!).  And Giselle doesn't tell Myrtha "if you want to get at him, you'll have to go through me" (well, maybe she does, too!), but it's telling that in stretching her arms wide she too is making the sign of the cross, and it's from that the Myrtha and the wilis recoil, not just her determination to protect Albrecht, which is how it sometimes appears these days.  I often miss that interplay of emotions in modern-day Albrechts myself.  I don't think my "top 3" Albrechts has changed since the beginning of the century, which is slightly worrying, really.

[jmb]

Thanks for this, Alison: lots to think about. But I have to disagree with you about the undeserving Albrecht. If that is all there is to him, then the ballet is much less interesting. Good woman, bad man. Albrecht is certainly initially undeserving, but he too is redeemed by love; the anguish he displays when he visits Giselle's grave is rooted in his recognition of his culpability in her madness and death. By the end of the ballet, he is no longer the heedless adolescent who knocked on Giselle's door.

I like your point about Giselle making the sign of the cross, and the wilis' reaction to it. That had completely escaped my notice. However, the cross raises the troubling question of Giselle's 'suicide'. Did she stab herself or didn't she? If she did, then why go to all the trouble of establishing that she has a weak heart? And if she didn't, why is she buried in a lonely grave in the forest rather than in the local cemetery? And if she did, and so is buried in a lonely grave in the forest,  then why is her grave marked with a cross? Please tell me that I am overthinking😊.

Edited September 3, 2018 by jmb

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, jmb said:

However, the cross raises the troubling question of Giselle's 'suicide'. Did she stab herself or didn't she? If she did, then why go to all the trouble of establishing that she has a weak heart? And if she didn't, why is she buried in a lonely grave in the forest rather than in the local cemetery? And if she did, and so is buried in a lonely grave in the forest,  then why is her grave marked with a cross? Please tell me that I am overthinking😊.

 

I think we've all had a go at overthinking this 🙂

[Sophoife]

I always thought she was considered a suicide because, knowing her weak heart, she yet continued to dance... Pretty uncompromising local priest, but. 

 

Hallberg was such a generous partner. It was Stojmenov's debut, too.

 

Originally we were supposed to have Super Surprise Guest Osipova with Hallberg, but she withdrew claiming injury...yet was still able to rehearse and then perform Pure Dance. Just tell us the truth, woman, that you bit off more than you could chew, and that the whole Pure Dance was you so Giselle had to go. We're understanding people.

 

But the young cast of Callum Linnane and Dimity Azoury was something way special. Wow.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Sophoife
Typo in because

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, Sophoife said:

I always thought she was considered a suicide because, knowing her weak heart, she yet continued to dance... Pretty uncompromising local priest, but. 

 

I can't recall hearing that as an explanation before; I think it's quite compelling.

[Jan McNulty]

2 hours ago, Sophoife said:

I always thought she was considered a suicide because, knowing her weak heart, she yet continued to dance... Pretty uncompromising local priest, but. 

 

 

I've not heard that before but what a great hypothesis - it works on so many levels for me.  Thanks!

[betterankles]

 

But the young cast of Callum Linnane and Dimity Azoury was something way special. Wow.

 Quote above

 

indeed it was - an ideal cast of Giselle and Albrecht - living roles they were born to dance!  

Ah the days of type casting so long gone in this ‘democratic’ age .  When the audience sees the real thing - they recognise it - but if it’s not offered, they don’t know the difference...