Royal Ballet's Giselle - Autumn 2021

[LinMM]

Oh that’s good MJW as will be Takada and Corrales on Wednesday and would love to know what you think of their performance so hope you better by then. It’s always a bit nerve wracking the few days before going to a performance in case one becomes ill....goodness knows what it’s like for the performers themselves!! 

I see Irmgard experienced Corrales performance in a similar way to myself although I didn’t quite connect with his despair at the end because I didn’t think his connection with Giselle as the spirit was quite there in Act 2 but it was their first attempt together ....I know I keep saying that! 
But Cesar always lights up the stage for me and I did think he contained his more showy style in Act 2 very well and loved him in Act one. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by LinMM

[MJW]

9 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Oh that’s good MJW as will be Takada and Corrales on Wednesday and would love to know what you think of their performance so hope you better by then. It’s always a bit nerve wracking the few days before going to a performance in case one becomes ill....goodness knows what it’s like for the performers themselves!! 

I see Irmgard experienced Corrales performance in a similar way to myself although I didn’t quite connect with his despair at the end because I didn’t think his connection with Giselle as the spirit was quite there in Act 2 but it was their first attempt together ....I know I keep saying that! 
But Cesar always lights up the stage for me and I did think he contained his more showy style in Act 2 very well and loved him in Act one. 

 

Thank you! They are certainly a cast to look forward to - I haven't seen that much of Corrales - I think the last time was in Manon.

[ClaireR]

This video popped up on my YouTube home page. It’s Sarah Lamb and Marcelino Sambe dancing extracts from Giselle and then interviewed alongside Kevin O’Hare at the Cambridge Union. https://youtu.be/Y_srNXcPfAM
 

I haven’t been to any of the performances, so it’s been wonderful reading about all of them, and seeing the pictures. This has been a really wonderful thread to keep up with. 

[Bluebird]

9 hours ago, Fonty said:

How many hours in advance does the digital cast sheet for tomorrow's performances go on the website?  I would quite like to print a copy before I go, as I found fiddling with my phone a bit irritating.  

 

Tomorrow's cast sheets are now on the ROH website.:

11.30am https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/giselle-by-marius-petipa/cast-list/48975

 

5pm https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/giselle-by-marius-petipa/cast-list/49088

[Lizbie1]

Nice to see that Annette Buvoli is good to dance Bathilde.

[RobR]

Julia Roscoe as Myrthe 

[bridiem]

I really enjoyed this afternoon's (morning's?!) performance. I hadn't seen Morera's Giselle before and I thought that both her dancing and her characterisation were really compelling, and the chemistry between her and Bonelli's Albrecht was entirely convincing. She was clearly not a young Giselle, which didn't matter with Albrecht (who was also no callow youth); in some ways the thought of an older Giselle being betrayed in this way was almost more moving. But I'm afraid I did find it a bit tricky that Berthe (Christina Arestis) looked younger than Giselle; it undermined the dynamic between them. Bonelli's Albrecht was really touching - he clearly really loved Giselle and just hadn't faced up to the reality of what he was doing; just before he kisses Bathilde's hand he looks in agony towards Giselle, already concerned for her and begging her forgiveness. And in Act II he is granted it by his gracious, loving Giselle. Although I've previously expressed a preference for a shorter set of entrechats, Bonelli was so brilliant this afternoon that I was completely won over - he actually seemed to be driven by a supernatural force as he positively bounced up and down and up and down, endlessly. His arms were by his side for most of them, but he raised them towards the end and I seriously thought he was about to take off into the auditorium. Fantastic (literally!) and made his final release from the power of the Wilis all the more momentous.

 

I also found David Donnelly's Hilarion very moving; his grief at Giselle's death matched that of Albrecht. 

 

And pleasantly appreciative/raucous audience, perhaps partly because of the strange start time! (The auditorium only opened 10 minutes before the scheduled curtain up, and the performance then started 10 minutes late. Maybe such an early start is problematic for the ROH?). 

[Jamesrhblack]

Just back to East Sussex and been musing on today’s performance which I found unexpectedly touching, even moving.

 

I love Giselle, which was the first ballet I ever saw at the ROH (Sibley’s London debut with MacLeary), and for all the criticism of the score think it ideally suited to the scenario (possibly because my maiden aunts on the Isle of Sheppey had an Ace of Clubs LP with Fonteyn on the cover that was played so endlessly in my childhood that I used to sing the music in my head when trying to sleep on the back seat whilst my parents drove back from visiting them).

 

I’ll be honest and say that I had essentially accepted a friend’s offer of a ticket out of sentiment for Laura Morera, who is a dancer I very much like. These things are personal, but in principal roles I’d found her disappointingly under-danced as both Lise and Swanilda (nothing was wrong, just not very remarkable), but sensational as Vetsera and as Manon in the Bedroom pas de debut on two RB Lockdown streams. I am also aware that the clock may be ticking on her career reading her remarkably frank interview on Ballet Association. Of course, in those MacMillan works, her partner was Federico Bonelli, and with no disrespect to Ryoichi Hirano, I was delighted when the change of cast was announced.

 

Pace Bridiem, I was surprised at how very youthful she looked (I was in Stalls Row N) but, more importantly, was entranced by her performance. I had expected that she would excel in the dramatic aspects but was completely taken aback by how very beautifully danced her performance was. Nothing was shirked (well, perhaps there was a sensible adaptation that worked beautifully in the pirouette turns during the Pas de seul) and her low arabesque line in Act 2 was so exquisite: it reminded me of the famous lithograph of Carlotta Grisi, whilst her timing at the end of the Valse before the Finale was absolute musical class. The coquetry, the tenderness, the sense of community (she watched the Act 1 Harvest celebrations with keen and admiring interest) were all utterly involving; the bewilderment, the anger of the Mad Scene; and the maturity of forgiveness (I’ll agree with Bridiem there) were touching even moving. I was astonished at her speed in the turns when released from the grave and at the height of her ballonée (was there a nod to Osipova’s “I’m dead, broken neck look” before the start of the section with the high devlopée - not too high - when commanded to dance by Myrtha) and her theatrical instincts meant that we always felt when Giselle, as a spirit, could not quite be physically embraced by Alberich. 

 

I’m writing at too much length: forgive my volubility.

 

In quicker summary, Bonelli seems like a man rejuvenated; genuinely taken with his Giselle; genuinely taken aback as circumstances move beyond his control; deeply moved and moving in his Act 2 exchanges. I think the audience enjoyed the full set of entrechats six more than I did, but I’m still musing over the poetry of the image at the end of the Act 2 Pas de deux and its beautiful segue. As always, he was a most adept parter, immediately adjusting the height of his jetés at Giselle’s entrance to accommodate hers.

 

Gina Storm-Jensen’s Myrtha seems to me to be work in progress, understandably as it’s her debut season. It was technically there, although I always regret the shortened version of her Coda that the RB production uses, and the characterisation became stronger once the worst of the technical challenges were surmounted. I still don’t understand why such a taxing role is now so rarely given to a principal, although apart from Kaneko, Magri and Nuñez I suppose none of the current roster might suit anyway. Does anyone know what has happened to Mendizabal (who I know is a First Soloist and like very much, but found oddly disappointing in the 2018 CInema / DVD).

 

I enjoyed David Donnelly’s Hilario, a more than youthfully credible rival for Giselle’s affections; loved Christina Arestis as Berthe (to be fair, I’d love her on stage whatever she did whatever the role and find her Mime scene one of the most fascinating moments of all); and was very happy to be there.

 

Was it a Giselle for the ages? Thinking recently at the RB for me, Collier’s farewell, Osipova’s first performance, no, However, the fact that I’ve written at some length brings home that it was a performance that impacted a lot (and not just because it was my first live ballet since 2 March 2020). 

 

[Fonty]

13 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

 

 

I’ll be honest and say that I had essentially accepted a friend’s offer of a ticket out of sentiment for Laura Morera, who is a dancer I very much like. These things are personal, but in principal roles I’d found her disappointingly under-danced as both Lise and Swanilda (nothing was wrong, just not very remarkable),

 

 
I am not sure what do you mean by under danced, @Jamesrhblack?  I saw Morera in Coppelia and really enjoyed her performance.  

[Jamesrhblack]

It’s a personal impression. As Lise, her performance failed to project to me (admittedly, I was quite a long way away in the Balcony Stalls). As Swanilda, I enjoyed her acting performance, but found that in the Act 3 pas de deux her dancing didn’t have the impact I might have anticipated for such a climatic show piece.

 

As I hope I’ve made clear in my post above, I admire Laura Morera greatly as an artist and was very touched by her performance today.

[Meetmeatthebarre]

For me, Laura's strength is being able to portray a depth and humanity that would not feel out of place in the "real" and not just ballet world. There are many portrayals of Giselle I enjoy, but I am always aware that it is a fairy tale; Laura has the ability to make Giselle seem as realistic and grounded as an Onegin or Manon. Looking forward to seeing her on closing night. 

[Sim]

Have just come out of the Hayward/Campbell Giselle.  Beautiful and heart-rending performance.  Brought a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. 😢❤️

[Tony Newcombe]

31 minutes ago, Sim said:

Have just come out of the Hayward/Campbell Giselle.  Beautiful and heart-rending performance.  Brought a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. 😢❤️

Wonderful illusion of weightlessness in second act pas de deux 

[ninamargaret]

Couldn't agree more with thefts previous posters. Beautiful performances from Hayward/Campbell and the corps were quite simply breathtaking!

[Jamesrhblack]

2 hours ago, Meetmeatthebarre said:

For me, Laura's strength is being able to portray a depth and humanity that would not feel out of place in the "real" and not just ballet world. There are many portrayals of Giselle I enjoy, but I am always aware that it is a fairy tale; Laura has the ability to make Giselle seem as realistic and grounded as an Onegin or Manon. Looking forward to seeing her on closing night. 

Interesting. I’ve always felt Giselle one of the more naturalistic ballets, with the Willis legend being not only part of German folklore (as opposed to fairytale) and Romanticism (with the ideal of the Sylphide turned on its head), but also in its themes of infatuation, love, betrayal and forgiveness, especially with Act 1 being set within a real world for whom the fantasy (which becomes a living nightmare) is true.

[Dawnstar]

It's probably a good thing that today's matinee is (definitely, I promise this time!) the last Giselle I'm attending this run because I hit R&J levels of weeping at the end of Act 1 & cried for yhe first time in Act 2. It was absolutely worth 2 and a half days of haunting the ROH website for a return. I thought Morera & Bonelli were terrific together. Their chemistry & acting was wonderful. There were numerous moments that with some of the other casts I've seen felt like they were doing something because that's the choreography that today felt like they were doing something because that's what the characters would do. I hope that makes sense; it's hard to put into words but so many things just felt right.

 

I finally understand all the "long" entrechats six discussion. Bonelli did 31 by my count. I don't think I really prefer one way or the other but I'm glad to have seen the "long" version as I couldn't visualise it. I hope someone got a video of Bonelli's solo curtain call because he came on with this big jump!

 

I'm very pleased to have seen Gina Storm-Jensen as Myrtha. I can see that's she not yet quite as good technically as Magri & Nunez but I thought she gave a very good interpretation. I particularly liked a moment at the end of one of the Giselle/Albrecht sections where she looked for a moment like she wished she could relent before she had to refuse again. I was waiting outside the stage door afterwards & saw her inside still in full costume & make-up chatting to friends & family. As her parents exited I asked if they thought it'd be okay if I nipped in to thank her. They said to go ahead so I was able to see that amazing Myrtha make-up close to!

 

I really liked David Donnelly as Hilarion, I thought his acting was very good.

 

The above as written on my train home before the journey turned into an absolute nightmare that took just under 4 hours rather than the 50 minutes it should have! Posted it because I don't want to lose everything but my comments don't take into account what other people may have said between 3.45pm & now. About to go back & read everyone else's doubtless much better comments!

Edited November 27, 2021 by Dawnstar

[capybara]

10 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

It. About to go back & read everyone else's doubtless much better comments!

 

I have loved reading your comments, Dawnstar. It is really good to have the perspective of someone who is relatively new to ballet-watching.

Bonelli has given us that curtain call jump at all his performances this season!!!

[Dawnstar]

5 hours ago, bridiem said:

I also found David Donnelly's Hilarion very moving; his grief at Giselle's death matched that of Albrecht.

 

Oh yes, I was going to say that too, before Great Northern interrupted my flow of thought! Today at the end of Act 1 I was crying not only because of Albrecht's reaction (which I also did with Campbell on Monday) but, for the first time, at Hilarion's reaction too.

[Dawnstar]

I don't usually bother to post photos on here, because @Rob S's are so, so much better than anything I can take, but as he wasn't at today's performance here are a few of my not-very-good-but-hopefully-better-than-nothing ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamesrhblack]

Lovely photos Dawnstar. Thank you.

[alison]

1 hour ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Interesting. I’ve always felt Giselle one of the more naturalistic ballets, with the Willis legend being not only part of German folklore (as opposed to fairytale) and Romanticism (with the ideal of the Sylphide turned on its head), but also in its themes of infatuation, love, betrayal and forgiveness, especially with Act 1 being set within a real world for whom the fantasy (which becomes a living nightmare) is true.

 

German Romanticism did tend to juxtapose the naturalistic and the supernatural, from what I remember.

 

Dawnstar, I hope you've recovered from what was obviously a nightmare journey home

 

Incidentally, when I printed off my cast sheets for today last night I noticed that Storm-Jensen was scheduled in the evening performance to dance whichever one of Moyna and Zulme it is she dances, but she was replaced.  I hope she's being rested.

 

And that in turn reminds me just how short the company appears to be at the moment on "senior Wilis".  I suppose Kaneko and O'Sullivan are no longer available, having been promoted to Principal, but didn't Yuhui Choe use to dance Moyna/Zulme?  Tierney Heap's presumably not sufficiently recovered to do Myrtha as yet.  More junior dancers may of course be required in the corps.

[alison]

5 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

These things are personal, but in principal roles I’d found her disappointingly under-danced as both Lise

 

Now, that really surprises me, from what I remember of her Lise.

[JohnS]

Delighted with today’s double Giselle and so pleased I travelled down yesterday or I’d have missed both performances as I don’t think there’ve been any trains from Cumbria that would have made even the 5pm performance.
 

I thought Laura Morera/Federico Bonelli gave a compelling performance. They seem so at ease, technically so accomplished, never rushed. They know the power of stillness. I think Laura a consummate dancer/actress. Whilst I agree with Jamesrhblack who singled out Mayerling and Manon, I’d add Anastasia but I also found her Fille, Coppelia and Giselle very moving. I enjoyed the PD6 (led by Yuhui Choe and Luca Acri) and all the Wilis but was not that struck by Hilarion who I thought rather pedestrian (although I see others were impressed).

 

The evening with Francesca Hayward/Alex Campbell was yet another fabulous performance. This time I was completely taken with Act 2 where I thought they sustained magnificently a slower tempo and the lifts too were held for longer than on Monday but not to a point of showmanship/over-indulgence. 
 

I sometimes wonder if my perception depends on where I’m sitting. I very much like H sides in the Orchestra Stalls as there’s a fabulous view and a closeness to the stage and I sat there for Monday and today’s matinee. I’d managed to get a Grand Tier return for tonight’s performance and that more elevated view works wonderfully for the whole stage and the Corps. But there is a greater distance from the stage and it may be that Act 2 works better from having a broader perspective. I know there’s a great deal of aching intimacy in Act 2 but I think that is much easier to appreciate from distance than the very human quick reactions, change of mood in Act 1 where it’s good to be close to the stage.
 

Having (probably) come to the end of my Giselle performances, I think I’ve been most moved by Francesca Hayward/Alex Campbell (for me their Monday’s Act 1 and today’s Act 2 stand alongside Carlos Kleiber conducting Otello and Bernard Haitink’s Meistersinger in my ROH visits). But today’s Laura Morera/Federico Bonelli matinee was very special. I say probably my last performance but I guess I’ll be keeping an eye on return tickets in case there’s something for their second performance which brings this run to a fitting close and I don’t suppose we’ll have opportunities to see Royal Ballet Giselles for perhaps 3 years. It’s been fabulous to see so many different casts and I feel thoroughly spoiled.

 

 

[Dawnstar]

5 minutes ago, alison said:

And that in turn reminds me just how short the company appears to be at the moment on "senior Wilis".  I suppose Kaneko and O'Sullivan are no longer available, having been promoted to Principal, but didn't Yuhui Choe use to dance Moyna/Zulme?  Tierney Heap's presumably not sufficiently recovered to do Myrtha as yet.  More junior dancers may of course be required in the corps.

 

As the insight livestream had Calvert as Moyna, maybe she's missed performances in that role as well as the Myrthas she's missed. Did Mendizabel do Moyna/Zulme as well as Myrtha previously? If so then that'd be another leading Wili short. Didn't Kaneko dance Myrtha in the last run? I seem to remember reading an interview with her a while ago where she mentioned it. I wonder why she's not doing it this time? I can understand not Moyna/Zulme now she's a Principal but that wouldn't stop her doing Myrtha, given Nunez & Magri are doing it. In fact Magri's going to have done nearly half the performances at this rate!

[Jamesrhblack]

15 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Now, that really surprises me, from what I remember of her Lise.

As I wrote, “these things are personal.” I remember being surprised at the time and recall when writing about Coppélia something along the lines of that the third act pas de deux reinforced why she hasn’t been seen much in “tutu” roles.

 

Nevertheless, she’s a dance actress who I admire very much (pace John S, I didn’t see her in Anastasia but should have cited Winter’s Tale) and was really very touched by her performance today which moved and surprised me in ways I hadn’t expected, including dance as opposed to just dramatic-wise.

[Jamesrhblack]

On 25/11/2021 at 23:56, Irmgard said:

Although I have been the guardian of Mary Skeaping’s production of “Giselle” since her death in 1984, the first performance I saw of “Giselle” when I was a child was Peter Wright’s production for the National Ballet of Canada (with Lynn Seymour guesting) in the late 1960s. There were a number of differences from the current Royal Ballet version but, even then, I remember not being enamoured with the score, something which did not happen for me until I saw a performance by English National Ballet and finally heard Adolphe Adam’s original orchestration and in the correct order. A few years ago, the Royal Ballet approached ENB for access to this orchestration which Skeaping found in the Paris Opéra archives in the 1950s and used for her productions thereafter, reinstating passages not heard since the 19^th century.  However, as Wright’s version does not follow the order of pieces in Adam’s score and cuts a number of them, there are still some jarring key changes, awkward transitions between pieces and some recently composed bridging passages, which makes it uncomfortable for me to listen to at times.  At the performance I attended on 19 November, this was not helped by the rather earthbound reading of the score by conductor Boris Gruzin, especially in Act 2 (which also contained some rather vulgar sounds by the horns) when the dancers need to be propelled by the music rather than held back by it.

 

As for Wright’s production, there is little in it to suggest the ballet’s Romantic origins, not just in the lack of Romantic style in the dancing (in particular, I felt the central pas de deux in his pas de six did not have the required delicacy for a Romantic piece) but also in the way the characters are drawn.  As the story is essentially about the collision of two worlds, the nobility and the peasantry, I would expect to see some delineation between the two and yet some of the male peasants were far more noble in bearing than Courland and the other male courtiers, including Wilfred who, as Albrecht’s squire, is meant to be from a minor aristocratic family.   Gina Storm-Jensen had the correct bearing for Bathilde but Wright’s conception of her is far removed from the gracious young lady envisaged by Gautier who loved the character so much that he wrote a poem about her! Having her as a bored, rather unpleasant female who is not at all interested in Giselle instead of intrigued by her, makes her gift of a necklace to Giselle rather puzzling and, because Wright chops up the scene of their first encounter, it loses its dramatic cohesion.  I also found that this lack of dramatic cohesion hampered the establishment of the relationship between Giselle and Albrecht, who spend very little time together in Act I.  Indeed, immediately after Giselle is crowned queen of the vintage, she and Albrecht have to sit on opposite sides of the stage for what seemed like an eternity, only getting to dance with each other again at the end of the Galop, immediately before the mad scene. 

 

I have to say that I missed Skeaping’s many magical touches in Act 2, especially for Myrtha.  I like Annette Buvoli very much as a dancer (her lovely “Dying Swan” for Distdancing on a floating stage in Regent’s Canal during the summer of 2020 was a lockdown highlight for me), but I felt she was not given enough scope to establish Myrtha as a truly majestic, powerful character, not least because her opening solo was so short in comparison with the tour de force version for Skeaping’s Myrtha.

 

Akane Takada was a very pretty Giselle and danced with delicacy and charm in Act 1, if not quite managing to be truly ethereal in Act 2 (not helped by Gruzin’s erratic tempi) but, for me, she has yet to explore the emotional depths of Giselle’s character.  This was a shame because her Albrecht was the very passionate César Corrales.  In 2017, at the tender age of twenty, he gave performances for English National Ballet of such emotional intensity and, of course, spectacular dancing that he literally took my breath away every time. From his initial interaction with Wilfred, it is clear that Wright sees Albrecht purely as a cad who is only toying with Giselle’s affections to begin with.  As expected, Corrales demonstrated this admirably, sweeping Giselle off her feet with his charm and ardent attentions, only realising the consequences of his actions as Giselle’s grasp on reality slips away.  His grief is then overwhelming, as he violently pushes away anyone who tries to prevent him reaching her lifeless body.  In Act 2, his Albrecht has acquired a new maturity and dignity in his remorse as he searches for Giselle’s grave.  What I particularly loved about Corrales was the realism he brought to the character, especially once he has been captured by Myrtha and the Wilis and is being forced to dance.  With each solo, while never compromising the power and purity of his technique, his increasing anguish and exhaustion were almost palpable, and he appeared to be so broken by each fall to the ground that it was almost unthinkable that he would be able to get up again.  When Giselle has returned to her grave and Albrecht is left alone, Corrales’s quiet despair was heartbreaking.  Although I find the production as a whole disappointing, I was happy to be there to have my breath taken away yet again by Corrales’s mesmerising performance.

A most interesting post.

 

On a musical question, does the Bonynge Monte-Carlo recording reflect the musical score for Mary Skeaping’s production? I’ve always wondered how the Fugue for the Willis works dramatically and there are other extended / altered passages from what is played at the ROH including an extended version of Myrthe’s Coda.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Jamesrhblack

[Sim]

29 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

As the insight livestream had Calvert as Moyna, maybe she's missed performances in that role as well as the Myrthas she's missed. Did Mendizabel do Moyna/Zulme as well as Myrtha previously? If so then that'd be another leading Wili short. Didn't Kaneko dance Myrtha in the last run? I seem to remember reading an interview with her a while ago where she mentioned it. I wonder why she's not doing it this time? I can understand not Moyna/Zulme now she's a Principal but that wouldn't stop her doing Myrtha, given Nunez & Magri are doing it. In fact Magri's going to have done nearly half the performances at this rate!

Yes, Fumi did do it last run, so she knows the role and in theory she could have stepped in.  I would have loved to see her again in the role.  I would also have liked to see Julia Roscoe get another performance, but I guess she is needed as a Wili.  Yes, Itziar Mendizabal also danced the role last time.  

[Scheherezade]

4 hours ago, JohnS said:

I think I’ve been most moved by Francesca Hayward/Alex Campbell (for me their Monday’s Act 1 and today’s Act 2 stand alongside Carlos Kleiber conducting Otello and Bernard Haitink’s Meistersinger

Wow! Praise indeed!

[maryrosesatonapin]

Last night I went to the ROH expecting great things.  I always enjoy watching Francesca Hayward, but I found her first act strangely muted although she danced very prettily.  Alex Campbell performed well as always but had too much of a ‘boy next door’ look with very little of the aristocrat about him.  Maybe I had been spoiled by the Osipova/Clarke performance which was still fresh in my mind – both were so stunning. Kevin Emerton’s Hilarion was pedestrian but Joonhyuk Jun stood out in the pas de six.
 

However in the second act I was completely bewitched by Hayward.  She was unbelievably ethereal, tender and moving, her technique exquisite and her every nuance laden with feeling. (Yes, there were tears from both myself and my companion.)  The whole second act was enthralling in fact – the corps better than I have ever seen them before, Magri whom I have admired as Myrthe before now surpassing even her own high standards, Campbell faultless in his dancing and touching in his expression of tragedy.
 

But it is Hayward whose Giselle will haunt me for a long time to come.  What a dancer she is.

[Anna C]

10 hours ago, alison said:

And that in turn reminds me just how short the company appears to be at the moment on "senior Wilis".  I suppose Kaneko and O'Sullivan are no longer available, having been promoted to Principal, but didn't Yuhui Choe use to dance Moyna/Zulme?  Tierney Heap's presumably not sufficiently recovered to do Myrtha as yet.  More junior dancers may of course be required in the corps.

 

Apologies if I’ve missed it but has Romany Pajdak not danced Moyna or Zulme this run?  I can imagine her being rather wonderful.

[LinMM]

Lovely piccies Dawnstar ....were they taken with a phone or proper camera? Love the one of Gina particularly. 
 

It does seem with Giselle that dancers seem to be slightly better at one Act or the other and maybe it even depends on each performance how that balance goes. 
Osipova was amazing in producing such a contrast between the two Acts. So much alive in Act one and such an other worldly spirit in Act 2. But ultimately it’s the partnership between Giselle and Albrecht which can make a difference as to whether you are finally moved or not. 
 

Yes as Fumi Kaneko was not cast in the main role this time I do wonder why she wasn’t given a chance to dance Myrthe. 
Perhaps she was harbouring some minor injury at the time of casting? Also I think it would have been nice for Julia Roscoe to have been given at least one more performance though realise Principals have to be given priority especially when so good in the role!! 
 

I hope it’s not a full three years before Giselle is performed again 😢 hopefully only two years or so. 
 

[theorist]

4 hours ago, Anna C said:

 

Apologies if I’ve missed it but has Romany Pajdak not danced Moyna or Zulme this run?  I can imagine her being rather wonderful.

She is listed as Moyna on the cast sheet for the Schools Matinee, but not subsequently as far as I can see.

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

Lovely piccies Dawnstar ....were they taken with a phone or proper camera? Love the one of Gina particularly.

 

Thanks. A proper camera, but a compact one. I'd love to be able to afford one of those big SLR cameras to get really good photos but then I wouldn't be able to afford all my theatre tickets!