ENB Mary Skeaping Giselle January 2024

[Bruce Wall]

11 hours ago, Irmgard said:

Albrecht's solos in Act 2 are not set in stone by Mary Skeaping, as each dancer is allowed some freedom, as long as they remain in the Romantic style and do not perform the 32 entrechats six, which Skeaping abhored.  The series of 32 were first introduced into the UK by Nureyev and are certainly not part of the Sergueyev staging for the Camargo Society or Sadler's Wells Ballet.

 

 

 

How very interesting, Irmgard.  I vividly remember Corrales (then a ENB company member) doing the entrechats six in his second performance in this production with the truly entrancing Eliza Badanes.  So sad that we so rarely get a chance to see her here - she is such an exquisite dancer - and, lest we forget, RBS trained - but I have a feeling such days have well and truly passed now.  

[Emeralds]

Thank you @Fonty for the detailed review- I'll save my novella (haha) for later as am busy but I agree with you on so many observations from last night. Eg: Emily Suzuki's accomplished Myrtha- yes! Her debut- and in fact a bit premature at that, as it was originally meant to be Choi, then Wood, and she had to go on earlier than scheduled. She got the balance of ethereal but powerful beautifully right, and no problems keeping in time with the music- light jumps and allegro spot on. 

 

Enjoyed Khaniukova's emphasis on the fragility of Giselle in contrast with some modern day interpretations where the triple pirouettes (am sure those didn't exist with the less robust pointe shoes in Carlotta Grisi's day) and pyrotechnics of the Act 1 and other solos look like Giselle is a seasoned ballet competition champion! Also loved Arrieta's masterful partnering of Khaniukova where they both made Giselle look so light as though she will float away any moment. 

 

Arrieta's interpretation starts off low key but builds up strongly and his grief at Giselle's death rivals Lady Capulet's.  But the big wow is his Act 2 solo: it's like Muntagirov and Nijinsky and Baryshnikov were all on stage in the same person at the same time. It's easier to discern his elevation on that huge cavernous stage from the lower tiers but oh my - what elevation, what line and that masterful control. (So many moments where you think he might not land without stumbling from those fast and difficult turns but yet he does....and on one knee!) If anyone hasn't yet bought a ticket to the Khaniukova/Arrieta cast, do go! The solo and his beautiful double tours in the "dance to almost death" coda alone are worth the price of a ticket. 

Edited January 13 by Emeralds

[LinMM]

Will be interested in anybody who managed to get to this afternoons matinee on what they thought of Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw in main roles. 
Yes I’ve been more drawn to Arrieta in the last couple of years as he has such a lovely classical line will be interesting to see if he can now develop more characterisation in main roles. 

 

Edited January 13 by LinMM

[Emeralds]

@Bruce Wall, I think @Roberta has the answer to your question. (Thank you Roberta). If you scroll back to her post you can see where Cesar admits he wasn't supposed to have done the entrechats! He didn't even do them in rehearsal. I'll see if I  can find the quote...

 

Ah, here it is....(slightly shortened by me) 

19 hours ago, Roberta said:

 

It's quite some time ago I last saw this version of Giselle, however the entrechats six, as far as I recall, are not part of Skeaping's choreography. They have been danced, though unscheduled, by Cesar Corrales. 

 

He then spoke about his own approach to entering the stage on his first performance in the role.   “Normally Albrechts do the entrechats six, but not in that version, so I had never rehearsed them . But I just love those ‘sixes’ so much that I said to myself  ‘I have to do this tonight.’, which is a most dangerous thing, which is something you should not do at all. I never prepared for it. People work for those famous entrechats for weeks and weeks to get the stamina for it. I decided to run in, get into the centre and everyone is looking ‘What is he doing, what is about to happen’ and I could imagine Irek saying to me ‘oh my god, what has he done?’” Linda said: “I saw you do that, that was a bit naughty but you brought it off, didn’t you?” “Luckily I pulled it off,” Cesar agreed. “I just managed to get to the end without literally having a heart attack but they were quite impressed. No-one was super angry or anything. But they told me ‘you could have hurt yourself pretty badly, especially when you don’t practice it. Your body needs to have the stamina for it.’”           

https://www.tlbc.org.uk/resources/135-in-conversation-with-cesar-corrales

 

There's an assumption that the six was an introduction by Nureyev, see John Percival's biography, as an alternative to 'traditional' brisées  though the Nureyev 32 six may only have been an introduction to the Royal Ballet version and may have been performed elsewhere prior to that.  I need to find my John Percival and double check what it says.  Serge Lifar is also credited with the entrechats in the 1930s.  Ratmansky doesn't have either to the best of my recall, and it's better for the omission. I dislike the 32 six as the audience tend to treat them as some huge feat and clap along in time. Nureyev loved that. He's quoted as saying he did 24 and if the audience was applauding he'd carry on to 32. It's really not required in Giselle, and breaks the mood. 

 

There's further discussion on an old Ballet Alert thread which has further information, however don't treat any of this as set in stone either.  the solo was introduced by Lifar in the 1930s (when he danced it at the Paris Opera with Spessivtseva). He performed the apparently endless series of entrechats. 

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/3324-question-6-entrechats-or-brises/

 

A quick skim through Cyril Beaumont and there's no mention of 32 six being part of the choreography as he describes it, 1944 revised 1945. Nor does he say anything about numerous exhausting brisées. He's very sniffy about Lifar and his overacting, so I suspect had they been performed by him he'd have sniffed at those as far too vulgarly crowd pleasing. 

 

 

[Scheherezade]

I found last night’s naturalistic Act 1 portrayal of Giselle and Albrecht particularly moving, something that, for me, rarely comes across in the more histrionic RB mad scene. Khaniukova was the absolute embodiment of a fragile, innocent (and very young) girl in thrall to an all-consuming first love and, when coupled with the charm of Arrietta’s attentive and concerned Albrecht, the horror that ensued at the end of the act was all the more heartbreaking. 
 

As regards the lighting, I am in the camp that found it satisfyingly atmospheric. I didn’t have problems seeing what was going on, despite being in the balcony, although I was in the front row so perhaps that made a difference. Oh, and I’m happy to report that the bells sounded loud and clear from where I was sitting this time round. 
 

I agree with the plaudits for Emily Suzuki, Ivana Bueno and Francesca Velicu, all of whom are realising the promise shown over the previous few seasons and I also applaud the clarity of Henry Dowden’s dramatic skills as Hilarion. 
 

I do get the first night comments about being less moved overall, and perhaps this is due to the very strong dramatic impact of the RB Act 2 as opposed to the more understated romanticism of the Skeaping Giselle. 
 

Whilst always happy to see Khaniukova, I was, like others, disappointed not to see Frola, particularly since Arrieta, whilst always technically accomplished, has previously disappointed me on the dramatic front, but I have to say that last night I found his Albrecht very convincing.

 

On a more mundane level, I was also perplexed by the laughter from some parts of the audience at the start of Act 2. Otherwise, there was the odd whiff of popcorn near the start of Act 1 and some sustained and ear-splitting whoops from immediately behind me during the curtain calls but nothing of particular concern. 

[Fonty]

43 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

As regards the lighting, I am in the camp that found it satisfyingly atmospheric. I didn’t have problems seeing what was going on, despite being in the balcony, although I was in the front row so perhaps that made a difference. Oh, and I’m happy to report that the bells sounded loud and clear from where I was sitting this time round. 

 

Yes, quite possibly it was our seats.  We were right over on the right hand side of the auditorium.  I also had to lean forward a bit to see the right hand side of the stage.  We did hear the bells perfectly though.

 

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Thank you @Fonty for the detailed review- I'll save my novella (haha) for later as am busy

 

Sorry, was I being a bit long winded?  I am a very quick typist, and thoughts just pour out. 

Edited January 13 by Fonty

[alison]

I don't remember you being remotely long-winded, Fonty.

[Emeralds]

No, you are completely fine, @Fonty- it's me that's far too longwinded when the artists and creators are so good that I can't stop nattering! I could write 5 pages just on the designs for this production, but will spare the moderators (and the planet). 😄 

[Candleque]

Thanks for all the reviews above. I love Giselle and was delighted to get to see opening night. Have been a fan girl of Aitor Arrieta since Emerging Dancer 2017. I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version? (I was holding my breathe for it and it didn't happen lol.)

Don't have a good memory of Berthe's mime in other versions. If I didn't already know the story, I would not really understand what she is on about. 

 

To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny. They don't bother me. And I felt lots of love and appreciation in the audience for the dancers.

Want to give a shout out to debutantes Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick for a fab Peasant pas de deux. Wish I could see his Albrecht.

I am truly grateful to be booked for two more casts. Thanks to reasonable prices to begin with, and ENB allowing great offers on the public discount sites, I get to see Giselle three times in top tier seats, for less £££ than one stalls seat in the ROH. Bravo ENB.

[alison]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

@FontyI could write 5 pages just on the designs for this production, but will spare the moderators (and the planet). 😄 

 

👍 😀

[CCL]

35 minutes ago, Candleque said:

 

To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny

I hope so Candleque! I did wonder why the titters here - and the titters when Giselle’s veil is removed on her first appearance as a wili…

4 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Arrieta's interpretation starts off low key but builds up strongly and his grief at Giselle's death rivals Lady Capulet's.  But the big wow is his Act 2 solo: it's like Muntagirov and Nijinsky and Baryshnikov were all on stage in the same person at the same time

Nicely put, Emeralds. I was really impressed with his Act 2 solo. 

[capybara]

No quite ready to set down thoughts about the performance (my first one was this afternoon) but, in the meantime, congratulations to ENB for the Giselle programme. 

It’s packed full of interesting and helpful production-related information, including some lovely photos from previous runs.

AND it’s a handy size for popping into a bag.

[Shade]

56 minutes ago, Candleque said:

Thanks for all the reviews above. I love Giselle and was delighted to get to see opening night. Have been a fan girl of Aitor Arrieta since Emerging Dancer 2017. I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version? (I was holding my breathe for it and it didn't happen lol.)

Don't have a good memory of Berthe's mime in other versions. If I didn't already know the story, I would not really understand what she is on about. 

 

To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny. They don't bother me. And I felt lots of love and appreciation in the audience for the dancers.

Want to give a shout out to debutantes Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick for a fab Peasant pas de deux. Wish I could see his Albrecht.

I am truly grateful to be booked for two more casts. Thanks to reasonable prices to begin with, and ENB allowing great offers on the public discount sites, I get to see Giselle three times in top tier seats, for less £££ than one stalls seat in the ROH. Bravo ENB.

I know the lift you mean but was that a later Soviet addition?

[Sim]

39 minutes ago, Shade said:

I know the lift you mean but was that a later Soviet addition?

It is referred to as 'the Bolshoi lift'.  Other versions don't do it either, and I love that the RB does (I can't remember if BRB do).  It really gives the illusion of Giselle's spirit hovering above Albrecht.  I love it!

[Roberta]

I'm assuming people know the late Mary Skeaping's history as dancer (she danced with Pavlova) then noted dance historian & reconstructer? Also that she used historical sources to guide her choreography for GIselle for the then London Festival Ballet? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Skeaping  Enjoy it for what it is is my suggestion. Though obviously it is not a totally authentic reconstruction of the ballet as it was at its premiere it is certainly not one which incorporates all the later lifts and show off steps for audience applause. The perfume of Romanticism is a glory in its own right. 

 

https://www.ballet.org.uk/blog-detail/mary-skeapings-research-into-recreating-giselle/

 

@Irmgard Berry was MIss Skeaping's assistant / collaborator.  I'm so grateful for the insights posted here, thank you so much.  Buy the programme!

 

Anyone in New York, go listen.  https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4c6c7540-c325-0133-5faa-60f81dd2b63c

 

 

[Dawnstar]

I have been ditering since last night about whether or not to post any curtain call photos as mine did not come out that well - while my eyes didn't have a problem with the Act II lighting my camera evidently did! - but as no-one else has posted any then here are some but please excuse the less than perfect focus, especially of some moving arms. Only Suzuki & Dowden got given flowers so presumably ENB is only presenting them to those making role debuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roberta]

2 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I have been ditering since last night about whether or not to post any curtain call photos as mine did not come out that well - while my eyes didn't have a problem with the Act II lighting my camera evidently did! - but as no-one else has posted any then here are some but please excuse the less than perfect focus, especially of some moving arms. Only Suzuki & Dowden got given flowers so presumably ENB is only presenting them to those making role debuts.

 Lovely and greatly appreciated. Thank you @Dawnstar. 

[LinMM]

I do think the “hover lift” is highly romantic though if performed with  enough sensitivity! 
 

Great piccies Dawnstar! 

[Roberta]

4 minutes ago, LinMM said:

I do think the “hover lift” is highly romantic though if performed with  enough sensitivity! 

 

Romantic ballet isn't romantic ballet though. Sadly we don't have lifting and flying machinery utilised nowadays to really make the Wilis fly!  Gaslight, flitting  and flying phantoms, it must have been quite terrifying.   https://www.ballet.org.uk/blog-detail/mary-skeapings-research-into-recreating-giselle/

 

 

[CHazell2]

I hate the hover lift, so showy. I prefer the vertical lift as it is more authentic. 

 

Are the Giselles doing the diagonal after their Act One solos this time around or the pique turns? As when I saw it in 2017, they were doing the piques, and I just wondered if they were doing the Diagonal again

[CCL]

Lovely pictures Dawnstar, many thanks for sharing. I’m glad you made it to the performance and hope you enjoyed it.

[Dawnstar]

40 minutes ago, CCL said:

Lovely pictures Dawnstar, many thanks for sharing. I’m glad you made it to the performance and hope you enjoyed it.

 

Thanks. My brain, eyes & ears enjoyed it. If only I could have left my body at home!

[Irmgard]

4 hours ago, CHazell2 said:

I hate the hover lift, so showy. I prefer the vertical lift as it is more authentic. 

 

Are the Giselles doing the diagonal after their Act One solos this time around or the pique turns? As when I saw it in 2017, they were doing the piques, and I just wondered if they were doing the Diagonal again

 It is up to each Giselle to decide which version she does.  Shiori Kase will be doing the diagonal.

[Irmgard]

6 hours ago, Candleque said:

Thanks for all the reviews above. I love Giselle and was delighted to get to see opening night. Have been a fan girl of Aitor Arrieta since Emerging Dancer 2017. I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version? (I was holding my breathe for it and it didn't happen lol.)

Don't have a good memory of Berthe's mime in other versions. If I didn't already know the story, I would not really understand what she is on about. 

 

To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny. They don't bother me. And I felt lots of love and appreciation in the audience for the dancers.

Want to give a shout out to debutantes Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick for a fab Peasant pas de deux. Wish I could see his Albrecht.

I am truly grateful to be booked for two more casts. Thanks to reasonable prices to begin with, and ENB allowing great offers on the public discount sites, I get to see Giselle three times in top tier seats, for less £££ than one stalls seat in the ROH. Bravo ENB.

The angel lift was introduced to the west by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1956, three years after Mary Skeaping's initial production of "Giselle" for the Royal Swedish Ballet and Ballet Alicia Alonso.  It is a 20th century invention and therefore had no place in her recreation of the Romantic era.  Instead, she  uses a more delicate lift.  This can also be seen in the archive film of Markova and Dolin dancing in his production for the newly formed London Festival Ballet.

[Emeralds]

Lovely souvenir programme, @Irmgard! Thank you for including the glorious photos of past (and a few present) Giselles and Albrechts, including Crystal Costa, Laurretta Summerscales, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Jurgita Dronina, Fernanda Oliveira, Erina Takahashi, Yosvani Ramos, Daniel Kraus, Xander Parish, etc etc. The mime explanations are very good for many of the newcomers to ballet in the audience and I'll show it to some newbies I know too. Great job! 👍 

[alison]

7 hours ago, Candleque said:

I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version?

 

I'm pretty certain I've seen it omitted in the odd Royal Ballet performance in favour of something ... less horizontal ... too.  I'd suspected it was a Bolshoi insertion.  I think I may actually prefer the Skeaping approach.

 

BTW, any reports on today's casts?

[MAB]

It may be called the Bolshoi Lift. nut mot all Bolshoi dancers perform it.

 

I love that the Skeaping version doesn't have Albrecht carrying Giselle back to her grave,

 

 

 

[LinMM]

It’s not my favourite lift in Giselle but I do like it if not made too obvious. 
My favourite lifts are the ones where Giselle is sort of lifted overhead almost on a diagonal from one side of stage to the other so sort of wafted along. Campbell and Hayward so memorable in their Giselle …they made time stand still. I’ve seen this before but think that tends to come more from special partnerships. 

[San Perregrino]

10 hours ago, alison said:

BTW, any reports on today's casts?

This particular version of Giselle is new to me and highly anticipated. Yesterday’s matinee Act 2 left me emotional for the right reasons. Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw were outstanding as Giselle & Albrecht. Sangeun Lee became the ghost of Giselle, floating as she danced on stage like an ethereal spirit yet the mettle of her determination to save Albrecht from beyond the grave was rock solid. Gareth Haw’s Albrecht was distraught in his grief as he was forced to dance to exhaustion and the brink of death. 
Precious Adams was a fierce not to be argued with nor swayed Myrtha. And Junor Souza’s Hilarion was strong and equally racked with grief.

The corps of Willis was both sublimely seductive and darkly menacing.

I witnessed all of this from row A in the stalls, it truly was a ringside seat. And I am really glad that I spent my Christmas money in this way because I got to see a real treat of a performance.
However, whilst I accept that Act 2 takes place in the middle of a forest at the dead of night and therefore the lighting needs to be low so as to create the atmosphere, I do think it a shame that the lighting is so low at times that, even from row A of the stalls I had to strain to see what was happening and choreography and characterisation were lost in the gloom. 

Junor Souza was literally lost in the darkness, his graveside presence nigh on invisible let alone his grief and, his dance to death and exit hardly registered in the darkness. Again Albrecht’s graveside grief is all but invisible to the naked eye. A lantern left by Giselle’s grave or a candle lit on it would have shed enough light in that far corner of the stage to highlight its importance to the story and illuminate the faces of the grieving Hilarion & Albrecht. Similarly from any distance I would have been unable to see any of Precious Adam’s Myrtha’s range of emotions.

It is a bugbear of mine that contemporary choreographers spend months in the studio creating masterpieces that are so poorly underlit that the paying audience can only guess at what they are watching. It would seem that Mary Skeaping was doing it decades ago. Just because something was done once upon a time doesn’t mean it can’t be revisited and evolve for revivals.

Edited January 14 by PeterS
Sp

[LinMM]

Yes I agree am just fed up with not being able to see what’s going on ( though can’t see this Giselle this time around) It’s SO disrespectful to audiences and even Amateur Companies would not dream of doing this in my experience!  
Surely there must be some compromise here of somebody going up into the top of the House and seeing what actually CAN be seen from up there so the lighting is at least just bright enough for the action to be seen. 
 Nobody’s suggesting Picadilly Circus!! 

[zxDaveM]

10 hours ago, alison said:

 

BTW, any reports on today's casts?

 

I went to the Saturday evening performance and found myself once again astounded by Erina Takahashi. She has been dancing with ENB from virtually the first time I saw them, and just does not seem to age! (A picture in the attic?). Her performance was emotionally rivetting, and technically enthralling. Good rapport with her Albrecht, debutant Daniel McCormick, and ably supported by the rest of the cast, including a compelling Emily Suzuki as Myrtha, and other-worldly Zulma/Moyna showing from Ivana Bueno and Francesca Velicu (who also did a very fine peasants pdd with Shunhei Fuchiyama, both making debuts in the roles) respectively.

A most enjoyable and satisfying performance all round.

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, PeterS said:

It is a bugbear of mine that contemporary choreographers spend months in the studio creating masterpieces that are so poorly underlit that the paying audience can only guess at what they are watching.

 

I share your woe! There's 'atmosphere', and then there's dancing in the dark. In black costumes. With a black set...

[San Perregrino]

Just now, zxDaveM said:

 

I share your woe! There's 'atmosphere', and then there's dancing in the dark. In black costumes. With a black set...

? Bruce Springsteen's Giselle ? 🙂