Hull New Theatre – until 21 February 2019
Reviewed by Sara Garner
3***
Gisselle is a classical ballet filled with dramatic passion in a chilling and heart-rending tale of love, treachery guilt and forgiveness from beyond the grave.
The first act was slow to start including a period of orchestra music with the curtains closed presumably to build the anticipation for the audience and a further 10 minutes before we see any ballet dancing. It then builds up into the recognisable romantic tale of the delicate Giselle (Anna Fedosova) a naive young peasant girl who falls for the flirtations of the dishonest and aristocratic lover Albrecht (Yury Kudryavtsev) who is posing as a villager Loys. The rustic villagers gather their harvest, A hunting party appears where we meet the Duke and Countesses Bathilde (Albrecht’s betrothed), Giselle dances for the nobles. Hans is in love with Giselle and through his prying discovers Loys dishonestly and the first act ends with Giselle realising this. Giselle goes crazy with the shock and kills herself with Albrecht’s sword.
In the second act we meet the Wilis a group of mystical and supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave. They target her lover for death, but Giselle’s great love frees him from their grasps. However, Hans is forced into an endless dance culmination in him drowning in the lake. The Corps de ballet dance led by the Myrtha the Queen of the Wilis (Miryam Roca Cruz) dance in an ethereal nature in an eerie moonlit forest haunted by these drifting spirits. The leading man flourished and seemed to float at times. The leading lady seemed unsteady at times stumbling in the first act and slipped in the second half. The second act is memorising and beautifully set.
The set is simple yet beautiful, the music was played effortlessly by the Orchestra perfectly reflecting the emotions throughout. The Choreography seemed muddled in the first act, but perfect in the second act. Overall, we enjoyed Giselle it seemed to lack some je ne sais quoi.