Giselle was the first Royal Ballet performance I saw, back in 2011, with my beloved Great Grandma- who I promised would see me dance on that stage one day...... Just give me a couple more years Grandma!!
After a relatively short overture, the curtain rose, on a spectacularly built set, depicting a higgledy thatched cottage, and market place, in soft autumnal colours.
Akane Takada's entrance as Giselle was delightfully playful, with a lovely springy ballonné simple and ballotté sauté motif, showing easy elevation, precise footwork, and pleasing use of epaulement. Her costume, a simple, corseted calf-length dress, in modest cream and brown, complimented her innocent persona and joyful expression.
Kristen McNally's strong stage presence and acting skill was evident in her intense mime scene in which she warned Giselle of the Wilis, young girls who died before their wedding day, and would dance to death any man who crossed their path. Her anguish was undeniable, even somewhat harrowing, it seemed to radiate throughout her whole body as she pleaded with Giselle to rest her weak heart.
The Peasant Pas de Deux was danced with a graceful ease by Marcellino Sambé and Yasmine Naghdi; Sambé demonstrated superb ballon and travelled effortlessly in his sissones doublés. It was lovely to see familiar steps from class, such as a fish dive or shoulder sit, presented with the sense of confidence and performance quality that we all endeavour to emulate.
In Giselle's Act 1 solo, Takada showed exquisite musicality, and continued excellent characterisation, particularly in her playful diagonale of ballonnés sur pointe. However, she clearly felt more comfortable dancing naïve, innocent Giselle, as her iconic 'mad scene', when she discovered the true identity of 'Loys' seemed to lack a depth of emotion. Her Giselle, rightly so, was in denial and shock at the realisation, with a heart-rending motif development, of playing 'He loves me... He loves me not' with a daisy earlier in the first act. The entire audience felt poised, on a knife-edge waiting for the reality to set in, upon which Giselle would lose her mind- alas, she never seemed to go truly insane- lacking a subtle emotional depth needed to truly spellbind her audience. Kirsten McNally conveyed Berthe's grief and anguish convincingly, however on the whole, the 'Mad Scene' felt somewhat underwhelming.
In Act 2, the corps de ballet demonstrated excellent unison- however, the small gossamer wings on their backs looked slightly childish and unnecessary. Helen Crawford showed excellent elevation and stylisation as Myrthe, with a beautiful sense of suspension en pointe. Takada's clean technique was evident in Giselle's Act 2 solo, with spectacular developpes a la seconde and a neat arabesque- nonetheless, her penché seemed marginally limited, compared to that of other dancers. Her entrechats and sissones ordinares had a lovely elevation, complementing the virtuosity of Thiago Soares' dazzling allegro as Albrecht.
On the whole, the performance showed stunning technical quality- in particular, Thiago Soares' clean pirouettes and confident tours en l'airs showcased his strength, and Takada's delightful personality shone in the village scenes, portraying a childlike, playful young Giselle.
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