American Ballet Theatre's "Giselle"

[dirac]

John Rockwell reviewed ABT in "Giselle" today, and I noted the following remarks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/arts/dan...html?oref=login

Not likely. Monday's opening night was very good. Tuesday's performance was one that will go down in Ballet Theater annals, something so incontestably great that all whining about past golden ages can happily be laid to rest.

and

Ballet Theater's venerable physical production is traditional in the best sense.

Great news, if true, but not having seen this production, I cannot judge either way. As we have a lot of whiny types who post here, I thought I would solicit comments, pro and con.

[cargill]

I guess I count as a whiny type! Yes, it is a very traditional production, very lovely. My only whine is the peasant pas de deux, which uses a glitzed up Soviet version with lots of lifts and less style than usual but it is only a minor complaint. I would also rethink Bathilde a bit, since she seems a bit too over-the-top-angry, and not humilited enough. She glares at him like "there you go again!" (political non-sequitur--I couldn't help but think Hilary Clinton), while most of ABT's Albrechts play him as truly in love, rather than a practiceds philanderer. But it is a very solid and beautiful production.

[dirac]

I was being facetious, cargill -- didn't use "whiny" with any serious implications.

I'm rather sorry it was the "Swan Lake" televised, and not this production.

[carbro]

Reading Rockwell, I wished that I'd been there.

WAIT!!!! I was there!!!!

I could go point by point with him on why this Tuesday night does not merit a place in ABT's annals, but I just felt a sudden regret for Marianna Tcherkassky, who was cursed as a younger contemporary of legendary Giselles, Makarova and Kirkland and a close successor to Fracci. While she suffered by the inevitable comparison, she would, today, likely be considered the definitive Giselle of the current generation.

Yes, it is mostly a traditional production (except for the Peasant Pas and an abridged Myrta). It occurs to me that Giselle has been subjected to much fewer 20th century "improvements" than the Classical classics. I wonder why that is? I've never seen it staged in a bordello, in the 1940s, with doppelganger casting, etc. Every production I know of is pretty faithful to . . . well, every production I've seen.

[Petra]

carbro, I think Giselle, as a Romantic ballet, tells a much more 'realistic' story than the Classical classics, which lend themselves more readily to allegory and symbolism. There are no metaphors like in the Petipa/Tchaikovsky ballets or Romeo & Juliet so Giselle can't be abstracted away as the 'improvers' have done to those ballets.

[dirac]

Good point, GWTW. I’d also credit Adam’s score. Swan Lake, for example, has a number of passages where it’s not entirely clear what’s going on (Tchaikovsky corrected this in later scores) but Adam doesn’t really leave you too much wiggle room.

[drb]

I guess I count as a whiny type!  ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gargill, I vote for "whiny" too. But I am grateful for experiences like the Tuesday gift from Vishneva/Part/Corella, which make me "unwhin'd", at least for a while. I agree that we are so fortunate to have a relatively uncontaminated Giselle. For one thing, it gives us some continuity: Sibley, Kirkland, Makarova, or wherever we started, give perspective to what we see now.

Given the popularity of the two famous 'Eurotrash' versions of Giselle that treat her as a mental case, let's hope sanity reins here.

Carbro, you say that Myrta is abridged. Please tell us what we're missing. Especially with Part, the more Myrta the better! I could watch a whole ballet "Myrta" if she were in it.

[Farrell Fan]

As may not be clear from the link, Rockwell's review of Giselle was called attention to on Page One of today's New York Times!

[dirac]

Yup, and with a photo, too!

[BW]

It sounded as if it were the stuff of dreams.

What do you all think of John Rockwell's appreciation of ballet these days? Although I did not have the foresight or good fortune to see this performance, I surely wish I had from his description.

It will be interesting to hear about Amanda McKerrow's final performance.

P.S. Good point about that front page photo, too!

Edited July 15, 2005 by BW

[Amy Reusch]

It occurs to me that Giselle has been subjected to much fewer 20th century "improvements" than the Classical classics. I wonder why that is? I've never seen it staged in a bordello, in the 1940s, with doppelganger casting, etc. Every production I know of is pretty faithful to . . . well, every production I've seen.

Didn't Dance Theater of Harlem have a Creole Giselle or am I confusing it with something else?

[carbro]

Thanks, Amy! Absolutely correct.

While the locale and (presumably) time were shifted, the text remained intact. I actually liked that staging very much. I thought the bayou somehow seemed a more natural home to wilis than the forest, even though I know there were no bayous where the idea of wilis first arose.

[Helene]

The DTH Creole Giselle with Virginia Johnson and Eddie Shellman is being released on DVD. Expected date is 26 July, according to the Kultur site.

When I tried to create a link from the Ballet Talk site, amazon.com flashed an error message. It can be pre-ordered from amazon.

[Hans]

Sylvie Guillem did a Giselle set, I think, in Italy during the 1930's.

[cargill]

Derek Deane did a Giselle set in the 1920's, which seemed pretty bizarre from what I read. There have also been some productions where Bathilde and Myrtha were the same dancer (the doppelganger effect), but in general I think the story and the structure is so solid that it resists change. Though of course Petipa redid much of the choreography in act 2, so we don't really know what it looked like originally! Unfortunately by the time Paris saw the Russian version, the original had been long forgotten--it would be facinating to read about the differences.

[brivagook]

I think, though forgive me if my memory is foggy, that Milwaukee Ballet's Michael Pink did a version of Giselle recently (last season?) that had Giselle in a 1940's concentration camp. I only remember this from browsing company websites... can anyone confirm? Or better yet, did anyone see it?

[bart]

Reading Rockwell, I wished that I'd been there.

WAIT!!!!  I was there!!!!  

Boy, have I had THAT feeling often enough!

What I liked about the review -- which reminded me of the best Giselles I've seen -- is Rockwell's appreciation for adagio -- for slow, sustained, graceful and very difficult kind of dancing that demands so much attention and (let's be frank) experience with dance-viewing to appreciate. So often it's the flashier dancing that gets the notice. I'd love to have seen that performance. (Carbro and others, you're lucky.)

I was struck by Rockwell's characterization of Corella as "the ultimate poetic dancer." I'd have thought his reputation was based originally on pyrotechnics. In the televised ABT you can see him trying (facial expression, etc.) to develop a new, more more noble and romantic persona. You have to admire that. I really loved his placement, especially before and after jumps -- controlled, graceful, perfect. He follows through, smoothly, elegantly, on every movement. It will be interesting how far he can go in this direction.

[carbro]

Carbro, you say that Myrta is abridged.  Please tell us what we're missing.  Especially with Part, the more Myrta the better!  I could watch a whole ballet "Myrta" if she were in it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry to be so long replying. I just wanted to run my recollections by some friends as a reality check.

In ABT's previous production, Myrtha makes her entrance by bouree-ing across the stage twice, instead of once. Also, she's on stage for a greater portion of the Dance of the Wilis. There's that whole section we saw in "The Turning Point" -- Leslie's drunk scene -- with Myrtha at the center, directing the kneeling wilis as they bend to and fro. These days, she just commands the two bends at the end.

[rg]

i believe it was danilova (and maybe some remarks of f.franklin's as well) telling us how over the years myrta's dancing was reduced in productions of GISELLE. alas, i don't think either one spelled out precisely what was missing and where.