As one of the most romantic and heart-wrenching of ballets, Giselle is also one of the most difficult to stage and among the most technically and artistically demanding for dancers. It presents any company that undertakes it with a myriad of challenges that can ultimately ruin both the ballet and the company's reputation. This season, however, the Boston Ballet has overcome these obstacles in Maina Gielgud's virtually flawless staging of the ballet. The scenery, costumes, and the dancers themselves make the Boston Ballet's production of Giselle is one of the most innovative and vibrant recently performed.
First performed in 1841, Giselle tells the story of a young, na??ve girl and her experience with love, betrayal, and salvation. Act I opens on the day of the village wine festival. Prince Albrecht disguises himself as a peasant in hopes of winning Giselle's affection and convincing her of his eternal love. Although she resists his advances at first, Giselle eventually falls in love with him.
Hilarion, the village gamekeeper, is also deeply in love with Giselle. His jealousy drives him to disclose Prince Albrecht's true identity - and that the prince is already engaged to Princess Bathilde - to the entire village. Consumed by grief at the news of her love's betrayal, Giselle goes mad and dies in her mother's arms.
Act II opens deep in the forest at the site of Giselle's burial. She has now become one of the Wilis - ghost-like creatures who were deceived by their disloyal lovers on the eve of their weddings. When an inconsolable Hilarion visits Giselle's grave, Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, summons the maidens, who force Hilarion to dance endlessly until he dies. When Prince Albrecht also comes to mourn in the forest, Myrtha orders Giselle to dance with him until he dies. Although she is still distraught over his unfaithfulness, Giselle is also still very much in love with the prince. She saves Prince Albrecht by helping him stay alive until dawn, when the Wilis lose their power to destroy him.
An emotionally complex story, Giselle demands that the dancers not only be technically flawless in their performance but excellent actors as well. And while their execution of pirouettes and arabesques is certainly clean and precise, it is in their expression of the varying emotions of the ballet that the dancers excel. Whether celebrating the arrival of the hunting party in Act I or the infamous scene in which Giselle loses her reason, the corps de ballet is especially adept at capturing the exact sentiment of the scene.
Berthe, Giselle's mother portrayed by Janine Parker, is equally skilled at expressing emotions that range from disapproval of her daughter's gallivanting to grief over her sudden death. The acting skills of the dancers contribute to the production's effectiveness, adding urgency and realism to those scenes that have the most impact on the audience.
As Giselle, Pollyana Ribeiro is the unquestionable star of the performance. A principal dancer with the Boston Ballet since 1999, she captures the youthfulness and innocence of her character effortlessly. Her animated facial expressions, flurrying movements, and delicate footwork come together to create a complex, believable and endearing character. Her presence on stage is simultaneously elusive and compelling, subtly commanding the audience's undivided attention.
In addition to her flawless and careful portrayal of the nuances of Giselle's emotions and character, Ribeiro is a technically perfect dancer. A member of the company since 1992, she rose from the ranks of a corps dancer to principal ballerina over seven years. Her movements are both meticulous and effortlessly graceful; her technique is sharp and precise without neglecting the necessary element of flow associated with the sweeping movement of ballet.
Simon Ball came to life in Act II as Prince Albrecht. His performance in Act I was somewhat uninspired - his acting was not on par with the rest of the cast, and his movements appeared to lag behind the music. He redeemed himself, however, through Albrecht's despair at the loss of his beloved when he visiting Giselle's grave. His technique caught up with his acting during the infamous pas de deux scene in which Giselle struggles to keep Prince Albrecht alive until dawn. His movements became smoother, and the connection between him and Giselle grew stronger and clearer.
Since the appointment of Mikko Nissinen as Artistic Director this past September, the quality of the Boston Ballet as a prominent dance company as well as that of its dancers and productions has dramatically improved. Giselle demonstrates how drastic a turnaround a dance company can experience under the right kind of direction. The production is outstanding, both technically and artistically, and will leave you awestruck and amazed. Giselle puts the Boston Ballet back on the map as one of the world's major ballet companies, where it belonged all along.
Boston Ballet's Giselle runs at The Wang Theatre through Feb. 24. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or in person at The Wang Theatre box office, located at 270 Tremont St.
