I don’t go to the ballet. I haven’t been to a dance show for years, and that wasn’t ballet, it was DV8 (Strange Fish in 1992, and very wonderful it was too) so a long way from Swan Lake. But I wandered
across Akram Khan’s Giselle on BBC4 one evening earlier this year, and it was the music that caught my attention.
I don’t have some deep seated thing about dance, I suppose it was always a lower priority than the
music. And the music from Giselle is by Vincenzo Lamagna, and it’s very, very good. The Observer
called it “ominous, gothic” and it’s certainly those. I like being in a room with live, real instruments, there’s a snap to it that you don’t get from a recording, even one played very loud. Vincenzo has adapted the original music by Adolphe Adam, but “adapted” in this case means completely reimagined. Using
themes and motifs from Adam’s score, it’s often very beautiful, often disconcerting, and always
interesting.
I don’t know much about modern ballet or choreography, but I can say that the dancing was
remarkable. The Wilis (the ghosts of betrayed maidens), and particularly Myrtha, the Queen of the
Wilis float around the set like malevolent spirits, which is exactly what they’re meant to do. The duets between Giselle and Albrecht, and Giselle and Hilarion also stood out. But the whole thing moves
along without stopping and there isn’t really a moment when you feel the pace has dropped.
There’s a trailer on Youtube that’ll give you a taste: https://youtu.be/EHPT8IglL0s
If you can get tickets, you should go, even if you’re not familiar with ballet or Giselle. It’s a wonderful
thing! Just one small thing – the DVD of the filmed ballet is £25. Ah, I remember why I don’t go to the
ballet! Still a thing for rich kids…
Akram Khan’s Giselle is on now at Sadlers Wells
https://www.ballet.org.uk/production/akram-khan-giselle/#cast-section
Vincenzo Lamagna is at https://www.vincenzolamagna.com
You can find DV8 and Strange Fish at
https://www.dv8.co.uk/projects/archive/strange-fish–film
you can sign up for my regular gibberish here
#akramkhan #vincenzolamanga #sadlerswells
