Play It Again, PAB
Gisele got a superbly danced run by the Pennsylvania Ballet last weekend.
That old lace doily of 19th-century classical ballet, Giselle, got a heartfelt and superbly danced run by Pennsylvania Ballet last weekend. Ballet today is leaner, faster, more abrupt, less didactic — and often much less pretty than it was in 1841 when Giselle premiered at the Paris Opera. Here and now, it was enthusiastic and technically sharp while retaining this classic's fragile beauty.
Yet here it is: the same hokey story, same Adolphe Adam score, same bevies of white tulle-clad ballerinas, although with slightly updated (late 19th-century) choreography.
Julie Diana, opening night's Giselle, performed as if she believed every minute of what she was doing, and so the audience believed in her. During her mad scene — when peasant Giselle discovers Albrecht (Zachary Hench), her suitor, is really a nobleman she cannot marry, in disguise — she tore at her hair, flailed, fell and died, wrenching every heart. Diana truly is a dance-actress able to bring actual pathos to the heroine's stagy undoing. She was stunning in this scene.
In the second act's famous woodland graveyard setting, Diana was a 19th-century ballet engraving come to life as her tiny form skittered on softly fluttering feet, floating across stage. Giselle emerges from her grave to protect grief-stricken Albrecht, from the wilis (young women who died before their weddings) seeking vengeance on every man. Hench's Albrecht danced frantically to save his life, performing huge soaring leaps and complicated battement of the feet. His command and panache beautifully complemented Diana's delicacy.
The variations for the large swarm of wilis, which dominates Act 2, are as famous as Giselle's breakdown scene. PAB's corps flawlessly executed the complicated intersecting stage lines and arms shifting in unison. Alexander Iziliaev was sharp as Hilarion, the gamekeeper who tries to warn Giselle about Albrecht, and who is danced to death by the wilis. Young corps dancer Gabriella Yudenich was unexpectedly authoritative in her first featured role as Myrta, Queen of the Wilis.
As Giselle slipped back into her grave and Albrecht fell to the ground weeping, it ended as it began: a fairy tale of love and loss. Asking why ballet companies still dance this old piece is like asking why theater companies perform Shakespeare, or opera companies stage Puccini. Opening night, PAB dancers gave a modern performance of a centuries-old treasure.
PA Ballet Merriam Theater,Feb. 2
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