Premiering in 1841, with choreography attributed to Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot and widely acclaimed as one of the most significant works of classical ballet, Giselle is being brought to Macao by the prestigious Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company. From September 7 to 9, the full-length production will be staged in four shows at the Grand Auditorium of the Macao Cultural Centre (CCM), accompanied live by the Macao Orchestra.
Nearly two centuries after the premiere, the show is still captivating audiences all over the world. The plot remains largely unchanged, but various versions have come up. La Scala’s version of Giselle was restaged by the legendary French ballerina Yvette Chauviré and first performed in La Scala in 1950.
"Yvette Chauviré’s work is very near the original. There is no cut in the music and maybe she changed the order," remarks Frédéric Olivieri, director of the Milanese ballet company, when CLOSER met him the day before the show. Chauviré has skillfully revived the unforgettable choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, elegant in movement and exquisite in structure.
"It is our highlight ballet," says Olivieri, proudly noting that there might be no other ballet company that can bring this particular production to stage – except maybe the Paris Opéra, where Chauviré served as ‘danseuse étoile’.
The two-act show, with contrasting atmospheres of a bright, normal world and a dark, evil kingdom inhabited by man-hating spirits, explores the timeless theme of "love and redemption", explains Olivieri. In the first act, the love-struck peasant girl Giselle falls for an aristocrat disguised as a humble villager, but later dies of grief when she discovers her beau is betrothed to another girl of his social status. In the second act, Giselle has joined the ghostly army of maidens who die of broken hearts and haunt the forests to exact their revenge on any man they encounter; she eventually carries out the ultimate act of love and forgiveness.
The second act, according to Olivieri, is kind of a touchstone for all ballet companies in the world. "Everybody is waiting to see the quality of the style, of the line, of the dancing together, in this act. It’s where a company can show its excellence," he says, "the light, the costumes, the beauty…for me, when the curtain lifts, the second act is a really beautiful vision. The scenery is all made in the old-fashioned way."
Olivieri, being a celebrated étoile dancer and artistic director, also shared his insight into the ballet scene in China. "I first went there in 2006. I see a big, growing interest of the Chinese in ballet. When I was teaching in Beijing a long time ago, there were fantastic dancers and very good-quality formation for the classical ballet and contemporary ballet as well."
The director noticed the Chinese market’s genuine enthusiasm for inviting big-name ballet companies, including La Scala, to perform in China.
The Chinese presence on stage has also caught Olivieri’s attention: "I can see Chinese winning international competitions, many times. They have good, not just techniques, but really beautiful ways to dance. It’s very interesting for us to take something from them, and them from us."
sThis being La Scala’s first ever visit to the city, what the direction team expects the most is not flowers or applauses, but something else. As Olivieri puts it, ‘I expect people to understand the beauty, the artistic ways of each interpreter, and to appreciate all the qualities of the show. Everybody goes away from the evening with something more, something different. A door opens.’
