Dance: Love beyond barriers

Akram Khan’s
Giselle
director-choreography Akram Khan
dancers Elina Takahashi, James Streeter, Ken Saruhashi, Emma Hawes, Fabian Reimair, Angela Wood, Jung ah Choi, Haruhi Otani, Emily Suzuki, Francesca Celicu
composition/sound Vincenzo Lamagna • score Adolphe Adam
visual/costume design Tim Yip • lighting Mark Henderson
Sadler's Wells, London • 18-28.Sep.24 ★★★★

Akram Khan gives the venerable 1841 ballet a vivid 21st century spin, presenting the noblemen as pompous owners lording it over their down-trodden factory workers. This inventive approach offers new resonance to modern audiences living in a world that's still infused with inequality. Khan's visually punchy staging and choreography also keep us entranced, as does the way Vincenzo Lamagna skilfully weaves Adolphe Adam's original score into the rumbling soundscape. There are elements of this production that are so cinematic that they almost undermine the dancers, but this also makes the show both spectacular and darkly moving.

Clever casting adds additional layers of meaning, as the delicate Elina Takahashi takes the title role as a lowly labourer opposite the beefier James Streeter as the wealthy Albrecht, who is slumming it with the merrily dancing workers when he falls for Giselle. But she already has a suitor in the lean Hilarion (Ken Saruhashi). Then Albrecht's kinsmen turn up in their over-the-top, Hunger Games-style finery, and his intended Bathilde (Angela Wood) calls him out, causing a scene during which Giselle's heart fails her. 

All of this is set against a gigantic door that separates the rich from the poor, and it rotates dramatically to allow people to pass between the realms of the haves and have-nots, as well as the living and the dead. The dances are a beautiful blend of classical fluidity, discipline and strength with more modern expressive touches. This includes some striking group moments, breakout solos and duets, and a superb contrast between the way Albrecht and Hilarion move with Giselle, including eye-catching leaps and spins that are joyful, yearning and sexy. And the way the wealthy control their workers is strikingly depicted in their postured physicality, especially as the painful collision between these worlds claims Giselle's life.

The second act is more like a fever dream, following Giselle to the underworld, where she is adopted by Myrtha (Emma Hawes), the queen of the Wilis, who extract revenge on men who drive women to their deaths. Choreography here is more athletic and emotional, as lighting effects create ethereal settings with deep shadows as the large group of Wilis float en pointe with their pointy sticks. This leads to otherworldly encounters between Giselle and Myrtha, Hilarion and Albrecht, offering each performer a chance to shine radiantly. These pieces also play stunningly with shifting weight and balance.

Both choreography and performances bring out the narrative with real emotional power, inventively creating both space and intimacy between the characters. So it's a bit frustrating that some of the bigger visual moments overwhelm the stage, while the long dresses and tunics oddly obscure the dancers' physicality. That said, everything looks fantastic, and the range of jaw-droppingly complex movement and interaction has visceral power. 

for details: ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET > 

photos by Laurent Liotardo • 18.Sep.24