Giselle, Australian Ballet, State Theatre, Saturday March 14th 2015
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MMMMM I have some great feedback about
"Giselle" and some not so good. I have seen
"Giselle" about ten or twelve times by the
Australian Ballet and other companies from around the world and so I am not going to be a sycophant and say I loved it to be popular.
The pre-show announcement has been changed finally to "turn phones off" instead of "turn to silent." Yeah! This was a relief as this was the first time in least five years that we did not have to contend with either the flashing, buzzing, ringing or vibration of mobile phones during the performance. Nor did we have to contend with the "Twanking" of iPADS or other such Tablets. I do not pay big money to be distracted by other rude patrons scratching their itch for
"fear of missing out" on their latest social media update! So I sincerely congratulate this audience for not being rude like the usual Wednesday night crowd can be.
As we had to change our tickets from the Wednesday having no distractions was a huge bonus, though the location of our new seats reveal a different angle to the story.
We were fortunate enough to see the debuts in principal roles of both
Amber Scott dancing
Giselle and
Ty King-Wall as her
Count Albrecht. These superb technicians are beautiful artists who excel at their craft. The little slip in Act Two made no difference as this couple had the audience mesmerised.
Amber Scott's lines and musicality were superb. My main beef was the second half of her
batterie sequence was so
a'terre she could barely stretch her feet to be off the ground, let alone perform clean
petit batterie. While
Ty King-Wall's batterie was clean, sharp and precise.
Amber dancing the famous mad scene was sensational. She was possessed and convincingly mad rather than in some versions that are ridiculous and over the top in their histrionics.
Hilarion danced by
Jarryd Madden portrayed a strong masculine character that created more tension with
Giselle and
Albrecht than I have seen in other versions of this ballet. There was a great rapport and build up of conflict between these three lead characters.
Wilfred danced by
Frank Leo needed more definition and strength in commanding his presence.
I was very disappointed in the usually superb dancing of
Dimity Azoury. Her dancing was fine but how she was directed as the
Queen of the Wilis made her look like a
Les Ballet Trokadero dancer rather than her usual beautiful self. I have seen many dancers dance this role and it can be strong but not camp, stiff and hammy. You can still be feminine, graceful and have strength and leadership. Please note that I emphasise she is an exquisite and feminine dancer and I did not like the way she has been directed. The role may not suit her.
Our new seats in Dress Circle A3-4 revealed many things that we normally do not see from our usual central seats. The view from these seats heightened the cheating of technique in
arabesques,
fouettes and not being square in the hips.
During the Act One
Peasant pas de deux danced beautifully by
Miwako Kubota and supported by
Brett Chynoweth. He had some sloppy lines during this
pas de deux and his
arabesques were more to the side of his body than
derriere (let me say more between
a'la second and
derriere. More like a 4 O'clock if an
arabesque is 6 O'clock)
Act Two had the
Willis in beautiful line formations. Though in one line formation, from our seats we could see 3/8 of one line of the Willis on stage right. Hence - how can they charge $120 for such a restricted view. We did not get a refund from our Premium Priced seats! This is double dipping by the
Australian Ballet as they will ask others to pay the difference to change to our Premium seats.
While talking about the view from these seats we could just see the grave. Heaven forbid the people in seats A1-2 not only in our row but in other rows. They should only charge full price if you can see the entire stage and the entire set! This means any seat outside the proscenium arch or curtain line should not be an A Reserve ticket price! These seats were more of a C Reserve ticket price for quality.
Congratulations on the line of the wrists for the corps of
Wilis that were consistent and not flopping or flapping. This cast were fresh from rehearsals and maintained a pure
Romantic period shape. This is unlike some versions where the wrists are angular and jarring and not in keeping with the
Romantic period.
Some of the
corps de ballet need to support their core/centre as quite a few were dropping their backs in the
fouettes saute en l'air. Some were dropping their legs in
arabesque, their back or both.
Some of the men were over-arching their feet to curl their toes under. This distorts the continuity of their line and looks feminine. Maybe they were having a rest?!
The sets and costumes are beautiful by
Peter Farmer. Though the tabs on the sides could be brought in to allow for a full view from the extreme side seats at that
State Theatre.
Overall, I enjoyed
"Giselle" and gave it a 7/10.
