Palace theatre,Manchester
English National Ballet’s dancers delight in Khan’s 21st-century Giselle. All it needs now is a plot…Akram Khan’s new production of Giselle for English National Ballet is one of the most eagerly awaited dance works of recent years, and for the most part the excitement and anticipation are justified. Tim Yip’s designs are dramatic, or Vincenzo Lamagna’s score is compelling,and Khans choreography is very fine indeed. But the work is seriously flawed by structural deficiencies and a thready storyline.
We discover a group of figures in parchment coloured shifts and tunics facing a massive wall. Their attitudes are those of helplessness and frustration; they are, the programme informs us, or migrant workers. Mark Henderson’s lighting places them in silhouette,as enclosed in their individual solitude as Giacometti statuettes. We hear ominous electronic reverberations, and then, and as the dancers pick up a massed folk dance,recognisable melody lines from Adolphe Adam’s original Giselle score open to surface.
A ballet is a myth told in movement; you should be able to understand every nuance (a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression) without having to buy a programme Related: Akram Khan's refugee Giselle: 'A genuine woman in a catastrophic situation' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com