A ‘Giselle’ that’s full of dance and drama

I have a confession to make. I have only seen the ballet Giselle once in my life. It was a splendid production by Ballet Philippines, with Cecile Sicangco in the lead, partnered by the dashing Cuban-born danseur Julio Bocca as Albrecht. The backcloth might have been as unimaginative as a pasteboard Nativity set, but the drama in Act I and the dancing in Act II swept me off my feet. I can still remember Sicangco’s face as her Giselle loses her mind. So, too, Bocca’s effortless leaps into the air.

Giselle is every balletomane’s dream production. With 45 minutes of acting and 60 minutes of dancing, you get the best of both worlds. It is the true test of every ballerina’s mettle as an actress and a dancer.

Add to this the romantic premise of the whole ballet.

Giselle, who has a weak heart, dies after discovering that her lover Loys is actually Count Albrecht, who is set to marry the lovely Bathilde. Giselle’s spirit is transformed into a wilis, a maiden who dies on the eve of her wedding day. A wilis is doomed for eternity to seek her revenge on men by forcing them to dance till their death. But Giselle helps Albrecht save his life by dancing with him until daybreak. When the sun rises in the sky to signal the first hours of morning, the enchantment cast by a wilis breaks, and a man is free.

Even from the afterlife, Giselle stays true to her man. Such devotion is an example of selfless love, something many lovers wish they could experience even once in their lifetimes.

Such a romantic ballet is definitely a date ballet. You should be sitting beside a loved one who will hand you a tissue as you weep the night away. Sigh.

The best I found on a Saturday afternoon was my good friend Olive Oil, who missed her regular trip to the gym to sit with me through Ballet Manila’s production of Giselle. She’s a ballet fan herself; give her a ticket and she’ll drive through Manila traffic just to see it. (Did I tell you that we were late again in getting to the theater? Old habits die hard.)

Ballet Manila must be doing something right because Star Theater, where the company stages all its productions, was jampacked. Yes, they were mostly high school students, but you should hear how those teenagers gushed and swooned at every leap and every spin that Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, BM artistic director and principal ballerina, made.

When the lights went on at the end of the ballet, many of the kids were actually disappointed that the show was shorter than they had originally expected. If you still think ballet is an elitist art form, then you haven’t been to a Ballet Manila show.

Ballet regulars would ignore much of Giselle’s first act, concentrating instead on the dancing in the second half of the show. But that would be missing a good dramatic performance.

The center of the action rests on Giselle’s character. Macuja-Elizalde sank herself into this difficult role with relish. You could feel this Giselle’s breakdown big time at Albrecht’s deceit. Indeed, there is much gnashing of teeth as Giselle goes into a fit and turns mad, a moment the ballerina did not have difficulty expressing.

However, Macuja-Elizalde found her dramatic moment at that point when Giselle regains her sanity just before finally falling dead to the ground. This requires so much concentration from any actress, more so of a dancer, because it exposes her grasp of her craft. Here, she achieved this fine delineation of character rather effortlessly.

By the start of Act II, we were already on the edge of our seats, excited about the dancing to follow. Aileen Gallinera as Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, was as cold as the Alpine night air. Her dancing was precise and no-frills, executing the dramatic demands of her character with sureness. As the lead wilis, Melanie Motus and Pamela Asprer-Espejo added bravura to their roles.

After displaying her dramatic prowess, Macuja-Elizalde this time displayed her capabilities as a dancer. She was mechanical and ghostly when Giselle makes her first appearance on stage. As Giselle tempts Albrecht, portrayed by BM principal danseur Osias Barroso, to join her in the dance, Macuja-Elizalde presented a wilis that was just half-spirit.

This Giselle seemed to melt at Albrecht’s presence. It was perfectly understandable why the spirit of this girl would shield Albrecht from the wrath of the wilis. Macuja-Elizalde made it quite clear; she was still in love with this man.

Macuja-Elizalde and Barroso’s pas de deux was the emotional highlight of the ballet, with each dancer complementing the other. The ballerina maintained an attitude of lightness during much of her dancing, showing that she was no longer human but a spirit. On the other hand, the danseur mustered all his energy to present an Albrecht that was slowly weakening under the wilis’ enchantment.

I could understand the disappointment the teenagers felt at Giselle’s end. With the masterful dancing on stage, you would really expect so much more dancing. Maybe, Ballet Manila could be convinced to mount another Giselle in its next season. It will be a great opportunity to challenge the company’s ballerinas to performances of drama and bravura dancing.