HQ Review: A Synopsis of St. Louis Ballet’s “Giselle”
Saint Louis Ballet opened their 2023-2024 season with Giselle at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of University of Missouri-St. Louis. This haunting full-length ballet featured live music from the Chamber Music Society of Saint Louis, continuing a new tradition of excellence for the company.
Most of Act I took place in a small, quiet village. The cheerful music and warm lighting effectively portrayed the vibrant and busy yet tranquil life that all of the villagers lead. The dancers communicated with each other extensively through ballet mime. Giselle, the main character, was the first to dance when she made her entrance onstage alone after the villagers had dispersed to their homes. Her lighthearted and delicate solo gave the audience a clear glimpse of her personality and why her fellow villagers love her so much. Later in the first act, the lively choreography that featured a corps of over a dozen dancers showed the sense of community that all of the villagers shared, as well as featured a large pinwheel formation, different couples partnering each other with solid turns and lifts, perfectly synchronized échappés executed en mas, and multiple turns that made the ladies’ skirts twirl with abandon.
A nobleman named Albrecht, who is already engaged to another woman, visits the village, conceals his identity, and falls in love with Giselle when he sees her. He and Giselle danced a pas de deux together, their happiness evident in their carefree movements and delightful facial expressions. Giselle also teased Albrecht as she pulled petals from a flower as she played the classic “He loves me, he loves me not” game, which added humor to an already sweet scene of young love.
When Hilarion, the village gamekeeper who is madly in love with Giselle, boldly exposes Albrecht’s true identity in front of Giselle and the rest of the village, Giselle is visibly distraught. Her chaotic movements onstage—yanking her long hair down from its tidy bun, running wildly all across the stage (at one point with a sword in her hand), and ultimately collapsing into a heap to her death—portrayed well the anguish that anyone who has suffered through a broken heart feels in every atom of their body. Giselle’s already physically weak heart could not withstand the blow of betrayal, and she died in front of her mother, Albrecht, Hilarion, and other villagers who care for deeply. Her tragic death concluded the first act.
The second act began at Giselle’s grave in the forest late at night, with Hilarion and a few villagers paying their respects and leaving her grave in tears; a stark contrast from the opening of the first act in the village that was full of a bustling life and bright sunshine. As the night continues, the Wilis are preparing to make their entrance into the forest to initiate Giselle as one of their own.
The Wilis are young women who were jilted by their men and passed away before their wedding night. They enter humanity’s world at midnight and stay until dawn, when the light forces them to retreat back to their graves. Myrtha, queen of the Wilis, danced a solo with only minimal instrumental accompaniment. Her pure white long tutu and short, fluttery sleeves stood out from the very dark setting around her. She looked like a beautiful young woman, but her slow, ethereal movement made clear that she was not part of humanity’s world. Myrtha’s and the corps of 16 Wilis’ serene dancing possessed a serious undertone which reflected the solemn life that they now lead, a life in which light is absent and contact with their loved ones is permanently cut off. Dressed in the same long white tutu and fluttery sleeves, the corps of Wilis looked like their queen and danced in the same mysterious manner. Their bourrés floated across the stage like ghosts hovering above the ground, as did their slow arabesque chugs as they traveled from opposite sides of the stage in rows of four and intersected center stage. However, the Wilis’ ethereal presence sharply juxtaposes their merciless hatred for men. They force any man they see to dance to the point of absolute exhaustion, and consequentially, death. Hilarion met that sad fate that night after he paid his respects to Giselle at her grave.
Just like in the first act, Giselle danced a solo in the second act, alone onstage. Dressed in a sleeveless, long white tutu, she commanded attention immediately with her fast back attitude promenade that led into a very upbeat yet still graceful movement, the music louder and the instruments more numerous compared to when the scene began.
When Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave, his grief and regret evident by his posture as he knelt by her headstone, he catches a vision of Giselle darting through the forest. They dance another pas de deux together, but unlike their dancing when she was alive in the village, this dance was soft and somber, their earlier joy noticeably absent. However, Giselle’s love for Albrecht is still strong enough for her to forgive him and to save his life after the Wilis try to force him to dance to his death. As dawn approaches, the Wilis exit the forest, and Giselle joins them, beginning her new, permanent existence with them.
Many of the familiar story ballets have a happy ending. Giselle does not have such an ending. However, Giselle the character is at least able to receive closure for the most tragic event in her life that ultimately led to her death, and Albrecht learned a very painful lesson that forced him to grow as a person. Giselle moves on to her new existence with grace and humility, two characteristics that she possessed when she was alive. She moves forward from horrible circumstances that she would never have chosen for herself, like numerous people in life have had to do, and does so in such a way that this ballet’s story is easily remembered and well loved.
Photo by Kelly Pratt