American Ballet Theatre – Giselle – Washington
★★★★✰ I saw two performances; each of them demonstrated why Giselle is still so popular even 180 years after the ballet’s premiere.
Bolshoi Ballet – Giselle (Ratmansky premiere) – Moscow
★★★★✰ This is a Giselle that is both familiar and new. Watching it on opening night was like seeing a faded painting regain its colors.
Miami City Ballet – Giselle – Fort Lauderdale
★★★★✰ From start to finish, this Giselle was superbly realized: stylistically accurate, visually enchanting and emotionally poignant.
National Ballet of Canada – Giselle – Toronto
★★★★✰ On opening night, Svetlana Lunkina in the title role gave one of those unique performances in which the ballerina completely disappears into her heroine, putting her entire living self into the role.
Bolshoi Ballet – Giselle (Zakharova, Hallberg) – Washington
David Hallberg is a rarity in today’s classical ballet. Tall, lean and strikingly handsome, with pure classical line and impeccable dancing prowess, he is a genuine danseur noble.
DVD – Sensuality & Nationalism in Romantic Ballet
This is not by any means a DVD for casual viewing, but for the serious student of ballet it provides a concise and fascinating understanding of the key components of Romantic Ballet, hugely enhanced by the opportunity to see a group of restaged dances from that era that have not been seen before…
Paris Opera Ballet – Giselle – New York
The arrival of the wilis takes one’s breath away. Not only are they individually beautiful, with their soft port-de-bras and milky-white shoulders, but they are all eerily the same, in every way: same size, same build, same arms, same tilt of the head, same gaze, same feet.
Paris Opera Ballet – Giselle – Washington
With its exquisite staging, and most importantly with its understanding and respect of the Romantic ballet style, and whole-hearted dedication of the dancers to their roles, the Paris Opera Ballet demonstrated just how Giselle should be produced and performed.
