Music by Adolphe Adam
Swedish choreographer Mats Ek ranks world-wide as a specialist for telling old ballet stories in new forms. Giselle, one of the great ballets of the 19th century, tells of the unrequited love of the country girl Giselle. Duke Albrecht, disguised as a peasant, wheedles his way into her affections until she is forced to realize that he is in fact in love with Bathilde. Giselle loses her mind and dies of a broken heart.
To the traditional music by Adolphe Adam, Mats Ek has created a completely new choreography in his own, modern idiom. He transferred the plot to the present day. The betrayed Giselle does not awaken to a spectral existence as a wili, but rather finds herself in a mental institution. But even in this radically contemporary version, the essence of the work is retained, and the spectator becomes a witness to the shattering purification process which Albrecht lives through.
The story line is fairly similar to the ballet version of Giselle however in the new contemporary version giselle does not die, she become mentally unstable and is sent off to live in a mental institute. Also the Wilis in the old version are now the institute inmates and Myrtha the Queen is now Myrtha the Matron of the inmates.
ReplyDeleteThe movement in the contemporary Giselle is not made to be quite 'ugly' to show that dance does not have to be aesthetically pleasing. This shows the evolution of dance and the contrast between ballet and modern contemporary dancing.
ReplyDeleteThe main themes in Mats Eks Giselle i picked out consist of: Mental Illness, as Giselle is put into a mental assylum. This relates back to the treatment of mental illness in sweden during Mats Ek's lifetime. Love is also shown (which is similar to the ballet Giselle) as Giselle and Albretch are in love and Hillarion loves Giselle but she does not feel the same.
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