Review | Giselle: immaculate dancing and outstanding performance by Hong Kong Ballet – review
- Veteran dancer Jin Yao gives her ‘finest performance’ in emotionally charged ballet
- Guest dancer Marcelo Gomes lifts an amazing production to new heights
Hong Kong Ballet’s first revival of Giselle since 2012 (in a new staging by Charla Genn and artistic director Septime Webre) made an ideal showcase for the farewell appearances of Jin Yao, who is retiring after having been a pillar of the company since 2004, and its de facto prima ballerina since 2009.
Fittingly, her portrayal of the title role was the finest performance I have seen her give, with an emotionally charged evening of thrilling dancing lifted to still greater heights by wonderful work from guest artist Marcelo Gomes, who partnered her.
Giselle is the ballet lover’s ballet – of all the 19th century classics, it’s the one which boasts the most perfect combination of choreography, drama and music. First staged in Paris in 1841 by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, it was later reworked by Marius Petipa in St Petersburg and it is his version of the choreography that has been handed down through the generations (curiously, only Coralli and Perrot are mentioned in the house programme).
The story, with its themes of love and sacrifice, remorse and redemption, has lost none of its dramatic power over the years and continues to inspire radically different treatments by the likes of Akram Khan, as seen here in August, or Mats Ek.
The new Genn/Webre staging makes no major departures from the traditional classical text, although those familiar with the ballet may notice a few changes and some odd additions, notably aimed at giving the company’s male dancers more to do in Act 1.