Giselle review: Akram Khan and English National Ballet put on breathtaking Act 1, second act lags behind

As soon as the curtain rises on a dramatic image of desperate people beating against the massive wall that bars them from freedom, it’s easy to see why Akram Khan’s Giselle has been a smash hit for English National Ballet with critics and audiences alike.

The first half is Khan at his very best: physically thrilling and visually compelling, it’s magnificent dance theatre that more than vindicates artistic director Tamara Rojo’s bold move in inviting Khan, with no classical ballet background, to re-imagine one of ballet’s best-loved classics.

The four sold-out shows were testimony to Khan’s huge popularity in Hong Kong. The Saturday matinee brought the added pleasure of seeing Crystal Costa – who began her career with the Hong Kong Ballet – return in an outstanding performance of the title role.

Khan and his dramaturge Ruth Little have transposed the original 1841 tale of a peasant girl who falls in love with an aristocrat to a nameless place where dispossessed migrants are trapped behind a massive wall by a ruling class who emerge from time to time to demand that the migrants dance for their amusement.

The treatment, particularly Tim Yip’s exaggerated costumes and make-up for the rulers and drab colours for the migrants, along with the vision of a strong, rebellious Giselle, is reminiscent of The Hunger Games and works well.

Act 1 is packed with Khan’s trademarks: spectacular theatrical effects and choreography distinguished by its visceral energy and power, impressive use of group work and the exceptional use of hands that harks back to his training in classical Indian dance. A roller-coaster ride from start to finish, it leaves the audience breathless.

Act 2 is less successful – the pace lags (not helped by overly dim lighting – the mood may be dark, the audience still needs to see what’s going on) and there’s a lack of balance in structure, with a low-key, anticlimactic ending.

Viewed as a take on the original Giselle (which Hong Kong Ballet will perform in October), Vincenzo Lamagna’s reworking of Adolphe Adam’s score, combining the original themes with menacing modern passages and heavy use of percussion and even transforming the familiar music into a tribal style for the migrants’ dances is dazzling.

Aficionados will also appreciate Khan’s occasional artful references to the original choreography. Accepting this radical re-interpretation is easily done in Act 1, where not only is the choreography completely modern, but only the barest bones of the plot have been kept, presenting a drastically different version of the characters. Giselle’s suitor Hilarion, in particular, is transformed from a naive rustic who resents the aristocrats to a “fixer” who collaborates with them – the role has become more striking than that of Albrecht, who remains oddly muted.