Review: The Washington Ballet’s GISELLE at Harman Hall

The Washington Ballet’s Artistic Director, Edwaard Liang, has added another ballet to his repertoire of re-imagined classics. Giselle through Liang’s eyes is a dramatic, whimsical rework which raises the stakes and strips back the stage to show the heart of the hauntingly stunning piece.

The first act relied heavily on pantomime and prop work to carry the plot forward of a forbidden love resolved by forgiveness. The dancers’ gesturing arms and forlorn looks established the high-tension romantic entanglements and their devastating repercussions, despite a strict mother’s warnings. Short movements of actual ballet choreography cut through the acting, which carried a lot of the energy. The pas de quatre especially seemed to wake up the peaceful town, and the student dancers filled out the scene realistically and with excellent, practiced presence. 

The second act is really where the magic happens. The frantic scenes of the forest were endlessly captivating, so much so that several phones shot up in the audience to sneak a picture. The dancers were incredibly fast and they excelled at the cutthroat choreography. 

Chanell Cabrera Sansón’s Giselle was naive, willowy, and determined. Both in her act one solo and through her entire transformation as a Wili, her movements were languid and her expressions held great bliss and sorrow respectively. She threw herself to the ground and into the arms of her beloved Albrecht with deceptive precision to look wild and careless. Put bluntly, Cabrera Sansón tore up that stage. 

It’s often easy to miss the strength and precision of male dancers behind their support for their female counterparts. But Giselle’s Duke Albrecht, manned by Adrian Sánchez Hernandez, was quite literally dancing for his life during his calf-burning solos. The force in his desperate leaps and tenderness in his sweeping pleas for Giselle were believable and made him a full, remorseful, infatuated lead who equally stole the show.

Huge props (literally) to Jack Mehler and Erin Rollins for their work in scenery/lighting and costume design. The bright, pastoral village from act one is a far cry from the dark, wild depths of the forest in the second, yet both sets are transportative and accomplish the tone without introducing distracting elements. The set’s minimalism meant that every extra layer had to be established with purpose, yet there were a few clothing cues that missed the mark. Beige costuming to denote humble villagers and jewel tones for the royals isn’t groundbreaking, but they were reliable color palates and silhouettes for the storytelling. Giselle’s mom Bathilde and the Duchess Berthe both wore the same style of cape, which mistakenly associated them both as matronly figures, despite Berthe being a peer and rival to Giselle. These details are more than made up for, however, by the gossamer veils and embellished laced details of the Wili’s costumes. The spectral flow of their skirts enhanced the deadly synchronicity of the Wilis while the lights reflected off the sparkling white truly turned them to ghosts.

The Washington Ballet’s Giselle, choreographed by Edwaard Liang, is an ode to all of the drama and beauty of the classic. Go for the striking story and skill from the dancers, and stay for the showstopping scenes of the second act. 

Runtime: 2 hours, one 15-minute intermission 

Photo credit: Sonia Bartolomeo for TWB