Archaic Legend Comes Fresh as Daisy in SF Ballet’s Giselle

This year marks 75th anniversary of San Francisco Ballet, and one of the oldest classic ballets—Giselle, premiered in Paris in 1841, now presented in Helgi Tomasson’s harmonious production —is a perfect celebration in Company’s full-length Program 3, ending this weekend. As Romanticism is the very genre of the most romantic art, an old German legend about love that transcends death comes alive on stage, full of youthful energy and summery colors in Act I, and shrouded in mist and mystery in the dark and somber Act II. A real-time 20-minute intermission transports the whole action from a sunny afternoon of wine harvest festival into the moonlit night of Wilis—mythical maidens, betrayed by their lovers and restless behind the grave. When a fresh-faced Giselle (Yuan Yuan Tan in Feb. 20 performance) dizzyingly in love with handsome Albrecht (Tiit Helimets) dances her little heart away among her carefree friends, Tomasson’s own peasant pas de cinq charms audiences, and every friends’ or peasants’ dance is met with applause for the sheer joy of it. Then the darkness starts to creep in, filling Giselle’s madness scene with gloom, but she is still so touching, so innocent, the crowd around her so sympathetic, it holds hopes against all odds. She dies doll-like, like a broken lily, her lifeless body embraced by her lover, everyone in distress, curtain falls. The viewers come back, and a different story unfolds in the other world. Thorny branches of old trees bar the stage. White smoke crawls across the ground. Snowy-white Wilis fly overhead; distraught rivals-in-love Albrecht and Hilarion (Damian Smith) stumble in the dark, looking for Giselle’s grave. But before she would rise and arrive, the icily perfect Queen of Wilis (Sofiane Sulve) summons her vengeful maidens, and they appear—classic alabaster ballerinas, covered with bridal veils—a dreamlike vision, an ecstatic hallucination, an ultimate ballet experience, which seems to be one of the reasons of the piece’s longevity in the first place. Now is the time for SF Ballet’s famously disciplined, superbly agile, perfectly figure-cut corps de ballet to shine. And they do shine, creating a perfect environment for the outstanding principals and soloists. A celebration of Giselle is generously adorned by scenic, costume and lighting design by Mikael Melbye, and accompanied by SF Ballet Orchestra, with Martin West, conductor, and Paul Ehrlich, viola solo. To purchase tickets, call 415-865-2000, for more information, visit http://www.sfballet.org/ Photo by Erik Tomasson. Yuan Yuan Tan and Tiit Helimets in Tomassons's Giselle.