Choreography: Petipa, Corelli,
Perrot.
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| Natasha Kusen (Princess Bathilde) - Madeliene Eastoe (Giselle) |
Production: Maina Gielgud
Music: Adolphe Adam
Set and Costume Design: Peter FarmerLighting Design: William Akers, reproduced by Francis Croese
Conductor: Nicolette Fraillon
The Canberra Symphony Orchestra
Presented by The Australian Ballet
The Canberra Theatre, Saturday
evening 23rd May 2015
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
It was a
pity that more Canberra dance students did’nt take advantage of the opportunity
to hear The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director, David McAllister, and his
conversation with principal dancer Lana Jones prior to Saturday night
performance of “Giselle”. It was one of the special events organised by Australian
Ballet to co-incide with the “Giselle” performances in Canberra.
Those who
did were treated to a fascinating insight into what it takes to become a
world-class ballerina. McAllister’s
questions were insightful. Jones’s answers were disarmingly frank and
enlightening. With her mother and father present in the audience, Jones talked
about her early training in Canberra, her Australian Ballet School experience,
her favourite ballet roles and reflected on some of the world-renowned
choreographers with whom she had worked. She even admitted to pangs of jealousy
when her husband, principal dancer, Daniel Gaudiello, was being a little too
convincing in love scenes with other ballerinas. But perhaps her most telling comment was her
response to a question from McAllister about her future ambitions as a dancer.
After a long pause Jones revealed that although she was confident in her
technique, she was now concentrating on “perfecting the art”.
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| Madeliene Eastoe |
The truth of
that statement sprang to mind while watching Madeleine Eastoe dance her
penultimate Giselle later that evening, prior to her pending retirement from
dancing. Eastoe’s performance was pure art, and as close to human perfection as
one could hope to achieve, especially in the second act where everything seemed
to combine to produce a performance that could only be described as sublime.
In this act
Eastoe was truly transformed into a weightless, ethereal vision. Completely
given over to the role, oblivious of everything except her Albrecht and how she
could protect him. As Albrecht, Kevin
Jackson, matched Eastoe’s mood to perfection, partnering with strength and grace
while dancing and acting as if nothing else mattered. Their first lift, when he holds her high
above his head, seemed so effortless that it drew spontaneous applause from the
spellbound audience.
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| Madeliene Eastoe - Kevin Jackson |
The Wilis
too, commanded by Valerie Tereshchenko’s imperious Myrtha, rose to the
occasion, each move and pose perfectly executed, perfectly in tune with the
mood of the ballet and executed with
breathtaking precision. Together with Peter Farmer’s atmospheric setting, and
William Akers’ magical lighting, the effect created was of watching some gorgeous
antique lithograph which had somehow come to life.
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| Madeliene Eastoe - Kevin Jackson - Artists of the Australian Ballet |
The Canberra
Symphony Orchestra also caught the mood, responding to conductor, Nicolette
Fraillon’s expressive baton with a superb interpretation of Adam’s romantic
score.
Eastoe’s
Giselle is the result of a whole career devoted to perfecting every move and
nuance of the role, as she demonstrated in Act One, where her mad scene was at
times, moving, distressing and terrifying. It seems a tragic fact that, having
reached such perfection, the tyranny of age prevents dancers of this calibre
from continuing to share their art with audiences.
It was a
privilege to have experienced this wonderful performance by Eastoe, so
beautifully supported by those artists of the Australian Ballet who shared it
with her. Despite having seen many “Giselle’s” over the years, this particular
performance will definitely remain a most treasured memory of balletic
perfection.
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| Madeleine Eastoe and Artists of the Australian Ballet |
Personal
Post Script: While waiting for the performance to begin, a woman wearing a
wreath of white flowers in her long, dark hair caught my eye. As she removed her overcoat and took her seat in the front row, I could see
she was wearing a tunic and white long sleeved blouse. She was dressed as
Giselle.
After the
performance, filing out of the theatre, I found myself opposite her and took
the opportunity to compliment her for going to so much trouble with her
dressing. She responded by telling me that, she was now 46, and this was only the second time she had
witnessed a live ballet performance, although she had seen many ballets on
film. She added that she was going
blind, which was why she had bought a ticket in the front row, and had decided
to dress up to make it a really memorable occasion. She confided that she was so moved by the
performance that she was going home to cry some more, before disappearing into the cold Canberra winter night.
All photos by Jeff Busby.