Erina Takahashi
Giselle
From the archive:
Akram Khan's
Giselle
London
1 hour 55 minutes including one interval
Age guidance: 8+
The iconic ballet, reimagined
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Following acclaimed performances around the world, and sold-out shows in Manchester and Bristol in 2023, Akram Khan’s Giselle returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London for the first time in five years.
As the curtain rises, dancers in shadow push against a forbidding wall. From that moment on, this ground-breaking production stuns with powerful images.
Mesmerising choreography, atmospheric lighting by Mark Henderson and a towering set by Academy Award-winner Tim Yip conjure up a condemned factory and the vengeful ghosts that appear in its shadows.
The ominous score by Vincenzo Lamagna – adapted from the original by Adolphe Adam and performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic – intensifies the story’s emotional impact.
See the greatest romantic ballet and its story of love, betrayal, and redemption, boldly reimagined.
It may well rank as a masterpiece of 21st century danceThe Mail on Sunday
Friends of English National Ballet enjoy 20% off on tickets for the London performances. Become a Friend of English National Ballet (T&Cs apply).
Stream Akram Khan’s Giselle on Ballet on Demand.
Main image: English National Ballet dancers in Akram Khan’s Giselle © Laurent Liotardo.
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Audio-described performance
The performance on 28 September at 2:30pm will be audio-described. There are a limited number of Stalls seats reserved for partially sighted patrons, and headsets available for those wishing to listen to the audio description, please email tickets@sadlerswells.com if you wish to book these options.
To accompany the Audio Described performance, visually impaired patrons can go on a Touch Tour before the performance. Your tour guide will take you backstage, or onto the stage itself, to feel costumes and pieces of the set and learn more about the production. To find out touch tour times, please contact the Sadler’s Wells Ticket Office at tickets@sadlerswells.com or by calling 020 7863 8000.
MEET THE PRINCIPAL CAST
Please note that casting is subject to change
CREATIVE TEAM
Akram Khan
Direction and Choreography
Tim Yip
Visual and Costume Design
Vincenzo Lamagna
Composition and Sound Design, after the original score by Adolphe Adam
Gavin Sutherland
Orchestration
Mark Henderson
Lighting Design
Ruth Little
Dramaturgy
Andrej Petrovic
Assistant Choreographer
Mavin Khoo
Repetiteur
Yvonne Gilbert
Sound Designer
Synopsis
Act I
Giselle is one of a community of migrant garment factory workers (the Outcasts). Dispossessed of their jobs by the factory’s closure, and separated by a high wall from their hopes of livelihood and security, the Outcasts function as little more than exotic entertainment for the factory Landlords.
In Act I, the wealthy Albrecht disguises himself as an Outcast in order to visit his lover Giselle. But his presence is noted by Hilarion – Giselle’s would-be lover – a shape-changing ‘fixer’ who trades with and mimics the Landlords for his own and his community’s profit.
Albrecht’s wooing of Giselle is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of the Landlords. Seeing his fiancée Bathilde among them, Albrecht tries to hide. Giselle recognizes the fine dress worn by Bathilde as the product of her own factory labour. The Outcasts dance for the Landlords until Albrecht and Hilarion disturb the Ceremony with their conflict.
Bathilde’s father confronts Albrecht, forcing him to return to Bathilde and to their world. When he submits and returns to Bathilde, Giselle is driven mad with grief. The Landlord gives a command, and the Outcasts encircle Giselle. When the crowd disperses, her lifeless body is revealed. Denying any responsibility, the Landlords retreat beneath the Wall.
Act II
A wrecked, abandoned ‘ghost’ factory is revealed – a place where Giselle and her female co-workers have labored, and many have died. Here Albrecht, grieving for Giselle, confronts and condemns the Landlords.
Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis (ghosts of factory workers who seek revenge for the wrongs done to them in life), enters, driving Albrecht away. She summons Giselle from her lifeless body into the realm of death, to join the company of the remorseless Wilis.
Hilarion enters to mourn at Giselle’s grave. The Wilis surround him, demanding retribution for Giselle’s death, and Hilarion is brutally killed.
Albrecht returns and becomes aware of Giselle’s presence. The lovers are reunited on the threshold between life and death. Breaking the cycle of violence – and defying Myrtha’s command – Giselle forgives Albrecht and releases him into life.
The Wilis depart with Giselle, and Albrecht, now an outcast from his own community, is left alone by the Wall.
Credits
Co-produced by Sadler's Wells and Manchester International Festival
Supported by the Giselle Production Syndicate
Meet the principal cast
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