Sunday 27th April

We have just finished a week (well actually four days) of stage rehearsals – starting each day at 8.30am with lighting plus orchestra by themselves in a studio in the theatre, and going through the afternoon and evening with dancers, and on Thursday and Friday the first orchestra calls on stage together with the dancers.

We are in France, and I could hardly miss realizing this – an experience I have not had previously in staging works… (I started my dance career in France, so should not be surprised really – although the 35 hour week certainly came in more recently! As dancers at Roland Petit, my first company, we were paid half salary for rehearsals, no classes were supplied, so we paid and went to outside classes each day before rehearsals started – in the carpeted Alhambra Theatre in Paris..)

35 hour weeks

So – yes, all departments work 35 hour weeks, and overtime is not paid; any hours worked have to be given back in kind, and within a limited period – a nightmare of scheduling. I am very lucky, as Mark Pace, a unique person and excellent dancer, who worked with The Australian Ballet in my early years there, is not only still dancing (the roles of Hilarion and Peasant Pas), but also doing the rehearsal scheduling – and he is an as avid long-term planner as I am, so we did each day’s dancer schedule for studio and stage back in September, when I started teaching and rehearsing the soloists. I didn’t realize how useful this was going to be until a couple of weeks ago, when it became clear that the coordination between departments of the Opera du Rhin, is to put it mildly, not …. Well, let’s just say it’s very French!

This starts out with the fact that the Opera du Rhin is based in Strasbourg – BUT the ballet company is based in Mulhouse with its studios there, and it gets funding from the city. This means that the ballet company has to premiere each programme at La Filature, an excellent theatre in the city, with a large and lovely stage, but almost 1/3 bigger than that of the Strasbourg Opera House, and at least twice the size of the theatre in Colmar, cities where each programme is subsequently presented. ..

The long and short of it (well one of them -) is that the 35 hours a week that technical crew, scenery painters, wardrobe staff, theatre staff, orchestra players, lighting crew and dancers work, are all different hours – even when they are supposed to be rehearsing at the same time – it actually can’t happen, or certainly not for the complete length of a stage call.

Costumes and their making

The workshops for both sets and costumes are at the Opera House in Strasbourg – which presents particular problems for costumes, since fittings for the dancers have to take place in Mulhouse, with some staff bringing over costumes as and when they need fitting. In early October, when the design presentation was made in Strasbourg, I was surprised to learn that there would only be one fitting per dancer. No date could be given either for fittings or for a costume parade, or even for when all costumes would be ready for stage rehearsals. It later transpired too that since Ballet du Rhin had not been performing classical ballet for some years, no-one in wardrobe was going to be able to make the romantic tutus for the second act. First we tried to buy some from another company's existing production, for Jean-Marc to use the base, and then design top skirt and decoration for the bodice. However none proved to be suitable, so these were farmed out to a place in Toulouse, who were apparently skilled at making these.

I insisted on a prototype, which was just as well (it was sent to me by courier to Houston, while I was there in late February), as it looked nothing like a ballet tutu, and far more like a wedding dress in the way it was made. However Jean-Marc and I had agreed to try one layer in the midst of the skirt, of a different tinge to the more usual all-white, and on the prototype we tried two, one a bronzy colour, the other a very light green. Houston Ballet administration must have been very surprised to see their incoming artistic associate wondering about in a half brown/half green wedding dress, with walking shoes and hair trailing (asking advice of their wardrobe staff on the making and material used too...). The dress then was couriered to Jean-Marc in London, and subsequently we agreed that we liked the colours, and as previously discussed, would use the bronzy for the 16 corps, the greenish for the 2 lead wilis, a light silvery grey for the Queen of the Wilis, and of course white for Giselle herself. This was ordered, but having been told that there would be NO fittings for these all important costumes, the dancers’ measurements would simply be sent, and only the lengths, organza (well maybe, we haven’t got there yet!) sleeves, wings and decorations could be added after delivery, Jean-Marc and I asked for one more prototype to be made and fitted on at least one of the dancers. This was done, reasonably satisfactorily (apart from bodice having been made shiny side out, when we had always specified that it should be matte outside), in late March.

A few days ago, someone who shall be nameless – admitted that only 18 costumes had been ordered, as it was not realized that the two lead wilis were needing costumes (since it is a small company, the Giselle casts who are not on are lead wilis on other nights….). Emergency ordering was done, and no delivery date could be given. I suddenly remembered that the prototype we had seen on a dancer had the green inlay skirt, and as she was one of the lead wilis, something told me that perhaps the ordering colours had also gone wrong, and sure enough on enquiry, we were told that all the corps and (eventual) lead wilis had been ordered in green……….!!!!) To be continued when costumes arrive…

Set and its making

Jean-Marc and I had discussed ideas for the scenic design, and he came up with stunning images for both first and second acts. We discussed the model in great detail, and as always the question of space for the dancers, and the particular needs for clear straight lines for the wilis on the sides of the stage, giving plenty of space for the principals, and the diagonal for the corps which needs to lead first to Giselle’s grave for the scene when she first appears, and later to where Hilarion is thrown to his death. We had initially been told that the set should be made for the Mulhouse Filature stage, and this was done for the initial presentation in October. Later however, much later, in early February if my memory is correct, we were told that these would need to be rethought, and that the set would need to be of exactly the same dimensions and placed in Mulhouse at exactly the same spots as for the later performances in Strasbourg. With alterations being made on model, on photographs of model, with Jean-Marc sometimes taking Easyjet flights or equivalent to Strasbourg at one or two days' notice, emails flying between us all, technical director between Strasbourg and Mulhouse, Bertrand in Mulhouse, Jean-Marc sometimes in London, Salzbourg or elsewhere, me in Houston, London or Lausanne, trees mysteriously appeared and disappeared on the set, jumping from one side of the stage to the other for no apparent reason, and even from one act to the other…

Even after we were all in the same place – well let’s say hopping between Strasbourg and Mulhouse - after I arrived in mid March to rehearse the dancers and Jean-Marc came for two days here and there, and then full time since last week, each day had surprises. In fact last week, just before Easter, while Jean-Marc was still in London, I was told one evening after rehearsal finished that some part of the set – the houses for first act – would be on stage next morning, and would I go at 8.30am – of course. Later that night I was told that there would actually be nothing for me to see – I should go on the Thursday (before Good Friday) – I thought I would anyway. Just as well – I was begged to come next morning, Wednesday, as this would be the crucial placing of the houses, and the elements of the second act, tomb, (and some stunning mounds and cliffs which would have to be very strategically placed. Once in place, I was told, they would have to stay, as focusing would be done in relation….. Others told me that it was unnecessary, I only needed to go Thursday.. Again, of course I went – by this time it was too late for Jean-Marc to change his plans, he could only come Thursday as he had been asked to do a couple of days before… Fortunately this all important placing was done, and only minor detail had and could be changed when Jean-Marc arrived next day. Only the bare bones were there, no leaves or flowers on the houses of 1st act, mounds and crosses or decorations, and no date could be given as to when any given element would arrive. The wonderful backcloth looked stunning, well it would when lit – but had not been painted according to the design, so it took some stubbornness to make sure that this would be retouched, as would the floor. Great confabs as to whether these should/could be done at the theatre, or whether they would have to be bussed backed to Strasbourg…. And when? Of course retouching would take time – and take time away from producing the missing elements and decorating the rest. Plus if the floor was taken back to Strasbourg, the dancers could not rehearse on stage (no other floor, and dancers don’t work on wood any more), and the lighting could not be properly done either. No agreement reached on this till the following week.

Meanwhile houses in, a tomb in, and the theatre went dark for four days from Thursday evening through till Tuesday after Easter.

The lighting designer, Pascal arrived last Tuesday. A schedule of sorts had been produced between us. But of couse 8.30 means 9amish, and technical crew who move set have different hours and breaks, then lighting crew, and Strasbourg stage staff brought over have different ones from Mulhouse theatre ones….

Despite all these – ahem – small problems, I have to say that the absolute majority of staff are terrific, and could not be more helpful. No doubt this has something to do with Bertrand, the ballet director, who is often to be found standing in for Giselle, corps de ballet of wilis complete with practice tutus and veils that I have bought (since the promised ones have still as of 27th April, not arrived) , Albrecht or Hilarion, so that Pascal can look at the lighting on a body of sorts. This is truly lovely, as I find the same helfulness from almost all the staff that are present at any one time - being willing to do each other's jobs, like moving a house or tables or whatever, and even allowing us dance people to do so when those supposed to do so are not there. This is unheard of in some theatres, where if you touched a marguerite/daisy when the props man was not there, you would be practically thrown out of the theatre! I have also made friends with the props man in fact, Eric, who is in the process of discovering how to make the marguerite/daisy work for Giselle to pluck. His first tries with little spokes on the petals going into a green foam heart were not appreciated, as once plucked, the little metal spokes were picked up on the soles of the male dancers' ballet slippers…. He is getting to realize that the old-fashioned cutting of paper or material ones each day is the best system, if somewhat time consuming.

Like others, even some of the dancers who wondered why a contemporary if classically based company would be restaging “that old museum piece”, as rehearsals proceed he is getting lured into the world of Giselle.

Rehearsals and different casts

Because the dancers here have not done a traditional full-length ballet since Bertrand started his directorship, he was anxious that they should truly have enough rehearsal time to feel comfortable with the style, and – pointe shoes, which the company do not use in all programmes. In fact the last work they performed late March was in flat shoes – and - entirely improvised – how is that for a radical change! So I started working with the principals and soloists for two weeks in September, during which I managed to teach most of the roles of Giselle, Albrecht, Hilarion, the Peasant Pas, Myrtha, and also enough of Wilfred to make sure I had the right cast (a most important character, hardly ever cast or played as he could be – after all he is the only person on stage who knows what is going on all through the action…- the best I have ever seen, was Thomas Whitehead at the RB, last year – excellent and true portrayal). In fact Mark Pace, knowing me from Australia days, was laughing at me and saying I was worse than ever, as I got seven men to go through the first entrance to see if I could discover a young Wilfred as well as the two excellent ones I knew I had who also perform Hilarion….(I was renowned for putting on many numbers of casts – but we had 187 performances a year AND fantastic dancers who deserved it AND time to rehearse them properly!). I have ended up with one of those understudying, and using just my two “grown up” ones (I don’t really think young Wilfreds work, they would rather be doing some “real” dancing usually, and don’t understand the importance.

The reaction of the dancers to hearing they were to perform Giselle in a traditional version was, I gather, somewhat mixed. A mixture of “why would we, a contemporary-looking company, want to go back to that museum piece” – and others, but also the same ones - of “ but we won’t be able to do it well, it’s scary – we haven’t done classical corps work having to dance absolutely together, and standing on the sides in lines, on pointe etc etc.."

When I returned mid March to start in earnest Bertrand and I talked to the company. I thought Bertrand rather overstressed the fact that they had not done a classic before and made them more scared, while explaining very well why he felt it important for them at this point in the company’s life. So I told them what I truly believe – that it would actually be very suitable to them, as long as they approached it like they do any contemporary work that comes their way – learn a different style, way of moving and musical phrasing, try and understand what the choreographer or person staging is looking for – and then make it their own. And the very reason that this company can perform it outstandingly is that they are used to being supremely versatile and adapting the way they move – so there is no reason that they should, as can often be the case of dancers within a very classically-based repertoire company, automatically fall into the pattern of the way they were schooled to do a pique arabesque, a glissade or whatever step of classical dance. I also explained that, for me, the challenge is the communication with the audience of the story, the mood, and the emotion – through an integration of the dance steps, the mime and the acting. No ballet lends itself better to this than Giselle, through its very structure, despite the odd fiddlings and additions here and there choreographically. It is so vital that the corps, as well as all the character parts, are done with conviction and an understanding of their importance. How often do we see excellent principals, surrounded by dancers who clearly think they are no more than scenery…

All the dancers in the company are strong technically. A number of them come from French conservatoires, and clearly these are producing.. There are some foreigners, so the schooling is indeed diverse. But by any standards they are good to excellent classical as well as “contemporary” dancers.

There is a great atmosphere in the company, and excellent work ethic – to the point that they asked Bertrand if they could work on the 1st May, Labour day, which is the free day before the premiere (the dress rehearsal had to be the day before because of this). The whole company – not just the principals – unusual to say the least!

Bertrand and I knew from when we first talked about my staging Giselle that Stephanie Madec would be cast with Sylvain Boruel. She had been my Aurora in Rose Adage, and I had worked with Sylvain when Glen Tetley was out staging Voluntaries. Steph is a really lovely dancer, beautiful girl with a HUGE jump – a great asset for Giselle. Sylvain is a born Prince, very handsome and aristocratic-looking. I am trying to get him to show a little sense of humour in the first act – to let us see other sides of Albrecht’s character, and it is coming – otherwise he can fall into the stereotype of how he imagines others imagine Albrecht visually.. He needed encouragement too, to really lose his temper with Hilarion, and not to be aware of standing in “classical” positions. When he approaches it as he would a contemporary work, it is perfect. Being a Prince by nature, he only has to pretend to be a peasant, not the problem of portraying a Prince pretending to be a peasant!

Stephanie Madec and Sylvain Boruel
Photograph courtesy Ballet du Rhin ©

Another cast is Shannon Lilly, a lovely American dancer who used to be in Northern Ballet Theatre. Peter Parker, who performs Hilarion and Wilfred, is also from that company – so it is hardly a surprise that they are both superlative actors! It is so wonderful to see that. From the first rehearsal, it was clear that not only had Shannon performed Giselle before, but that the character, or her take on it, was all there, and living, that is not a once-and-for-all decided in advance, but already lived differently at each rehearsal. Her mad scene one of the best I have seen. As for her Albrecht, he took a little while for us to find, although he was right there from the beginning… Alexandre van der Hoorde, is a very good dancer, (he and Steph are a couple in real life), but neither Bertrand nor I knew whether he could hold such a big role portrayal-wise. First rehearsal, and it was obvious that here was an instinctive natural actor – so the two of them are quite a partnership.

Both Shannon and Steph truly listen to suggestions too, and it is amazing to see not only their portrayal of 1st act flourish and individualise, but their 2nd act stylistically marry with the all-important emotion which is so hard to get across – I think partly because many Giselles believe, being a wili that they must be cold (which in turn makes them aloof). I believe Giselle, only just having become a wili, is only half formed as such, and is not cold – besides when Albrecht is there, it is the depth of her love for Albrecht that needs to be ever-present, and that comes through her eyes as much or even more than through her movement. Her soul must come through her eyes.

Shannon and Alex’s Hilarion is an Italian, Pasquale Nocera (known as Lino), quick tempered and volatile (as a performer I mean!); he is also ideal for the role.

We talked a lot with those doing the principal and soloist roles during those September weeks about the characters and the need to know who they are, where they came from, and what their relationships are with the other people in the story, and I asked them to find these from a number of possibilities or as they could imagine them. In this way, each cast brings something different. I don’t believe in just showing one way of interpreting, miming, and dancing the ballet. It is often through what different dancers bring that I discover yet other facets of Giselle which I did not suspect where there.

Mark Pace is first cast Hilarion. At first I couldn’t make out what was happening: he looked uncomfortable walking, running etc, and then I asked him how old his Hilarion was, and he said “old, at least 45”, so I suggested he play him at his own age, eg 32, and all fell into placel!

First cast Myrtha is Dorothee Delabie, another huge jumper: there are quite a few in the company, a rarity these days for women. Dorothee, Caroline Allaire and Christelle Molard, the other casts, have been rehearsing daily after class, that stamina-fiend first solo – almost over-rehearsing it, even by my book! Again all are excellent, and different..

In September, I had also done quite a lot of work trying to find the right cast(s) of the Lead Wilis. I care rather desperately (maybe too much ) about them, but I think it is because I was spoiled in Australia with the most exquisite stylists one could imagine, Miranda Coney and Lisa Bolte, who set the standard for these roles for ever (in fact even when they were principals I could not resist having them perform these roles when they were not Giselle herself!).

One of the Ballet du Rhin dancers I was coaching in the lead Wili solo, clearly had no feel for the style at all as far as I could see, despite being an excellent dancer: stiff hands, broken wrists, so unbeautiful a line, and even unmusical. She had performed the principal role in Voluntarie very well indeed, and I felt bad, but there did not seem to be anything for her in Giselle apart from corps, and even that I was concerned about….

This is a nice story: when I came back in March one of the three casts of Giselle I had worked with had become pregnant, and had had to pull out – and she was also first cast of Lead Wilis – so I had to look again at possibilities. Sybile Obre, the aforementioned, was still down as understudy – and when it was her turn to rehearse I could not believe my eyes, here was a complete understanding of the romantic style, look and musicality – beautiful arms, head and neck line, movement and that hovering look that one sweats blood to get (and boy must she have in the interim!). So voila, there was first cast for my lead Wili, together with whichever Giselle was not performing (the company being so small, the Giselles do both Lead Wilis and Peasant Pas on days they don’t do Giselle – what a workload!).

Well that’s not the end of the story – we still did not have a third cast Giselle, and I had not seen one, so Boyd Lau, who was third cast Albrecht, was going to perform later with Steph, the first cast Giselle. Then a few days into the rehearsal period I was watching the end of class – and I caught sight of Sybile, with her hair in two little bunches – and I did a double take – bingo, Giselle maybe 3rd cast, certainly should understudy – she has the style and feeling for 2nd act, and suddenly I could see her in the first act too (remember Ulanova with those two little plaited bunches?) – spoke to Bertrand, he smiled and said I was doing like almost every choreographer has done in relation to Sybile, first she is out of everything, and then right IN!

So she started learning the principal role, and working whenever there was time available – and she is extraordinary! A born actress, absolutely no preconceived ideas about Giselle, and her reactions are so natural, sometimes so “Giselle” that one wonders why one has never seen that before – and at others so completely not right but so outrageously so, that it is also almost wonderful, and anyway she is completely open to changing what does not work. The amazing thing to me, after having worked with so many dancers in so many different companies, is that she does not use any self criticism, she just goes for it by instinct, no self-consciousness, before during or after. I have never met that to this degree – although generally speaking this company has got this wonderful courage dramatically as well as dance-wise – to GO for it, and THEN work out what to keep and what to leave in the wings! I discovered a few days ago that Sybile and Boyd are also a couple offstage – and I don’t think they have danced together before – and they are loving it! I have rehearsed them a few times now, and Boyd is not only a wonderful ebullient dancer (he does first cast Peasant Pas), but another instinctive as well as highly intelligent actor.

Enough for today – I must go to rehearsal in the studio – the stage is being used for repainting the scenery and floor (the theatre is actually supposed to be closed on a Monday) so we are going to mainly do notes and set the curtain calls with the dancers, and go over the famous hops in arabesque for the corps and things like that. Some little bits on reactions in first act. I got them the other day by going to the centre of the room and saying, “OK, now enough of second act – come around and let me tell you a story” – as they gathered around, I said “right, got you! --- that is how you need to react when Berthe wants to tell you her story in the first act!”