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Provoking a keen awareness of ballet’s versatility as a genre, Giselle is often described as the ‘ballerina’s Hamlet,’ due to the dramatic range of emotions and technical expertise, demanded of the principal dancer. The mad scene, performed in Act I by Necessary, was enthralling and sent shivers throughout the audience as her eyes seemed to stare in disbelief – portending ensuing madness – into the heart of each spectator. Her technique was ample, yet dainty, and commanded the stage. A singular dramatic effect also occurred in Act II, when Sarah Hillmer as Myrthe, Queen of the Willis, first rose onto the stage in a cloud of mist, preparing to summon the Willis maidens to dance in the forest glade. Hillmer’s technique is less musically inclined than Necessary’s all the while lending a forceful presence to the character of Myrthe which is compelling. Throughout Act II, Hillmer and Necessary maintained a complementary balance of musicality, technique, and dramatic presence through their performance of the lead female roles
 

Giselle’s libretto is derived from a variety of sources. Viewed as the birth of the romantic genre, this story of the peasant girl who falls in love with a prince, only to be betrayed by him, before dying of a broken heart, was originally conceived by the librettist Saint-Georges and the poet/critic Theophile Gautier. Gautier, himself inspired by the German romantic poet Heinrich Heine, was an admirer of ballerina Carlotta Grisi who performed the lead role in 1841. Gautier placed Grisi’s performance in the role on a par with those of contemporaries Marie Taglioni and Fanny Ellsler, even though the libretto realized only a part of the story originally envisioned. The libretto as text harbors a unique symbolism through the motif of flowers, through which a language of love is accented through scenes wherein flowers symbolically parallel dramatic action. Thus, the plucking of daisies and scattering of petals define, in Act I, the ambivalence of true love whereas, in Act II, the graceful throwing of lilies across the stage, in the form of a cross portray a flower-language signifying the reigning purity of love and forgiveness.

Containing many elements of a traditional fairy tale McFall’s choreography attempts to embellish original choreography by Perrot and Corralli, and features a series of stunning solo showpieces for Necessary as Giselle and Christian Clark as Albrecht (Act I), and beautifully balanced classical scenes of traditional ballet blanc for Sarah Hillmer as Myrthe, and Necessary (in Act II). Coached by Violette Verdy, formerly of the Paris Opera Ballet, French influence in port de bras and gesture were evident as was the use of prop in relation to scenic space and placement of scenery. Group formations en diagonale in Act II were fashioned by a corps de ballet technically supreme in unison, creating a dramatic effect that held Atlanta’s audience spellbound.