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There are many versions of Giselle and although Adventures in Motion Pictures have yet to have a crack, it's a ballet that has had more than its fair share of reworking. Chief was perhaps Mats Ek's version in a Mental Hospital which I'm looking forward (in some trepidation) to seeing in Edinburgh this summer. There has also been Christopher Gable's Northern Ballet Theatre version set in a 20th century, war-torn ghetto and Dance Theatre of Harlem's version in the slavery of the 19th century deep south.

So on hearing of Sylvie Guillem's production for Finnish National Ballet (her first as well) one immediately wondered what she would do with it. Your mind wanders to Evidentia and all the modern choreography that she so much enjoys. But then again, she is a great interpreter of the classics and tackles her roles with love and knowledge of their greatness. What would she do indeed?

It would be nice to see it I thought, but it's a long way to go... on the other hand if I could just get to interview Sylvie as well!?

Treasure that she is, Guillem agreed to an interview, just leaving me scrabbling around for cheap flights (none) and tickets - would there be any left? Heidi Almi, the Finnish National Ballet (FNB) Press Manager, rapidly sorted me out and told me how very lucky I was to get an interview with Guillem. And Heidi also took time out to show me around their lovely Opera House, stopping and talking to those in the company as we went. Nice people.

The Finnish Opera House building was finished as recently as 1993 and like our own Covent Garden's rebuilding was only the result of decades of pushing and persistent personal campaigning. The Helsinki House is however all new and occupies a glorious position overlooking park and water. The building itself is mainly tiled in white and quite angular in design. Amid all the February snow it looked both at home and somewhat alien: acknowledging the real world and overlaying the best of man's endeavour on it. Good grief doesn't that sound pretentious! Anyway it's splendid modern, clear architecture with lovely detailing inside and out.

Overall about 600 people work in the Opera House of which the ballet company is just over 80 - about the same size as the Royal Ballet. The dancers' facilities are amazing with 3 large rehearsal spaces (some are the same size as the stage) and a changing room, complete with showers etc, one for every 3 dancers. Loads of room! They also have their own shoe shop - which produces their pointe shoes as well - and there are large woodwork shops, metal shops, dyeing rooms and a massive stage, with the stage space replicated to each side and behind as well. In fact the floor for the dancers is floated in from one of the wings when needed.

The auditorium itself is all natural wood and sophisticated white. At about 1300 seats, it's roughly the same size as Sadler's Wells, but Helsinki is much grander and more sophisticated in a design sense. The public spaces are also grand in scale and there are also places to sit and natter - bliss

There are also the most fabulous and largest cloakroom facilities I have ever seen with many, many attendants. It's rather cold in Finland (Ballet.co is a mine of information at times I know!) and everybody dresses in big coats, hats and snug boots and all this gets abandoned for a much more sophisticated and suave look for the performance. And after the performance it's amazing to see everybody changing their shoes. Very odd. Any Finns must have had a heart attack when they visited the old Covent Garden and saw our 6' cloakroom 'facility'!

Jorma Uotinen, the Finnish National Ballet Director, might well be pleased with the facilities, his funding (of course he could do with more but over 60% public funding is not something to complain about), his company and their repertoire. They seem to have a broader mix than perhaps do our ballet companies and for example incorporate some of the things that Rambert might do in the UK. Hopefully their discussions will work out and we will see them in London before too long.

For the performance I was in the middle of the stalls - site line perfection. And perfect English as well from those I sat next to and who were seeing the production again. They appreciated Guillem's naturalistic style, echoing what she had said in interview. Guillem also said that nearly all of Act 1 and much in Act 2 had changed. Well here goes, I thought as the music struck-up.

Photo: Kari Hakli

Act 1 is indeed very 'real' and natural. It's a real village you see and not just the usual couple of houses and stereotyped characters. Although Guillem's Giselle is set nowhere in particular, it has the look of Southern Spain to me with rectangular white houses, flat roofs and 'white' stucco walls. The set constantly adapts and at times you find yourself almost wandering around the village, down alley ways and into courtyards and small squares. It's clever without being gimmicky. To add to all the realism, there are small boys and girls playing, a teenager eating an apple (really eating and chomping away) and real village folk drinking real fluid from real glass (-type objects). Could it even be red wine, one wonders?

In the village there is fun, grape picking, clothes washing, grape treading, frolicking, dancing, drinking and a village idiot. Only the donkey equivalent of 'Star'(*) is missing it seems. The Act 1 mime is changed, with somebody using sheets from a washing line to look like a ghost, much to the merriment of all except Bertha - Giselle's mother. Bertha incidentally was played by Sari Sadik who looked and performed amazingly like Gerd Larsen; a lovely performance and it brought back some pleasant memories.

The colours are muted and hazy (Southern Spain again) apart from the hunting party which is all bright and rich in colour. One thing I noticed were the pointe boots for the village girls. I'm not sure I have ever seen pointe boots before. I don't think I have. I guess you can do things like this when you have your own shoe makers in house.

Because everybody in the village is dressed differently, and yet broadly the same, it is sometimes difficult to pick out and track the leading characters - Guillem excepted of course. Perhaps for those who know the company better this is not a problem. It certainly put me back to 'square one' and the confusion that many feel when seeing a classic for the first time. Guillem is striving for a clear and more natural telling but I think there is much that I nearly missed, and I know the story after all! But that might be the problem of course and newcomers might see the plot much more readily (...possibly).

Sylvie Guillem and Kare Lansivuori in Act 1 photographer Kari Hakli

It has a rather MacMillan feel about it all, but more so, with even more detail to seduce the eye. Act 1 is certainly not a star vehicle or ego trip for Guillem, or anybody in fact. Giselle and Albrecht - danced by a slightly nervous, if handsome and Prince-like, Kare Lansivuori - frolic and have fun. They actually kiss like real people in love, for goodness' sake. But it is all done in the context of regular village life rather than 'sitting' above it as a focal point.

Into all this 'normalness' enter the hunting party. I just loved the way they all settled down at the table which is groaning with drinks and 'nibbles' and then proceed to have a whale of a party (real drinking and eating again) while village life goes on for a while. There is a pas de deux, but that seems to be the only really set-piece dance in Act 1.

So what you have is a less formally classical way of telling the first act story. I very much enjoyed it and want to see it a few more times. Certainly all the drama that Guillem wanted was in there - in tone it's as if the Royal Ballet were to inherit a good Northern Ballet Theatre production. Some might think this is a masked criticism or slur. It is not.

The end of the Act 1 mad scene has changed some but there is still the sword, the taunting and the running about and final embrace of mother and Albrecht. I'm not sure if it is the best Giselle I've seen of Guillem's - it's a while since I last saw her do it - but it seems less melodramatic than perhaps we are used to. I was very moved for sure, if not totally removed to another time and place.

Act 2 is of course the reason most people go to Giselle and changing it is not something lightly done. There are quite a few differences but Guillem's Act 2 is less of a departure from the norm than her Act 1. The biggest change is that the Wilis no longer sport the stern looks of the desperately unhappy and vengeful but instead go about their work with a happy smile as if they had been on some kind of sales awareness and customer care course!

Photo: Kari Hakli

Guillem makes great play of going back to the original story in this respect (see the interview) which apparently has been somewhat lost in most, if not all, the current productions. At first it seems odd, but I think it fits well and is better. Happiness in such horrible work is much more scary (think of Lucifer) and men, being what we are, are bound to be more easily ensnared and hooked by such a seductive manner.

Another area to benefit from the review of source material was the music. David Garforth arranged the music (and conducted on the night) and had access to Adam's original score in Paris - complete with Adam's hand annotations. "A magical experience" summed it up pretty well I thought! Garforth conducts in Monte Carlo and worked on Giselle with Guillem last summer when she normally retreats to her house in the South of France. The orchestra, by the way, were excellent (ROH orchestra take note) and it's only a shame that I'm not enough of the musician to be able to quote the changes to the music in returning more to the original.

Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, was danced by a glorious Minna Tervamaki: not unlike Darcey Bussell in stature. Beautiful in every respect (line, timing, smoothness..) and with an effortless jump. Tervamaki also dances the role of Giselle, something I would love to see her do another time. If she is free to guest then I hope somebody at the Royal Ballet or English National Ballet is having a word (sorry FNB!). The corps, judging by the names, are more or less 100% Finnish and have a uniformity of look and height we have long since lost. I'm a real sucker for this I have to say. Only in some of the lines was there some raggedness. FNB tend to have a Russian look and their backs are used much more.

The Act 2 designs for the woodland glade are much more stylised than those in Act 1. The trees are represented by long poles that at first lean over the clearing and then mysteriously move, giving more room and adding a magic feel. The lighting is also very subtle and atmospheric. You do feel as if this is taking place in a very large forest and we are all very lost.

Photo: Kari Hakli

Guillem sails her way through the choreography and her acting is exceptional. I still don't really understand why people are belatedly cottoning on to what a terrific actress she is: I have always thought of her as a born actress, under that amazing technique. And with such a secure technique she concentrates on acting and drawing us into Giselle's plight and enduring love.

The thing I missed was the dance between Giselle and Albrecht in which he 'sees' her - goes to embrace her - only to find she is not there. I find it one of the most poignant of all ballet moments. On the other hand great use was made of the magnificent depth of the stage at times and particularly for the final exit of Giselle - she went back further and further into the gloom until totally lost in the blackness of the forest. A spellbinding end - totally spellbinding.

Overall I very much enjoyed the Guillem/FNB Giselle: its freshness in Act 1 and the dancing of Act 2 particularly. The designs, by Ramon B Ivars (based in Barcelona) are great and there's a similarity with our own Lez Brotherston's excellent work. It's a different production for sure but it is sympathetically done and I don't think purists should feel hard-done-by. But some inevitably will of course.

Like many, I've been raised on Peter Wright productions, which I dearly love, and find it hard to say, on a single showing, that Guillem's Giselle represents some new benchmark. But it's a good and different production that I'm sure other companies will adopt and Guillem has clearly demonstrated that she can be more than trusted with a classic. That above all is what I take away - we will see more productions by her I'm sure.

Hopefully you will also get the opportunity to see the FNB Giselle, since they regularly tour overseas and there is talk of them coming to the UK in the not too distant future. And if you find yourself near Finland (tricky I know!) you just have to drop in and see them. Certainly they are a company I would love to see more of.

(*) 'Star' is the delightful Shetland Pony that the Royal Ballet use in La Fille mal Gardee'performances.