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Giselle, you are not a girl’s girl.
You might be from another era, when “love at first sight” means you saw each other literally once, but all that mess could’ve been avoided if you’d had Lana del Rey’s music to ease your broken heart. That part’s not your fault. What is your fault is trading in your vengeful ghost powers. For what, a man with a sculpted ass and thighs that could crush a coconut? Not only did his catfish antics land you in that grave, but girl: He’s got money and servants and still couldn’t even get you a tombstone? You had sticks like the Pet Sematary. It’s upsetting me, and our homegirls!
Let’s back up.
Oregon Ballet Theatre’s third show of this season, Giselle, would have opened Friday, Feb. 14, had Portland snow not decided otherwise. The Sunday, Feb. 16, afternoon matinee drew to Keller Auditorium a healthy mix of older patrons, families with young girls, and fashionistas hopping onto the ballet flats revival. Casting shifts for different performances—depending on the day, Carly Wheaton, Jessica Lind or Eva Burton will portray Giselle—so it’s honestly worth coming back twice for the sumptuous set design, gorgeous costuming and on-point en pointe. A product of its time, Adolphe Adam’s Giselle debuted in 1841 as a tale about the redemptive powers of love and forgiveness to conquer death and rage. Valentine’s Day was the one day in Giselle’s run when this message or how it plays out makes any modern sense.
Giselle (Burton) lives in a painstakingly painted 16th century German forest village that looks like it’s due on set for a classic MGM movie with her single mother, Berthe (Lisa Kipp). It’s grape harvest season and life’s not so bad. Giselle finds herself in a love triangle with Loys (John-Paul Simoens) and Hilarion (Benjamin Simoens). Hilarion finds Loys, a newcomer to the village, suspicious as hell and tries to warn Giselle, but she falls even harder for Loys, whom her mother also doesn’t want her to date. Classic.
During the local grape harvest festival, visited by a party of touring nobles, Hilarion exposes Loys’ lies. He’s really Count Albrecht, and who could that be in the crowd but his fiancée, Lady Bathilde (Lauren Flower), who bonded with Giselle like Ariana Madix and Raquel Leviss? Messy! Giselle goes all Nosferatu Lily-Rose Depp and dies of a broken heart, for she had a heart condition, you see.
Which brings us back to your grave, Giselle. You’re Disney princess-coded and yet none of the other peasants sprang to get you an actual tombstone, let alone the very rich man who killed you? You probably ruined the Oktoberfest girl’s trip to Miami.
Albrecht and Hilarion come back at night to mourn Giselle, but clearly no one warned them about the man-hating Wilis, the vengeful ghosts of women betrayed in life by their lovers. Giselle is now one of them, taking part in an utterly captivating group veil dance that alone is worth the price of admission, along with whoever in the OBT Orchestra works the triangle and chimes.
Myrtha the Wilis Queen (Kangmi Kim) and her spectral sisterhood trap Hilarion and Albrecht and announce that the category is dance to death. Hilarion drowns in an icy lake, but Giselle’s love lets Albrecht live to see the sunrise. Instead of being like Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch and queening out as hard as possible, Giselle goes to heaven.
Giselle’s two acts felt refreshingly brisk without ever seeming like anything was missing. The dance of the Wilis is a sensitive manipulation of delicate cloth with slow, sweeping arm movements, activated further by the stage moonlight’s glow. The ballet makes it possible to soak in some high culture and still feel energized once the show ends. The plot is the type of bad movie that friends love to bond over, but the production quality is nothing to joke about. Burton’s only advertised lead as Giselle is over, so it’s Lind’s and Wheaton’s turns next to shine.
Act 1’s show within a show was as lively and joyous as a real party, and boasted the full size of the Keller’s Broadway-ready stage. Wunderbar costuming for both the dancers and the medieval German nobles felt period authentic, and intricate set pieces fade out the rest of the audience. There were a few wobbly landings during the first act, but the second act was start-to-stop perfection.
Learning that this cast will never be seen again makes those minor imperfections a reminder that we’re watching a live show that can’t be duplicated. The technical quibbles and kvetching about the plot are nothing compared to how much heart all of OBT poured into the one Albrecht broke.
SEE IT: Giselle at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 503-248–4335, portland5.com. 7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 21–22. $32–$163.