Young brides jilted before their weddings, dead of broken hearts. Vengeful spirits floating out of graves at midnight. Young men ensnared, then forced to dance themselves to death.
Yes, the legend of the Wilis has the makings of a great Romantic ballet -- "Giselle."
Ballet West brings "Giselle" to Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre, starting Friday. The production is a major event for several reasons: The famous ballet has been newly staged by Ballet West artistic director Jonas Kage after choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. It introduces Utah audiences to a gifted Russian dancer who might become part of Ballet West's company. And there is "Giselle" itself -- one of the most beloved and influential ballets ever created.
Kage's staging is thoroughly grounded in tradition, a compilation of favorite aspects of the many "Giselles" he has studied and performed. Kage danced the role of Albrecht at Zurich Ballet and English National Ballet. During his years as a dancer, he also observed colleagues such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalya Makarova, Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn in their approaches to "Giselle." He drew upon the influences of these stars in his version, combining them with ideas culled from films of earlier versions of "Giselle."
"It's a revolutionary ballet for being the first to really mix dancing and acting into the drama," said Kage. "Before 'Giselle,' ballet was much more about the costumes and intricate steps showing off what the dancers could do. I like to say that 'Giselle' is a work where the acting is danced and the dancing is acted."
The history of the legend behind "Giselle" is shadowy, said Kage, but the German poet Heinrich Heine, whose poetry inspired the creators of the ballet, attributed the spooky story to Slavic legend.
" 'Vile' is a Slavic word for vampire," Kage said. "And we still have the saying 'gives me the willies.' So, in some way, it has remained in our culture."
Stuff of legend: Before the legend could become a ballet, it needed characters an audience could care about. Jules-Henri Vernoy, Marquis de Saint-Georges, created the libretto for "Giselle," inventing a back-story for the legend. The first act tells of an innocent peasant girl, Giselle, who is romanced and abandoned by a nobleman, Albrecht. When Hilarion, a village gamekeeper who loves Giselle, reveals Albrecht's duplicity, Giselle dies of her grief and humiliation. The Wilis wait to initiate her.
"The legend really starts with the second act," said Kage. "They put the first act in -- to put it bluntly -- to get a dead body to work with to start the story."
In the second act, Hilarion keeps vigil at Giselle's forest tomb. The Wilis, alluring in their filmy wedding gowns, surround him and dance his life away, just as the legend requires. Albrecht, who finally realizes that he loves Giselle, nearly suffers a simlar fate when he visits Giselle's grave. He is spared only because Giselle protects him, keeping him barely alive until dawn sends the Wilis floating back to their graves.
The sweetly tragic tale does not end happily. As the sun rises, Giselle returns to the graveyard with the other Wilis, leaving Albrecht to ponder his misery. The story leaves a question mark, said Kage:
"Isn't it amazing how much it takes for some of us men to grow up?"
So Romantic: When "Giselle" had its 1836 premiere in Paris, the Romantic movement was revolutionizing literature and the performing arts. A new passion for emotional expression and individualism was sweeping aside an emphasis on restraint and clarity. "Giselle" -- with its supernatural theme, its melodrama and its concern for the lives of common people -- became the gateway to a new style of ballet. Kage's staging uses the choreography of previous versions, but updates the pantomimed sections of the ballet, making the body language more naturalistic.
"The role of Giselle is very demanding, but [the role of] Albrecht is also demanding, and probably more difficult to make believable," said Kage. "Is he a playboy? A cad? Or does he really love her? It's a very tricky part to play. The best Giselles are the ones who have a clean, strong Albrecht to dance with."
Leading man: On opening night, the role of Giselle will be danced by Maggie Wright, Ballet West's most experienced principal ballerina. Her Albrecht will be Stanislav Belyaevsky, a guest artist with an impressive list of European credentials. Ballet West typically does not bring in guest artists, but Belyaevsky is a special case. Kage is considering him for membership in the company, and Belyaevsky is considering Ballet West. The guest-artist arrangement allows Kage and Belyaevsky to answer their questions about each other.
Belyaevsky began his career at the world-famous Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he was a principal dancer. He first performed the role of Albrecht with the Kirov while still in his teens, a professional coup.
"I started early," said Belyaevsky shyly. The Russian dancer has a handsome face, with large blue eyes. His long-limbed physique and graceful carriage are well-suited for danseur noble roles such as Albrecht. Currently, he is a member of the Finnish National Ballet, but he is interested in dancing in the United States. While researching the major ballet companies in America, he was impressed with Ballet West and contacted Kage via e-mail.
Once more, with feeling: Difficulties with his passport delayed Belyaevsky's arrival in Salt Lake City, forcing him and Wright to work quickly to develop their partnership. He has danced the role of Albrecht many times. Still, lifting an unfamiliar ballerina above his head, making her fly effortlessly through the air in "Giselle's" second-act pas de deux is a tricky business -- part artistry, part physics.
"It's nice if you know each other longer," Belyaevsky said. "But I don't have any problems with Maggie. She is a strong, professional principal ballerina."
In performing "Giselle," getting the story's dramatic moments right is as important as accomplishing the steps, said Belyaevsky. He and Wright are working on the ballet's emotional content -- not just by dancing, but by talking.
"While we watch the rest of cast rehearsing, we just talk about the feelings," Belyaevsky said. "There are technical things we just have to try, but the other things, we have to talk about."
Ballet West artists alternating in "Giselle's" leading roles are Viktorija Jansone and Michiyo Hayashi as Giselle, Seth Olson and Tong Wang as Albrecht and Jeffrey Rogers, René Daveluy and Christopher Ruud as Hilarion.
Russian intrigue, too
* Ballet West presents "Giselle," staged by Jonas Kage after choreography of Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, with a musical score by Adolphe Adam played by Utah Festival Orchestra.
* Opening night is Friday at 7:30 p.m. The run continues Saturday and Oct. 1-4 at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Oct. 4.
* Tickets are $10 to $65. Call 801-355-ARTS or visit http://www.arttix.com.
