Practically Perfect: "Giselle" by the Kirov Ballet

The Kirov Ballet
Auditorium Theater, Chicago, IL
October 4, 2008 8pm

The ballet "Giselle" is built around illusion: a lover who isn't what he seems, a rival who acts like a friend, a ghostly world of jilted women. But the Kirov Ballet's production staged at the Auditorium Theatre October 2^nd through the 5^th reminded the audience that behind the fantasy were real dancers with extraordinary skills.

In the first act, the peasant heroine Giselle cavorts in her village with her beloved Albert, who is actually a count betrothed to a noblewoman. The innocent Giselle knows nothing of his true identity, and she dismisses her other suitor, Hans, as she and Albert fall further in love. The mood was deftly created with charming sets of humble huts and Irina Press's beautiful costumes with faux laced bodices and tunics in auburns, yellows and greens. But the highlight of the first act in Saturday's evening performance was the Peasant Pas de Deux, where Elena Sheshina's extension and perfectly angled attitude epitomized the lithe lines of Russian technique.

Irma Nioradze, who danced Giselle on Saturday night, exuded the innocence required of her character as well as technical precision. After discovering Albert's deception, Giselle loses her mind and dies of a broken heart. With frightened eyes and fiery hair spilling around her shoulders, Nioradze played the madwoman well, but one couldn't help but feel she was counting the measures till her death. After much staggering around, she collapsed with little pathos, breaking the illusion of a tortured soul yet maintaining the grace expected in a Kirov principal.

It's in the second act that the gorgeous classicism of Perrot's and Petipa's choreography is realized, and here again the dancers showed they weren't specters but superbly talented humans. The act focuses on the Willis-the ghosts or young women who force any man unlucky enough to cross their path to dance himself to death. The opening solo by Myrtha, the Queen of the Willis, danced by Ekaterina Kondaurova, was a tour de force of flawless technique. Her butter-smooth bourées and luxurious port de bras illustrated her ability to perfectly manipulate her limbs, while her pinpoint balance en pointe showed off her absolute control and alignment.

Nioradze and Evgeny Ivanchenko, who danced the evening's Albert, also proved their technical bravura in the second act. They performed the grueling grand pas de deux brilliantly. Nioradze's razor-sharp footwork and Ivanchenko's boundless extension were thrilling, which was fortunate because their emotions were not. Their only failing was the inescapable notion that they were solely concentrating on execution; the sorrow, love and forgiveness that is meant to suffuse the dancing felt like an afterthought. Luckily, the sterling technique distracted the viewer from the lack of feelings.

The corps' coordination was excellent, and the rich accompaniment by the full orchestra completed this beautifully produced performance. It might not have been a perfect illusion, but the Kirov came as close to unreal as possible.