American Ballet Theatre Review: Giselle
October 21, 2021 | David H. Koch Theater – New York City, NY
American Ballet Theatre’s return to Lincoln Center stage was a homecoming for the New York-based touring company with Giselle in all of its technical wonder, timeless style, and haunting forgiveness. Giselle is easily the most romantically classical ballet ABT performs in its repertoire and it felt eerie to have the tragic ballet mark the company’s return to the stage after the pandemic.
Skylar Brandt, stunningly weightless and evocatively ethereal, swept the audience away in her New York premiere in the title role of Giselle.
Before the rising star was promoted to principal dancer over the pandemic, she made her lead debut when the company was on tour with the production at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in February 2020. A few hours before her 2021 Lincoln Center debut, Brandt posted in response to ABT’s Instagram post teasing her debut,
“My heart might just explode,”
and I do believe mine did with her performance, which was notably stronger in Act II.
Brandt, 28, spent countless hours of rehearsal perfecting every detail of the ballet: stylistically, technically, and embodying the character, all of which she is never shy to share on her Instagram stories.
The star stunned in her undeniably old-school approach to the character. Small choices gave nods to her artistic decision to adapt a meek, shy, and demure interpretation of the young, innocent Giselle. Brandt always stood with her torso slightly pitched forward and during Giselle’s iconic Act I solo she held her skirt in one hand to keep it afloat as she careened around the stage in the manège.
Throughout Act II, her extensions remained modest, all of the penchés and arabesques tastefully below 180 or 90 degrees.
Technically, Brandt wowed the audience, which was hardly a surprise. Her hops en pointe in the classic Act I diagonal were spectacularly light as she impressively traversed the entire diagonal of the stage.
Giselle’s entrance as a Willi in Act II is the most notorious 30 second passage in ballet repertoire, as after hopping on one leg while spinning at lightning speed, the ballerina then has to execute a series of lofty jumps on a straight diagonal to finish in a hovering balance in arabesque en pointe.
Brandt did not only spin at a breathtaking speed, but she also managed to defy all physics by cutting her momentum to pull up onto pointe to float a controlled, single attitude turn that made ballet enthusiasts scatter applause mid-solo. Her jumps were buoyant and her port des bras absolutely flawless.
Brandt’s arms were positioned a little farther back in the second act than the in the first. The longer lines flattered her small frame and added to the sensation that she was always floating.
Herman Cornejo, a principal dancer with ABT since 2003, made a gallant and suave Albrecht. His reckless abandon served as a wonderful contrast to Brandt’s calculated technique.
Cornejo’s mime in the first act was delightful, as he played the more comedic moments of the two-timing prince successfully.
However, Cornejo in the second act was pure mastery. His energy radiated throughout the entire house. Remarkably in Albrecht’s solo, Cornejo pulled in for five pirouettes. In the last rotation, he was spinning so quickly and so freely that I thought for certain he was going to fall off of his leg, but instead he arched back and released his working leg into an arabesque, stopping on a dime.
Also, having her unexpected debut for the evening was Stephanie Petersen, formerly Williams, as Myrta. She was not supposed to make the debut until Saturday, but replaced principal dancer Christine Shevchenko on the stage.
I admit that I was sincerely looking forward to Shevchenko perform as Myrta, the most underrated and technically demanding role in classical ballet, as Shevchenko and Brandt on the stage together would be a world of technical perfection and ballet bliss.
Although, I found myself entranced by Petersen. Over the pandemic, she had her first child, and to come back to the stage and to perform – yes, tentatively, but flawlessly nonetheless – was a gem to witness. Her first pass of bourrées on the stage were miraculously light: especially for such a tall frame, I have never seen bourrées so magical. Her feet glided at the speed of hummingbird wings.
The Act I Peasant Pas, performed by Betsy McBride and Jose Sebastian, was too technically clean and careful, and therefore almost forgettable. The casting was odd to me, as McBride’s rounded dancing felt heavy in comparison to Brandt’s old-school flair.
McBride additionally appeared to struggle through single and double turns, which was distracting from an otherwise flawless performance of Giselle. Jose Sebastian executed very clean double tours and quadruples in his solo, which pulled the Pas through, although I was craving more technically and emotionally from the pair.
Overall, I was far more entranced by Act II than the first: which is rare, as Act I is where more of the action takes place.
It may have been pre-show jitters, but I felt as if Brandt was holding back in Act I. I appreciated her honoring Giselle and its heavily stylized nature, but overall, the first act was too old-century: the world did just pass through a pandemic, and it would be exciting to see that a ballet even as classical as Giselle would somewhat evolve with the times.
Audiences are well aware that Brandt can perform technical wonders, and while I appreciated her understatements to keep it in the classical realm, I was hoping she would have delivered. Seeing Brandt stick to single and double turns, although charming and flawless, was slightly disappointing.
I cannot reiterate how flawless Brandt’s iteration of Act II was: her acting was pure, breathless, genuine. Yet Brandt’s interpretation of the infamous mad scene in Act I was too staged and lacked natural moments which usually make me love the scene so.
The corps around Brandt “reacted” to the mad scene with the exact same expressions at the same time: all going to cover their mouths with their hands or all placing a hand over their hearts in concern simultaneously. You could almost anticipate where Brandt was going to go on the stage next because of their reactions, and it diffused some of the drama.
However, as Giselle is so technically pure in its nature, I walked into the theater expecting nothing short of perfection, and ABT once again delivered technically.
Rivaling with La Bayadère, Giselle is one of the most demanding corps de ballet roles in the classical repertoire, from maintaining spacing in the Act I pinwheel, to the iconic Willis’ chugs, to holding a perfect tastefully-below-ninety-degree-arabesque for eternity throughout Act II. Undoubtedly, ABT has the strongest corps de ballet in the country, perhaps not in stylistic versatility or diversity, but the girls performed together as if they are one.
Brandt’s debut was a wonderful success, and New York audiences are anticipating where the talented artist and humble soul will take her career. She is graceful, elegant, and fierce, all packaged in her petite frame, but with it the makings of a true prima ballerina.
Brandt and Cornejo’s bow in front of the golden curtain brought the Thursday evening crowd to roars, and she sweetly placed her head on his shoulder.
This week, Aran Bell, Thomas Forster, and Calvin Royal III made their debuts as Albrecht. Christine Shevchenko and Cassandra Trenary joined Brandt in their debuts as Giselle.
American Ballet Theatre is in the David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for one more week for their fall season presenting mixed bill performances featuring ballets developed through the pandemic, female choreographers Jessica Lang and Lauren Lovette, and their first-ever Pride Nights from October 27th – 31st.
Featured Photo for this American Ballet Theatre review of Skylar Brandt and Herman Cornejo in Giselle. Photo: João Menegussi.
