NATALIA OSIPOVA REUNITES WITH DAVID HALLB ERG IN ABT'S "GISELLE" MAY 18, 2018

Natalia Osipova in ABT's "Giselle"

TWO VERY DIFFERENT VICTORIES

Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg Reunite in American Ballet Theater's "Giselle" at the Met

May 18, 2018

Tonight Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg were reunited on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in a single performance of American Ballet Theater's "Giselle." Numerous luminaries of ballet could be spotted in the audience, among them Diana Vishneva, who had just given birth to a baby boy five days earlier. Osipova and Hallberg share the same birthday, May 18th, and the audience couldn't resist singing them "Happy Birthday." For Hallberg, it was a victory to dance the role of Albrecht again after a 2 1/2 year convalescence following foot surgery with complications. He is back in good form, though not yet in full force, and thankfully took care to guard his instrument by relying on showmanship rather than straining himself unnecessarily. Osipova's victory was in the response she received from the audience after her three year absence from ABT. People were ecstatic from the moment she stepped on stage. She has arrived at that golden phase in her career in which she can do no wrong. And they let her know it. She could have stood there and scratched her nose and the next day the papers would have read, "Natalia Osipova work a nostril." The elation of the crowd was so endearing it reminded me of the heady days of the ballet boom of the 1960's and early 70's.

Osipova and Hallberg in ABT's "Giselle" Act I

This feisty prima ballerina assoluta has refined her approach to the role of Giselle in previous years, now introducing a naturalism that borders on something straight out of the Actors Studio. Her innkeeper's daughter is a young woman with real hopes and dreams and a heart condition--something she introduces earlier in Act I than any other ballerina I have ever seen. Although her eyes lock dramatically with Count Albrecht's when the two first meet, he is obligated to pursue her with empathy rather than ardor--or risk coming across like a total rake. When he does make advances, Giselle runs from his side like a girl who is hoping to catch the next coach to the nunnery. David Hallberg had his work cut out for him as a result of all of Osipova's unconventional approach to her character. How is he supposed to seduce the inn keeper's daughter if she won't let him touch her? Always a good sport, he keeps smiling and enjoys whatever crumbs she throws his way. The romance that transpires between them appears to take place in her mind; she is often caught gazing vaguely in front of her or ducking out of the way. Needless to say, no sparks fly in Act I but suddenly Osipova reels off a round of piqué turns upstage following the hops on pointe done diagonally downstage. Starting right on the beat, she swiftly circles the top arc alone, her feet flying and her pointe work as smooth as butter, finishing up the sequence in a matter of seconds--the audience goes wild! Deliberately building suspense, Osipova has just given us a little taste of what is to come in Act II. She seems to say, "Hang in there. Act I can't last forever." This is a very unusual strategy to employ in a ballet that provides endless opportunities to create heightened realities, run the emotional gamut from A to Z, explore sex and love amid the rigid class disparity of medieval Europe...and delivers us into a supernatural world where deceased girls who have become Wilis wait at night in the woods and stalk the lovelorn cads who put them in their graves. 

Hallberg and Osipova in Act II of ABT's "Giselle"

To start, traditionally, Giselle is a raving beauty whose warmth draws others to her, continually making her the center of attention. This is why the ballet opens with two men beating down her door first thing in the morning. Her infectious love of life (and dancing) reflects her intensely joyful response to being human and foreshadows her early death. When these aspects of Giselle's nature are ignored on purpose by Osipova, moments in the libretto that call for a heightened reality go unfulfilled. Giselle's charms are meant to arouse strong feelings in others--love, jealousy, generosity, deceit. Such a magical creature creates material for a drama that thrives on conflict. Giselle's beauty, sex appeal and trusting heart inspire Count Albrecht to take on an alias and dress like one of the locals; he pursues her with hopes of being undetected, thinking it will be harmless fun. Theophile Gautier, the librettist, suggests that beauty and innocence are far more powerful personality traits than men realize. Those we often think we can easily dismiss end up becoming people who profoundly change our lives. The fact is that Giselle may be an illiterate peasant, but she is not meant to be confused with the wayward, pink-cheeked girls who labor in the fields. As the daughter of an innkeeper, Giselle has frequent exposure to travelers passing through the village. This gives her a social fluency and a polish that sets her apart--this is why Albrecht notices her in the first place. He wants both the pretty girl and the girl with social fluency. In spite of her singularity as a character, Osipova chooses to make Giselle a plain Jane, a quiet, cautious girl who is uncomfortable with big displays of affection. Her complexion is gray; her demeanor is muted. When she is crowned Queen of the Harvest a wreath is placed upon her head. She shifts it about insecurely, looking embarrassed, as though she would like to climb down from the cart and dispense with the frivolity. Normally, Giselle's mother is on her case about the danger to her heart that all of these celebrations and invitations to dance pose to her health. But in this production, Giselle is equally worried about her heart condition and not interested in tempting fate. When it comes time for fireworks (the mad scene) in Act I, Osipova's naturalism has backed her into a corner as an actress. When Albrecht's fiancee, Bathilde, returns to the village with the hunting party she stands in close proximity to Albrecht. Giselle wakes up and charges between them, gesturing boldly in pantomime, "Back off, Bathilde--he's mine!" The quiet, cautious girl is singing a different tune. Osipova's actions appear to spring from some imagined idea that Albrecht has formally proposed to her. But when, during Act I, did we get to see him do anything but try to get near her--and encounter a lot of resistance? When did we see them flirting and falling in love? We didn't. So when Albrecht fails to back up Giselle's claim that they are engaged, not only do we lack empathy for Giselle, it makes for a very sticky situation. This is not the stuff that comprises a sound set up for Giselle's first and only nervous breakdown. Osipova crumples over, holding her head in her hands as though it aches, then wanders about the stage, trying to regain her equilibrium. As she attempts to piece together the events of that morning, she rubs the back of her neck and shakes her head repeatedly. These gestures genuinely convey mental confusion but they have a clinical feel, as though they are things gleaned from an observation in a mental ward Osipova might have done in preparation for the role. However genuinely Osipova executes them, they lack the anguish of a woman whose perception of reality has just been totally shaken to the core. Altogether, Osipova's mad scene is a rather sedate affair.

Only a girl with a pure heart is capable of experiencing the extreme devastation that Giselle undergoes in the face of Albrecht's duplicity, deceit and unwillingness to help her save face when the true nature of his flirtation with her is exposed. In order to lose trust, you have to invest trust in something in the first place. Having played ill, hard to get and filled with doubts throughout Act I, Osipova, as Giselle, fails to connect intensely with Albrecht. But in order for the mad scene to be convincing, Giselle has to believe that she has connected deeply to Albrecht. In order to lose her innocence she must believe she has promised him her heart and invested in their future together. She needs to be as pure and trusting as the hero of Herman Melville's novella, "Billy Budd." Accused of a crime that he did not commit, Billy suddenly strikes his accuser dead. He did not mean to hurt the man, but could not bear the injustice of a false accusation. The uncanny power of Billy Budd's strength is proof of Billy's innate innocence. Giselle needs to possess a heart that has the same mythical proportions as Billy Budd's. Otherwise her break down in the face of duplicity falls flat. Only when she has a pristine heart and is brimming over with trust and love can a glimpse of corruption destroy her. With all these ducks lined up right in a row, Giselle has a chance of convincing the audience that she has been felled like a tree--and is unraveling right before their eyes. Characters such as Giselle and Billy Budd are rare in life and in art. That is why we love them. Playing a magical person is a huge challenge for any performer. Ultimately, in this production, in the name of realism, Osipova sacrifices drama for authenticity. She chooses not to be magical, not to glow, not to brimming over with joy and not to be the victim of her own infectious love of dancing...but plot and character are synonymous in "Giselle." A shy, cautious girl who doesn't like to be touched by men doesn't go to pieces when a man she somehow got the idea was her fiancé turns out to be engaged to another woman. She disappears and crawls under a rock. According to Osipova's interpretation, the removal of Albrecht's mask would only confirm the many fears and doubts that Giselle has projected throughout Act I.

In previous years, Osipova danced Act II of "Giselle" as though she were doing an Olympic marathon, soaring to greater and greater heights, literally, displaying her enormous elevation, her arms outstretched, holding nothing back. She was strident, emotional and sensual and people lapped it up. Few noticed or cared that she made no effort whatsoever to evoke the supernatural aspect of deceased Giselle's character. Now a member of a spirit cult called the Wilis, girls who stalk the woods at night and capture any man who wanders through, forcing him to dance himself to death, revenge is supposed to be her adopted credo. All of the Wilis were gilted on their wedding day, traditionally, and while Giselle's story is slightly different they welcome her into the fold. Helpless in life, they are now empowered by death, and their demeanor reflects this. Giselle's hair is now pulled down severely over her ears; she no longer hears through these orifices but through some other, supernatural means. (One can assume that all of her senses have undergone a similar, if less obvious, overhaul.) She is weightless and capable of supernatural elevation; she performs unnatural back bends, sculpted epaulement and a strict type of port de bras that results in unbelievably long, rounded arms. This is the idealized vision of "woman" in Romantic ballet, a trend in 19th century dance in which women are wrapped in layers of white tulle and net. Sometimes they used to float into the air with the help of a wire. The development of the pointe slipper came about with this trend, enabling ballerinas to appear as though they were rising off of the ground from the tips of their toes. In most Romantic ballets these gossamer girls are not malevolent spirits, as they are in Giselle, but they are always transcendent and uniquely empowered. Their beauty represents a vision of perfection that is unattainable by mortals. It also symbolizes the fleeting nature of love. Perhaps perceiving women as mysterious creatures whose humanity brings them closer to God, male choreographers created a type of heavenly being trapped somewhere between the sky and the earth. Inspiring but unobtainable, these creatures embody the ultimate tease.

Never one to conform to convention, Osipova now performs a highly stylized version of the original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perot, finessing everything she does by reigning in her arms and creating the illusion of the genuine impulse of flight rather than leaps that can be measured in inches. Rather than performing a marathon dedicated to athletic prowess, she now favors a naturalism that allows her to connect with her feelings. Everything she does overflows with tender emotions. Nevertheless, she continues to depart vastly from the traditional interpretation of the role. Osipova's deceased Giselle is not a supernatural character but a mortal woman who happens to be dead. When she first reports to Myrta, the Queen of the Wilis, she takes her place up stage in fourth position demi plié, her head held down in a show of obedience. This is the preparation for a series of turns done in reverse. The "whirling dervish" is executed with the leg held in arabesque and marks Giselle's entry into a fourth dimension. It symbolizes the unlocking of the portal between life and death through which Giselle must pass in order to enter the spirit world. In recent decades ballerinas have begun performing this feat with the leg raised in attitude. This takes the strain off the back and makes balance less of an issue. Carla Fracci, considered one of the great Giselles of all time, was particularly facile at these turns and always did them in arabesque on demi-pointe, completing all 24. During her early years in the west, Osipova did the whirling dervish in arabesque, but she now performs it in attitude and finishes early, spinning out of control and regaining her equilibrium in a series of chainé turns downstage.

Hallberg and Osipova in Act II of ABT's "Giselle"

Traditionally, Giselle's superficial beauty in Act I is illuminated by the spiritual beauty she demonstrates in Act II through her forgiveness of Albrecht's betrayal. In Osipova's interpretation, she is the same Giselle in Act II as she is in Act I--but now she now has no heart condition. When Albrecht arrives in the woods to place lilies on her grave, he is taken prisoner by Myrta and falls under her spell. He begins the grueling dance of death and Giselle intervenes, distinguishing herself from the herd of iron maidens by choosing to forgive the man who broke her heart less than 24 hours ago. She attempts to save his life by ignoring Myrta's command, and dances alongside Albrecht throughout the wee hours of the morning, jolting him awake repeatedly, appearing and disappearing and continually engaging him in a variety of ways. She reminds him that he'll be safe if he just plants himself on her grave site. Why he doesn't just park himself there all night is a question mark, but the power of Myrta's spell continually calls him to his feet to kick up his heels or perform death defying entrechats.

Traditionally, partway through Act II, Albrecht stoops on one knee and Giselle takes her place just behind him. Her hand remains on his shoulder as she raises her leg behind her. She achieves an uncanny, other worldly sense of balance on pointe in arabesque as they each raise an arm in the air. In tonight's performance, a simplification of this choreography provided a moment of perfect unity. Osipova simply stood at Hallberg's side as they each raised their individual arms in perfect alignment. The affect was profoundly moving.

For some time David Hallberg's many struggles with physical challenges have been covered in the press. For this reason, challenging himself to attempt the tour de force required of Albrecht in Act II of "Giselle" demanded tremendous courage. He was able to complete 23 of the requisite 34 entrechats Myrta commanded. The audience cheered him on, applauding wildly after he did only a 3 or 4. When he dropped to the floor in exhaustion, stretching out on his side, he surprised everyone by rising back up in a split second and reaching out imploringly to Myrta. It was a contrived move, but totally justified as Hallberg has not yet regained full strength and must rely on his sense of showmanship to keep the audience involved. Osipova was the victor in terms of popularity, mesmerizing the audience, wave after wave of adulation crashing upon the stage. (Throughout the curtain calls she received so much more applause than Hallberg that it was embarrassing.)




Dawn breaks, bells toll and we realize that Albrecht has made it through the night. Giselle's parting was beautifully handled. The two held hands as Osipova stood on Giselle's grave, gazing down at Albrecht, their fingertips barely touching. Floating into the earth in a cloud of mist, she was gone. At this juncture, Hallberg did something I have never seen another male dancer do. Raising up, he grasped an arm of the cross planted on Giselle's grave. Suddenly realizing that his life had been touched by Christ through Giselle's forgiveness, he has had a genuine spiritual experience. All of the tedious years of religious instruction a young Count has been schooled in suddenly resonate with meaning for the first time. It was a bold, brilliant choice on Hallberg's part.

Osipova and Hallberg take a bow following ABT's "Giselle"

Rising to turn and walk away, he discovered the petal of a flower Giselle has left in her wake. Stooping to pick it up, his discovery of it was fresh, real, alive. Strolling downstage, gazing at it as the curtain came down, Hallberg seemed to hold the entire night in the palm of his hand. In many ways the much anticipated reunion of this beloved pair belonged to Osipova, but the final moment was so extraordinary it restored my faith in Hallberg's future. And in the future of "Giselle."