During the reception hour, prior to the @giselle Premiere, Creative Director, Joshua Beamish, excitingly and passionately spoke: “We need to change the way that we consider how ballet applies to the world that we live in, and approach that with an open mind.”
He continued, “and be open to how relevant that might be to the way that you’re living your lives and the way that we’re all living our lives. And how much more care we can try to offer each other, especially young people for their online experience. Cause it’s changing the way that their brains are developing, and it’s changing how they relate, and it’s changing how all of us relate. So I think the message of the show is really important in that way. So I appreciate your openness to receive this – this radical reinterpretation of a classical work.”
The @giselle Premiere was not only a refreshing take on the classic and traditional Giselle but for any dance genre. The use of technology brought the experience to a new level of art performance. We follow Giselle along her charming, intriguing, and modern journey of love, as she expresses her emotions so vividly through her physicality, learning her version of what love is. However, the talented dancers teaming up in an intimate union with technology and social media was the real love affair of the evening.
We witness the set and lighting transform into a social media platform called, The Village. The reinterpretation of Instagram, follows the two main young, love birds, as we read through their back-and-forth texting, see them liking each other’s photos, and send each other video messages on stage, while the dancers simultaneously dance through each emotional plot twist. The social media representation serves as a modern narration, or subtitle of sorts, for the audience to be even more delightfully drawn into the story.
Whether or not you are knowledgeable of Giselle’s story, this new and innovative version was not only a wonderful way to get acquainted for starters, but for classical lovers to fall deeper in love with the story they’ve known.
