Going ‘mad’ for GISELLE.
By Eva Kahn
GISELLE, the 19th century Romantic Era classic, is a must-see ballet for dance enthusiasts young and old. To dance the lead role, the sweet, young heroine, “Giselle,” is the epitome of many professional ballerina’s careers.
There is one scene in particular that makes the chance to portray this character such a coveted opportunity. Giselle, a German peasant girl born with a weak heart, falls in love with Albrecht, a duke disguised as a peasant. Hilarion, the village’s gamekeeper, is already in love with Giselle and is suspicious of Albrecht. Hilarion discovers Albrecht’s sword and reveals his true royal identity, along with the fact that Albrecht is already engaged to another noblewoman. The shock is too great for Giselle, who begins to go mad before dying of a broken — and physically overtaxed — heart.
One of Ballet Austin’s veteran company members, Ashley Lynn Sherman, explains the importance of this scene and walks you through Giselle’s journey from a harsh revelation to despair and madness.
ASHLEY LYNN SHERMAN ON “GOING MAD”
“This scene in Giselle is like the “Hallmark acting moment” for dancers. To get to do this is a really fun trip! It’s been interesting to grow up watching other dancers dancing this role. In rehearsing and trying to make it my own, I’ve definitely spent a lot of time watching the way certain other dancers have approached it, gotten some ideas, and then tried to figure out what choices I want to make.”
As the scene begins, Hilarion displays Albrecht’s sword to Giselle, revealing Albrecht’s royal blood and true identity. Giselle is hesitant to believe him, so Hilarion summons the rest of Albrecht’s royal party. Among them is Bathilde, Albrecht’s fiancée. Upon seeing the engagement ring on Bathilde’s finger, Giselle begins to go mad.
“Giselle is having this moment of just shock in realizing Albrecht has been betraying her this whole time. Here’s the moment I have to try to get my hair to come out. My hair is really thick, so it’s hard for me to dance without a lot of pins in it. The woman playing my mother has to really help me make sure all the hair comes out. In the scene before, the last time I’m offstage, I take a lot of the pins out to try and loosen it, but not too loose because I don’t want it to fall out too soon.
“I’m just trying not to pay attention to any of that and make sure that I stay on the music.”
After a small fainting spell, Giselle stands up with her hair undone. She staggers around the stage, knocking into the crowd of villagers and royals that have gathered to watch.
“So here, I’m really trying to show a big shift. At this point, Giselle is not all the way present. She’s kind of receded into her mind. There’s a part of her that’s kind of left the building. She’s walking around and can obviously see everyone, but is kind of looking through them. Her eyes are a little bit out of focus. I’m trying to show the change. I have to kind of think about how I would personally react if I got news like this.”
As Giselle nears the back of the stage, she stumbles upon Albrecht’s sword.
“I need to step on it [the sword] right on the right moment so that it’s on the music, but it needs to look like I’m not trying to step on it.
“Here, Giselle is not really in ballet mode. She’s very pedestrian. There are definitely moments of where I’m going in and out of where I’m dancing in this scene and then really when I’m just acting.
“It’s more effective to kind of stumble around and not be thinking so much about my feet so it looks like Giselle is really losing it.”
Giselle drags the sword around the crowd with a threatening look in her eye. Just as she is about to stab herself, Hilarion yanks the sword out of her hands and pulls her into a tight embrace. She explodes out of his arms and runs to her mother. Letting go of her mother, she begins to wander around the stage, pointing to Wilis she sees off in the distance. Wilis are the ghosts of women jilted at the altar on their wedding day. They force men to dance to their deaths.
“Coming back to her mother, Giselle already realizes that her fate is sealed — she’s doomed to become a Wili. She starts to see them. I actually got some inspiration from a cat I used to have. For this part where she sees the Wlis, I had a cat that would just all the sudden run around like he saw something, so I channeled my kitty.”
Finally, as her weak heart begins to fail, Giselle jumps into Albrecht’s arms. One of her legs is straight, the other is bent behind it, and one of her arms reaches toward the sky.
“There’re so many different ways to have a death scene, and I particularly like the drama of that shape where I jump into Albrecht’s arms. And she’s already a Wili: She’s reaching up, she’s about to fly with the Wilis, making that shape with the legs, which is already sort of forecasting into Act II.”
“Any time I get the chance to dive back into a role for a second time [like “Giselle”], I try to come back to the point where I brought the role to last time. I keep the things I was happy with and expand on the things that I think needed more work.
“We only have so many weeks to put something together, and I always feel like the first time I approach a role, I’m kind of limited in the time I have. I want to make sure I’m getting the important parts, such as making sure that technically all the steps are there, that I’m conveying the story, and bringing myself into the role. I know that if I had more time I could always do more with it. Whenever I have a chance to revisit a role, that’s the opportunity to dive a little bit deeper.”
See Ashley Lynn Sherman perform with Ballet Austin in GISELLE, Mother’s Day weekend, May 10–12, at the Long Center. Sherman dances during the performances on Friday, May 10, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets starting at $15 at https://balletaustin.org/performances/giselle2019
