United Ukrainian Ballet's Giselle succeeds as politics and as art

United Ukrainian Ballet in Ratmansky's Giselle Act 1

United Ukrainian Ballet in Ratmansky's Giselle Act 2

United Ukrainian Ballet in Giselle Act 2 with Elizaveta Gogidze as Myrtha

United Ukrainian Ballet, US Debut at the Kennedy Center, curtain call

By Ivy Lin, 05 February 2023

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“when she slowly unfurled her leg, she looked exactly like a Carlotta Grisi lithograph”

Reviewed at Kennedy Center: Opera House, Washington on 4 February 2023

Giselle (Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, Alexei Ratmansky)

The United Ukrainian Ballet

Elizaveta Gogidze, Dancer

Denis Nedak, Dancer

Oleksii Kniazkov, Dancer

A new Albrecht makes a polished Giselle shine even brighter

Deborah Weiss, 7th March

A last minute injury to Natalia Osipova does not mar the magic of Sir Peter Wright's Giselle as Marianela Núñez steps in to partner Patricio Revé.

****1

A Valentine’s Day Giselle in Atlanta: Romantic excellence

Rebecca Ehrhardt, 14th February

A lovely production of Giselle by the increasingly good and ever-growing Atlanta Ballet.

****1

The RB: Peter Wright’s Giselle is as near perfection as you can get

Amanda Jennings, 14th February

Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle was given a well-deserved, thunderous ovation on opening night. A near perfect rendition of the ballet from all quarters of the Company was deeply satisfying.

*****

National Ballet of Japan’s Giselle: a triumphant London debut

Graham Watts, 24th July

National Ballet of Japan offer a 21st-century remake of this 19th-century Romantic classic with impeccable performances.

*****

American Ballet Theatre: Super-Giselle lives up to the hype (mostly)

Ivy Lin, 21st June

ABT's Giselle was the kind of glamorous, old-school ABT night of yore. You sensed the entire company leveled up for the occasion. One hopes that Smirnova will return in the future.

*****

National Ballet of Japan's revival of Giselle: a dramatic return

Naomi Mori, 10th April

National Ballet of Japan has revived their production of Giselle, ahead of their tour to the Royal Opera House in London, replicating the triumphant success it had in 2022.

*****

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Ivy Lin

Ivy Lin's love of ballet began in high school when at the school dance she quickly realized she had two left feet. One always admires things one cannot do, and so Ivy began to attend dance performances to marvel at the grace and beauty of bodies in motion. Ivy's day job is a biology teacher and after a long day in the classroom she loves to unwind by watching dance. She also enjoys theater, opera, pop and classical music. Ivy has her own blog (www.humbledandoverwhelmed,blogspot.com)