It looks more than a little like Gisellez-a-poppin’ as the dear things of the Trockadero troupe get their hands and feet on this sacred text of Romantic ballet at the start of their second programme.
Albrecht (the splendidly dim Prince Myshkin, aka Fernando Medina Gallego) is a tremulous hero, and the ranks of the wilis storm over the stage like Dracula’s daughters, Goths avant la lettre. So far so funny, and also so respectful of the text, in a Trockish sort of way, exemplified by the power of Minnie van Driver who brings more sense and more menace to the role of Myrtha than do most shall-we-say-usual interpreters.
But it is the Giselle of Lariska Dumbchenko (Raffaele Morra) that turns this romp on its head. Morra’s is an exceptional and, in truth, astonishingly moving performance.
