Giselle debuts

English National Ballet soloist, Francesca Velicu, made her debut in the lead role of Akram Khan’s Giselle at Sadler’s Wells on September 21, with first soloist, Ivana Bueno, due to follow her at the September 26 matinée. Just before the season opened, they took a break from rehearsals to talk to Maggie Foyer about getting into the role.

“You can see how excited we are, we’ve both had our first full rehearsal with the whole company and that was a really big push to get a feeling of the piece. It’s such a beautiful atmosphere when you have the first run with the company. They get to see what you’ve been working on and there’s such a good energy in the studio,” says Bueno.

Velicu adds, “Especially in this piece, we connect a lot with the group, and they are really encouraging.  It’s nice to see friendly faces when we are dancing.”

Having joined the company in 2016, Velicu was there from the start. “Akram’s Giselle was my very first production in the company. I came from a classical background, and it was also my first encounter with contemporary dance. There was a lot of learning to do and it opened a new world for me.”

Later that same season, she danced the Chosen One in Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring. “That’s true. I remember when we got to Pina, I was so grateful that I had been through this whole process of Giselle with Akram in the studio, every day, for three months. I had learnt so much so contemporary dance was more familiar.”

For Bueno, who trained in Mexico and Monaco, it was somewhat different. “I had done contemporary before but never anything like Akram’s work. It’s very intense and you really have to commit. Every single step you take has to have meaning and it’s really deep. So, like Francesca says, it opened a new world, a new way of approaching contemporary work. I really like learning to do this work because you can take it into your classical work and it helps you grow both as an artist and how you tell a story.”

Both dancers had done many performances in the ensemble. Did this give a strong sense of who Giselle is?

“Absolutely,” says Velicu. “I’m considering everybody on stage. I’m one of them and I’ve always been one of them. So, I don’t approach it in a different way compared to being in in the group. Mavin Khoo, who is Akram’s right-hand man, tells the girls in every rehearsal, ‘Every one of you is Giselle, you can find Giselle in each character on stage.’ I’m so excited to play with that idea. I do the group, then I switch to Giselle, and then I go back to the group.”

Bueno says, “It’s nice that we’ve done so many shows, we’ve worked on it so much, so we are there for her as a group, and then vice versa. The good thing about this ballet is even if you are doing the group, you’re so invested in the story and the whole journey that you feel like you’re doing the main role. Of course, it’s a dream to dance Giselle, to get to work closely with Mavin and Akram and just absorb all the information that they give you.”

Both enthuse about having one on one rehearsals where every small detail of the story can be worked on, and where they can be pushed to give their best. “It’s so inspiring to be in the same room as Akram. You can see his brain working, he’s such a fast thinker. Akram says he doesn’t like to see choreography. When someone says, ‘such a nice choreography.’ he feels he’s failed. He wants to see humans on stage. That’s also what’s interesting about this piece. It’s the same story but everyone will interpret it a little differently,” Bueno adds.

Velicu explains that, “It’s a story about people and because it’s so human, you become very vulnerable when you’re on stage. It’s very emotional for the audience as well. I feel like everyone leaves the stage really touched.”

Vincenzo Lamagna’s specially commissioned score blends electronic and acoustic sounds with echoes of Adolphe Adam’s original melodies in a soundscape dark with foreboding. Francesca notes, “You’re hear bits of the classical score; Akram fitted the music so well to the ballet. I love the bit where the Outcasts are showing the landlords that we know how to dance. The music is so much fun and we’re all enjoying it. That part for me is the best.”

Bueno adds, “We’re mocking the landlords who are so rigid they can’t move! Akram has a really good sense of humour and even if it’s a very intense piece, he finds these little moments.”

Getting down to the challenge of dancing the title role, Velicu notes an important point. “This Giselle is not a little 16-year-old. She’s an experienced woman and really strong. Yes, she’s in love, but not like the first time you fall in love when you get butterflies. It’s nothing like that. We’re both quite young and for me personally, it’s a challenge to try and dive into a more mature role. The audience don’t want to see choreography, they want to feel the story in movement. So, the most important thing is the intention. Why are you doing this step? Even just a simple touch has to have meaning if the audience are to feel what you’re feeling and understand the story.”

Akram Khan’s Giselle is one of the hardest roles artistically, Velicu believes. “His work is very honest. He doesn’t want us to act, he wants us to be in the moment. When you get on stage and you have to reach all the way to the last row in the audience, how do you do that without making any fake exaggerated movement? It’s super challenging to keep it real.”

“It is hard, concedes Velicu, “but it’s very exciting because, this is the beginning of something. After this, we can bring this experience into other pieces and that’s what’s exciting.”

Ivana will also be dancing the traditional Giselle of Mary Skeaping’s production in the forthcoming tour. “I was very excited to work with Mavin and Akram and I can take all of this artistry to a different place. After working with them, you become a more complete artist.”

For Akram’s Giselle, Bueno will be partnered by Francesco Gabriele Frola. “We dance a lot together. We did Carmen, Swan Lake and we’re doing Nutcracker now. I’ve known Gabriele from when I was 10 years-old and we joined the company in the same year. When you’re friends you can communicate easily and create a good atmosphere. Also he’s a really great partner and he keeps me calm when I get nervous before going on stage. He’s a very chilled person which is good.”

Francesca made her debut as Giselle with a new partner, Rentaro Nakaaki. “He’s worked really closely with Akram in the past. I think he’s a really great artist and I still remember watching him in Creature and it blew my mind. Every rehearsal has been amazing. He’s always there, 100% always trying to do his best and learn as much as he can.”

Act Two has a very different feel, the group of Wilis now united by a desire to kill. As Velicu notes, “You have to be really strong for the audience to feel this wave of women power.” The technique is also different as they are wearing pointe shoes. Khan was really excited at the potential offered by pointework. “‘They can float! Can they float the whole of Act Two?’ He didn’t want the legs to stop, not for a minute.”

Bueno explains that, “It is very hard. We’re on pointe for the whole act, and it’s also very hard to rehearse. Akram got really excited with bourrées. When we do classical it’s just another step, but he used it to tell the story. You approach it differently, you do it with more energy, then something intense happens.”

In Act Two Myrtha initiates Giselle into becoming a Wili in the afterlife.

Velicu explains, “Giselle doesn’t know how to stand on pointe, the way you go up on pointe, the way you come down, so she is a little insecure at first. It’s amazing to connect with whoever’s playing Myrtha. She needs to become a really strong character and I love to see a woman like that. it’s lovely to watch colleagues become that strong woman in rehearsals.”

“I really like the beginning when Giselle is learning how to use the stick, which is our weapon in the afterlife,” says Bueno. “Of course, by the end she decides ‘No,’ and she breaks it. One of my favourite parts of the piece is the end of the ballet when Giselle decides to forgive Albrecht and leaves him alone in the present to remain with Myrtha in the afterlife. It is a very strong and emotional moment. It’s a long journey. The more you analyse it, the more you realise how smart this whole production is.”

Turning to the final duet, Bueno says, “I’m still finding it. I think it’s a work in progress. I think it’s definitely the hardest part.”

Velicu says, “It’s strange because the actual movement is quite simple. But I think it’s the simplicity that is hard. It needs to be fluid so even a small wobble is just so visible. We have to let the audience understand that we are still a ghost, so sometimes Albrecht can see you, and sometimes he can’t. It’s a challenge for our partners as well. In the duet we mould together and it’s hard to get there. The music is very emotional, very atmospheric. You’re a ghost, you don’t really feel emotions, you don’t have bones, you don’t have muscles, you have to be there, be present, but not present. It’s definitely the hardest part artistically, but I think when you get there, there is something magical. I always cry, every time we watch the show, because we watch every single show, from the wings. It’s a long journey and a very emotional one.”

At the time we spoke, Bueno was excited to get to that place, “Because I don’t think I’ve ever felt it. I see my colleagues get through to that emotional place. And I am just like so impressed how they can get there. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that and I’m just hoping one day I will. Once I remember asking Mavin, ‘But what should I do here?’ He said, ‘Don’t ask me? Whatever feels right in the moment, just commit to it and that’s what is right. Don’t doubt. The minute you doubt a movement, it’s not real’.”

Finally, what about strategies for dealing with first night nerves? “Akram’s Giselle is different,” says Velicu. “For this one, I feel you need to be in a very peaceful state, really within yourself. It’s a very deep work and you have to really think who you are before going on stage. Because the ballet has so much meaning, I try to put myself aside. It’s not about me. You’re telling something to the audience and when I start to dig down it takes all that nervousness away. It’s not about you. It’s about everybody and your part in the story and you giving the energy.”

Bueno says, “Personally, I know I will be nervous because it is a very exciting debut, and I want everything to go well but with this ballet the story is so strong and it’s got such a beautiful message that I just want to focus on that and enjoy the journey of Giselle within my own soul.”

Francesca Velicu is due to perform Giselle again on Friday September 27, 2024. Ivana Bueno is scheduled to dance the role at the matinée performances on both Thursday September 26 and Saturday September 28.
For details and tickets, visit www.sadlerswells.com.