This haunting story of betrayal

Royal Opera House

IT IS no great spoiler to say that in ballet, when a man swears an oath of eternal love, you know it’s not going to end well. It happens most famously in Swan Lake, again in La Sylphide — and in Giselle, too, which is back at the Royal Opera House. Giselle is never out of a good ballet company’s repertoire for long and it is easy to see why: tuneful melodies by Adolphe Adam, a (literally) haunting love story and a gem of a role for the ballerina.

In the current revival by Sir Peter Wright, Giselle is being danced by all of the company’s female principals. At the performance I saw, Akane Takada was a moving Giselle. Physically suited to the role — she looks tiny and fragile — she was gentle and shy in the first act, becoming magnificently unbalanced when the depth of betrayal by her beloved “Loys” (really Count Albrecht) was revealed.

She was sublime in the second act; appearing almost weightless with outstanding elevation and displaying the beautiful rounded arms of Romantic ballet. As Albrecht, Benjamin Ella was a secure and elegant partner, carrying off his solos with aplomb, but he needs to project more to allow his character to shine through.

In the first act pas de six, the women outshone the men, whose timings were a little out and finishes not as clean as they could be. As Giselle’s mother, Kristen McNally was a fine Berthe. Her mime, when she tells Akane Takada as Giselle