How was the Ballet production of Giselle modernised for a modern day contemporary audience?

Mats Ek’s production was modernised for a new audience in the dance world from the Ballet production of Giselle because the plot and themes of both productions show different contextual influences that were created around each time of both the performances. For example, the contemporary production of Giselle shows the mental institution that Giselle goes into instead of death (her killing herself). 
This is because of the political influence from Sweden in 1980 of the mental health care system change. Mats Ek decided he wanted to show that the change in the system is creating more and more ill negative patients instead of the positive patients that were getting better before the system had changed for the worst. However, in the Ballet production of Giselle, she kills herself and is seen as a spirit. This is connected to the supernatural theme that people believed in that era of time period. In the time period of the Ballet production of Giselle, the audience that went to watch that, believed in the supernatural of trap doors, flying characters and seeing spirits/ghosts. Therefore, after Giselle had died, she turned in to a spirit and was dancing around with Count Albrecht as a ghost. People don’t really believe in the supernatural now so instead of the theme ‘death’ and spirits; Giselle went into a mental institution which was happening in Sweden in 1980 when the piece was created. That is how the theme and plot of the contemporary Giselle has been modernised for the new dance audience.
       The costumes in the Contemporary production of Giselle have been modernised because in the Ballet production; Giselle and the Wilis wore white Belle Tutu’s which were the social aspect of a romantic ballet where as in contemporary there is no such thing as a tutu. Belle tutus are not an aspect of our modern day clothes so Mats Ek decided to dress Giselle in the modern day clothes that exist now - for example, a pink feminine skirt with a jumper and when Giselle goes in to the mental institution her costume changes again to a white tunic with white leggings and a head bandage. This represents a modern day change because the Belle tutu’s were no longer wore and now it is just casual wear. However, the colour white is still used when Giselle goes in to the mental institution as she still is pure and not married (the same as in the Ballet production when she dies – wearing a white Belle Tutu). Count Albrecht and Hilarion’s costume is also very different to the Ballet production. In the Ballet production, Count Albrecht has a jacket with a belt that is very rustic. He also has a shirt underneath with long johns on when he is disguised as a peasant. When Count Albrecht is found out to be a royal instead of a peasant; he is carrying a sword. In that era, only rich important people carried swords in them days. In the contemporary version of Giselle, Count Albrecht wears a white suit that is buttoned up. A white suit is considered to be posh and expensive in these days. Also, Mats Ek decided that he was going to get the dancers to wear bare feet. This influence came from the background of modern dance from principal dancers such as Martha Graham, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Dennis, Isadora Duncan. These all rebelled against the rules of Ballet to make a new dance style called Modern dance. They didn’t wear shoes when dancing and cut their tutus/dresses above their ankles; this was recognised as disgusting and rebellious against the traditions. These principal dancers influenced Mats Ek in his production and choreography.

     The staging of Giselle has been modernised as well. This is because in the Ballet production of Giselle, the opening scene has barrels of beer, piles of wood, an old thatched house, and plant pots on stage. Whilst the backdrop is in the woods which is very dark. However, in the modernised contemporary production of Giselle, the backdrop is very bright scenery of the hilltops.

     These are all reasons how the Ballet version has been modernised for a modern day audience like today into a contemporary production.

Mats Ek Quote

“My version of Giselle is an attempt at retelling the story. For me Giselle – and this applies to the old ballet as well – is about love. Love, which in the old version conquers death. That differs in mine. But love remains the main thing.” 
Mats Ek 


http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Arthaus%2BMusik/101380 
[16/03/2012]

Costume

Set Design

Contemporary Giselle - 4 Themes

Putting the 4 main themes of the Contemporary Giselle into context;


The four main themes of the Contemporary Giselle are as follows. They have a lot of meaning to the production and show the reasons why Mats Ek decided to choreograph his version of Giselle the way he did.

1. Control -  This theme is shown and represented by the social hierarchy between men and women in 1982. This is shown in the movement by the villagers; the men are swinging the women around on their stick and the women then always bow down to their man. The men are the ones holding the sticks over the women which shows they have more power.
2. Love - Love is showing in Giselle by her character  being very flirtatious towards Lloys. They constantly hug and play with each other. At one point they pretend that they have a baby (using a cushion), they stroke each other, they each have their shy moments and then carry on flirting. She runs at him and both hold their arms wide open and hug.
3. Mental Health - Mental health was a disaster. It had gone from being great and one of the best systems where the patients got treated to the best of the doctors ability to then get treated like animals just being churned out one by one. This is because the companies were concentrating on competition of each other to try and be the best rather than concentrating on the health of the patients and looking after each patients specific needs. This is represented in Giselle by the in the mental institution; the patients including Giselle are not getting better. The inmates and Giselle are just wondering round not getting better as they each become more and more mental. Their movement also suggests that they are not getting better as they are still rolling around on the floor and bowing down at the queen inmate.
4. Treatment of women - Women got treated very different in the 1982 to what they do now'a days which is why Mats Ek decided to use this in his choreography. You can see in the production of Giselle the treatment of women in the section when they women villagers come on set rolling eggs. This shows that the women's job is to be at home looking after their children and the house - cooking and cleaning. The men then come over the women as they are sat on their eggs and they doing an arching arm movement carrying their sticks over their right shoulder. This suggests that they are arching over the women and men are the most important. 

NY Times Review - Cullberg Giselle

BALLET: CULLBERG 'GISELLE'

By ANNA KISSELGOFF

Published: November 10, 1982

WELL, what does one do with a 19th— century classic of the Romantic ballet such as ''Giselle?'' Most ballet companies might simply dance it. Some might even rethink it. But Mats Ek has taken it apart, reset its second act in an insane asylum, turned it into a modern-dress modern-dance version, filled the stage with sexy decor, thrown in a touch of male nudity and generally tried to pick up the pieces of his own purposefully alogical scenario. At his best, he is outrageous.

Obviously a ''Giselle'' that substitutes the grotesque for the conventionally beautiful is bound to arouse at least passing interest. And so Mr. Ek's production more than did last night when Sweden's Cullberg Ballet made its United States debut as the second company in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's ''Ballet International'' series.

Repeatedly, Mr. Ek achieves an effect by working against association. One is against the music. Adolphe Adam's 1841 score, famous for its leitmotifs and now heard on tape, is here ignored in its leitmotifs - Hilarion dances Giselle's big solo in Act I.

Another device is to work against traditional imagery. When Albrecht and Wilfrid enter, they leap in wearing white tails and black tails, respectively and hilariously. When Bathilde, danced by Sighilt Pahl, and her noble friends appear, they rush in with the same mix of jetes and evening clothes. Albrecht's music in Act II is used for a trudging entry by Yvan Auzely's sympathetic Hilarion, in gray suit and bowtie, carrying the blue flower Bathilde gave Giselle.

The climax of this inversion treatment, of turning the original version in on itself, is the love pas de deux in Act II. Here Albrecht, portrayed with suitable desperation by Luc Bouy, enters into a distorted madhouse entanglement with Giselle. The heroine is danced by Anna Laguna, the same extraordinary dancer whose cannonball force marked the ''The House of Bernarda Alba.'' She dances now with the same earthy power, plunging into every movement as if there were no tomorrow. She is terrific.

In fact, the dancing all around was marvelous in its conviction. Certainly this is an impressive company, young and vital. If there is less to say about the choreography, it is because in this case, it is quite thin - banking more on concept.

That concept itself does not entirely hold water. Misreading Romanticism's own dark flirting with the escapist, Mr. Ek gives us a burgherlike reading of his own. Giselle is a village idiot. Already mad, she has no use for a mad scene. Instead of daintily holding her skirt, she holds it up. Albrecht, who might be possibly be accused of taking advantage of the situation, falls immediately for her against a landscape of feminine contours. The wilis are female mental patients, Myrtha, played by Siv Ander, their nurse. Albrecht goes mad - and who might not amid Marie-Louise De Geer Bergenstrahle's backcloth of body parts. Waking up naked in the real world, he is given a blanket by Hilarion - a disappointingly bourgeois ending. The Program GISELLE, choreography, Mats Ek; music, Adol- phe Adam; stage and costume design, Marie- Louise De Geer Bergenstrahle. Presented by the Cullberg Ballet Company, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, downtown Brooklyn. WITH: Ana Laguna, Luc Bouy, Yvan Auzely, Siv Ander and members of the company.

Review from - http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/10/arts/ballet-cullberg-giselle.html

Date accessed - 15/03/2012
Written by - ANNA KISSELGOFF, November 10th, 1982

Context and Influences of Mats Ek's choreography

Social, Political and Historical Context that influenced

 Mats Ek in making the modern production of Giselle.

• Sweden in the 1950's

USA - Capitalism (an individual has the right to make the best of themselves)

Soviet Union - Communism (the social classes become equal and have to earn to run the country, they are well aided like a machine).

Sweden made it clear it was NEUTRAL but had to become military to protect itself. 

This could have influenced Mats Ek in his production of Giselle because he could of used the idea for the costumes of Communism; that all the classes were equal and only earned so they could keep the country running; not earn for themselves because in the plot of Giselle - she is a peasant and Lloys is a rich person. However, he could of also used this social event to influence him by looking at Capitalism and how it is up to people themselves to make something of them and show the contrast between the richness of Lloys and his family and Giselle being the poor person.

• Sweden in the 1960's

People were encouraged to be detectives and look out for war in their own country. The Swedish welfare states were created f0r people that were not well off, caring was important in the 1960's. The country was financially well off.

Mats Ek could of used this as an influence in Giselle because he could show this in the costume by the richness of the country at this particular time. However, he could use the fact that there were detectives looking for war to influence him because he could represent the conflict of war between the characters of Hilarion and Lloys. He could also show the mental health care from the influence of the welfare states being created in 1960.

• Sweden in the 1980's

1980 was when Giselle was created by Mats Ek. The health care system changed  from being equal to privatized. Competition between doctors arose.  Companies begain to bid for cetain services. The health clinics were no longer focused on what was right for the patient; it became more about the competition to see who could get the most patients done a certain time. The patients felt like they were being churned through a system one and by one felt like they weren't being treated fairly. They were no longer being supported and didn't have a positive attitude. 

This influenced Mats Ek in Giselle because of the Health- Care Institution scene where Giselle is going crazy/mental about the situation she is in. Mats Ek didn't like the fact that everyone was just competing for money so he decided to look at the health institution in more depth to show the audience that this is whats happening to the patients - they were not getting better; just getting worse by being churned out one by one.