Akram Khan's Giselle at Sadler's Wells

We went to see Akram Khan's 'Giselle' at Sadler's Wells - whenever I've tried to get tickets to see it before it's sold out quickly so this time I pounced and secured tickets at the back of the stalls. I'm so pleased I did. I'm not entirely sure what we saw but it was scary and beautiful.

It's a very different take on 'Giselle' to anything you've seen before and, while the bones are the same, this is an eerie, otherworldly experience not to be missed. There is complex dancing, occasional galloping across the stage, moody lighting and crashing industrial music and it all comes together perfectly.

Giselle falls for what turns out to be a rich boy and, when his family comes to take him home, she dies. Her soul joins the Willis, a group of dead women let down in love who seek to restore balance by killing unfaithful men. Virtually everything else is different - there is no pastoral village where Giselle lives with her family, instead it's a gritty and monochrome workers community, there are no pristine white tutus for the Willis, they're dressed in grey with bedraggled hair and carrying a staff. Scary visions of revenge.

The staging is very simple but incredibly effective. A simple wall that the workers are trying to keep closed and a bare stage. Of course, the wall eventually opens and the rich folks appear in their fantastical costumes, secure in their supremacy and it turns out that Giselle's love, Albrecht, belongs to these alien people. Giselle's disappointment is palpable. Of course we know all along that Albrecht is different because his shirt is tucked into his trousers and all the workers wear their shirts outside of their trousers. Watch for the details.

It's when the Willis appear in the second half that the strangeness and madness goes up a level with these vengeful spirits ready to do battle. The first time they put their staff's between their teeth freeing up both arms made me almost scared - they're doing that so they have two hands to shred the souls of any poor man they come across. The sight of them going up on pointe and putting their staffs between their teeth was almost shiver-inducing. This is no joke, no game, they mean it and Giselle is now one of them.

 Of course, Albrecht appears when the Queen of the Willis is present and she looms tall above him - he doesn't stand a chance. How can he survive an encounter with a supernatural being as vengeful as the Queen? I can't spoil that for you, you need to see it for yourself.

It's an astonishing piece and, probably, not to everyone's taste, but it certainly drew me in. Eerie and menacing, very dark and very different. So much energy on that stage, moody one moment and dancers dashing across the stage the next, a very complex dance. There are clearly lead roles but it's very much an ensemble piece for the whole cast so well done all. Giselle was danced by Erina Takahashi and Albrecht by Joseph Caley but it's the scary Queen who deserves most plaudits, Stina Quagebeur, for being a terrifying presence on that stage.

This production is bound to be revived many times so please do go and see it. I'll happily see it again. I wonder what Mr Khan is looking at next? Maybe a reinterpretation of 'Manon'? Let's wait and see...

'The Tempest' by Birmingham Royal Ballet at Sadler's Wells

Last week we popped up to Sadler's Wells to see the Birmingham Royal Ballet's version of 'The Tempest'. They performed a really good triple bill of ballets this time last year so I was looking forward to this full length interpretation of 'The Tempest'. It's one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, full of magic and drama, but I've yet to see a version that blows me away - maybe this would be the production?

It opens with a glistening sailing boat suspended in the sea, rocking gently, and then Ariel swims underneath and lifts the boat up into the sky as he soars out of the ocean (on wires, obviously, rather visible wires) and creates the tempest. This lovely, poetic start didn't continue though. We're introduced to Prospero's island and the characters in a rather literal way, following the play in most respects - sadly including the comedy characters and scenes - which was, I think, a missed opportunity. I was very surprised to see Prospero played as a younger man, tall and lithe, dancing almost like a lover with Miranda, his daughter. And what were the long leather black boots all about? Why would a Duke of Milan wear pirate boots?

I think Prospero is the nub of my problem with the production and the literal telling of the story. It's a ballet so needs to be full of dance. Generally speaking, it's unusual for (ahem) older folks to do exciting ballet moves and Prospero is meant to be an older man - not an old dodderer the way he's sometimes played as, but certainly not in the league of a ballet dancer. And that's partly why I was so surprised by the literal story. The play could have easily been re-focussed on the young lovers so that they (and some made up companions, possibly) could have been the focus for the energetic dancing while the older generation dealt with plot interludes and suchlike. Jenna Roberts and Joseph Caley made a charming couple as Miranda and Ferdinand and they should've been on stage together a lot more that they were.

I loved the sets of sandbanks and broken ships hulls and the lighting was great but there was a lack of magic and spectacle. The marriage pageant scene with goddesses arriving on the backs of peacocks and a green Poseidon leaping all over with his trident was great fun and offered opportunities to go mad and give us sparkle but one scene doesn't make a ballet. It also served to highlight the absence of sparkle in the rest of the production.

Thank you Birmingham Royal Ballet, I enjoyed the show and it was a great night out but this wasn't the production of 'The Tempest' to blow me away and make me walk in magic. Maybe next time...