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Dancing Spirits

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By Samantha Hope Galler

Samantha as a Wili in Miami City Ballet's Giselle.
Samantha as a Wili in Miami City Ballet’s Giselle.

To this day, Giselle is one of the most beloved classical ballets.The work premiered in Paris, France in 1841. Act I of Giselle presents the audience with drama, dancing, and heartbreak. It also sets the tone for Act II where the Wilis claim the stage and bring forth Giselle’s spirit…

The Act II Wilis continue to be some of the most famous phantoms in any full-length ballet. Act II of Giselle is one of the most celebrated and recognizable sections of any ballet. This scene is performed by 18 corps de ballet women and two demi-soloist women.

When dancers who portray the Wilis shift gears from their roles in Act I to Act II, they make a prominent change in their makeup. The Wilis appear slightly pale onstage because they lightly paint themselves during intermission to appear ghostly. This is the first step in representing a Wili. Along with the makeup change, the characters of Wilis are shaped through specific placement of the head, arms, and legs. For example, when Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, calls the spirits out of their graves, they step on to stage slightly tilted forward with their arms crossed below the chest. Throughout this scene, the Wilis stand in line while their heads are turned slightly over their shoulder. The eyelids are shifted downward and out.

Through the rehearsal process, we polish these nuances that define the Wilis. For the iconic chug section (seen at the beginning of the video below in the Petipa version), we work on leveling out our arms and legs. Staying in line all the way across the stage can be tricky but, over time, we learn to anticipate and watch each other. Just like any major corps de ballet section, it is rewarding to move in unison.

Rehearsal for Peasant Pas de Deux with MCB Soloist Jovani Furlan.
Rehearsal for Peasant Pas de Deux with Miami City Ballet Soloist Jovani Furlan.

Miami City Ballet began working on Giselle in June. In the past, I have performed in the Petipa version as Myrtha, Moyna, Giselle’s Friends, and as a Wili. This time around I will be performing in Coralli and Perrot’s version. During our run of Giselle, I will be performing the Peasant Pas de Deux, Friends, Wilis, and in the Court.

I most look forward to traveling with the production as it opens our eyes to new audiences.

Miami City Ballet‘s Giselle concludes this weekend with 4 performances at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.

Samantha Dancing as Myrtha with Alabama Ballet in 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukvRiTh4F4

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Dancing In The Summer Wind

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By Rachel Hellwig

Atlanta Ballet‘s Wabi Sabi provides company dancers with performance opportunities during the summer.

Find out how this troupe works and what’s coming up this season in our interview with founder and Atlanta Ballet dancer, John Welker…

Wabi Sabi. Dancer: Kiara Felder. Photograph by Jonah Hooper.
Wabi Sabi. Dancer: Kiara Felder. Photograph by Jonah Hooper.

What first inspired Wabi Sabi?

I took inspiration from many sources, but the main one was an article about the Japanese concept of “Wabi Sabi” and how beauty can be found in the quality of imperfection.  For an artist, it’s a liberating concept: to embrace one’s imperfections cannot only be beautiful, but it can be used as a way to create beauty from what makes us unique as individuals.

How are dancers selected for Wabi Sabi?

Atlanta Ballet dancers mainly select themselves for Wabi Sabi.  We give them the parameters of the summer and the work we will be doing. Then, they can determine whether it’s something they want to be a part of.

Do Wabi Sabi dancers have other summer jobs as well? Do rehearsal and performance schedules have to work around this?

Yes, oftentimes the dancers do hold other jobs; and I try to work with their summer schedules.  Scheduling is the hardest part of my job. Everything has to be coordinated to work efficiently.  This includes the dancers, choreographers, costumes designers, musicians, and performance venues, plus the production, marketing, ticketing, and development staff.

Rehearsal of Sean Hilton’s Dormant Gods

How are costumes, props, and other non-dance tasks handled within Wabi Sabi?

Wabi Sabi was built in 2011 under the company umbrella of Atlanta Ballet. This gives us the ability to create and do things with a limited budget that we otherwise couldn’t.

We rely on the support of Atlanta Ballet’s staff for everything non-dance related such as costumes and props. That said, it is wholly a group effort.  In large part, Wabi Sabi is able to do what it does because job titles are thrown out the door. You can find dancers doing production work. You can find development staff doing marketing work. Occasionally, we will run into a project where it is necessary to hire outside sources, but it is rare.

How long does it take to plan a season for Wabi Sabi?

Though we operate only in the summer, it takes a year of planning to make it happen.

What’s coming up for Wabi Sabi this summer?

[Read more…]

The Stages Of A Swan

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By Samantha Hope Galler

Before I could even understand the true meaning of ballet, I dreamed about dancing in Swan Lake. I would even fall asleep listening to the music of Tchaikovsky. In 2001, my mom took me to see a performance of American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake. Paloma Herrera danced the principal roles of Odette and Odile. I was so completely entranced. That performance solidified my love for dance.

Five-year-old Samantha (on the right) in dance class.
Five-year-old Samantha Hope Galler at the barre.

Years later, while I was dancing with Alabama Ballet, I had the opportunity to perform as Odette and Odile in the four-act Petipa/Ivanov version of Swan Lake.

Swan Lake was first was created by Julius Reisinger in 1877, but redeveloped by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in 1895. The Petipa/Ivanov version stands as a base for many versions today.

[Read more…]

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