Vishneva's Giselle—one who uses all her body and soul and lives in the moment

Diana Vishneva is currently performing "Giselle" with Semyon Chudin and the Tokyo Ballet.  I happened to find this preview article by a Japanese ballet critic, and since I agreed with much of what she said, I decided to translate it as best I could and post it.  So here it is.

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Vishneva's Giselle—one who uses all her body and soul and lives in the moment
By ballet critic Akiko Shibata

There is no other ballerina who makes you feel her vitality as powerfully as Diana Vishneva. From the moment she appears onstage, she draws the audience in with her infinitely gorgeous presence. With her sure technique as a base, her dancing is richly nuanced. It generates an overwhelming force, and she makes you feel the life force common to each and every one of us, not just Vishneva herself.

In “Sleeping Beauty,” the peak of classic ballet, she is the Princess Aurora who shines radiantly. She is the “Firebird” who sets the devil and his underlings ablaze. And she is the Zobeide in “Scheherazade” who sacrifices herself for love. Those are the roles that surely seem to be made for Vishneva.

Based on her personality, “a Giselle who loves to dance but has a weak body” might not seem to fit her on first glance. However, this is what makes Vishneva amazing.

I feel her life force more strongly because of her profound interpretation of the character. For example, “Swan Lake,” which for a long time people said she was not suited for. She probed the role and herself, and she brought forth an original Odette and Odile that I have never seen before, one that only she can produce. That strength, those feelings that she pours into ballet must come from the sparkle of her life. If she takes hold of you—she will draw you toward her no matter what role it is. Indeed, her “Giselle” is one that only she can dance, one that is full of originality and is extremely moving.

Vishneva’s Giselle is overflowing with vitality. When she dances and when she shows her love for Albrecht, she uses her whole body and soul, and it totally seems like she is pouring all her life force into the moment. Even in the mad scene, it seems like her body cannot endure that intense life force, and in the end, her body gives out. That’s why, in the second act, when Giselle rises from the grave and spins so violently fast, I thought, “Ahh, now her soul can finally dance with all her strength, and love with all her heart, like she has always wanted to,” and I had this strange sense of relief and release. What protected Albrecht from the wilis, what whirls around her now that she’s dead, just might be that life force. In the last scene, there is the sadness one usually feels knowing that Giselle and Albrecht can never meet again, but beyond that, I was filled with the two-fold sadness of Giselle’s tragedy—she has finally won her freedom, but as a result, she must be separated from Albrecht forever. And I couldn’t hold back my tears.

This summer, Vishneva will dance “Giselle” in Tokyo for the third time. This time her partner is Semyon Chudin from the Moscow Musical Theater. There are probably many people who remember his performance as the cool-headed Phoebus in “Esmeralada” when the troupe came to Japan last year. He is a young performer with the Moscow Musical Theater to watch. It has been five years since Vishneva’s last “Giselle.” Now that she has deepened her understanding of the role and taken on a new partner, I wonder what kind of Giselle Vishneva will show us. I cannot wait!