Johannesburg-born dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo — known for fearlessly deconstructing classical ballets — brings her take on Giselle to Milton Keynes Theatre this month.
The production is visiting the new city as part of the Dance Consortium tour, which presents must-see international contemporary dance across the UK.
Masilo, who dances the role of Giselle, has radically reimagined the definitive Romantic era ballet by uprooting it from its European origins and giving it a trailblazing feminist twist.
Set in a South African village, Masilo’s Giselle tells the tale of a peasant girl who is overwhelmed by betrayal and shame when her duplicitous lover deserts her. Rejected by her family and alienated from the village community, Giselle’s heartbreak sends her mad and ultimately kills her.
Still, it’s not long before she is resurrected as a spooky supernatural being, bent on revenge…
