How was the new production of Giselle Modernised for a new audience?

The new production of Giselle was modernised a lot for a new audience. The costumes, set, props and movement were changed. Also the staging was changed. In the ballet version the setting was in a forest where as in the contemporary version the backdrop was just covered in body parts. The change of setting shows how the social, political and historical context of the time had changed from when the Ballet Giselle was created to when the contemporary version was created.

Mats Ek’s production of Giselle was modernised for a new audience and dance world from the Ballet production of Giselle because the plot and themes of both productions are very different and shows the different influences that were created around the time of both the performances. Firstly, the contemporary production of Giselle shows the mental health institution that Giselle goes into instead of death, she kills herself.  This is because of the change of health care in Sweden in the 1980s – it went from been caring towards its patients to not been bothered. Mats Ek wanted to show that the change in health care was having a bad effect on the patients as they wasn’t getting any better, there were just getting worse.
However, on the other hand in the Ballet production of Giselle it is very different, Giselle kills herself and is seen as a spirit, this is linked to the supernatural theme that people believed in. When Giselle died she danced as a ghost. However, people don’t believe in ghosts now, so instead of Mats Ek using the theme of spirits and ghosts, Giselle went into a mental institution instead. This is how the plot and themes of the contemporary version of Giselle was modernised for a new audience. The costumes in the Contemporary production of Giselle have been changed and modernised because in the Ballet production of Giselle, Giselle wore a white Tutu which was the main aspect of a romantic ballet, however in contemporary version of Giselle there isn’t any tutu’s. Instead in the contemporary version of Giselle, Giselle just wears normal, modern day clothes. Giselle wears a plain skirt with a jumper and when Giselle goes into the mental place she changes costume and wears a white tunic with white leggings and a head bandage. Giselle still wears white when she goes into the mental institution as she is still pure and still hasn’t got

married. Giselle’s costume was not the only costume that was modernised. Albrecht’s and Hilarions costume was also very different to what is was in the ballet production. Also Mats Ek decided that he was going to make his dancers dance in bare feet – he got this influence from the pioneers of the time. The staging of Giselle has also been modernised. In the ballet version of Giselle, it starts with piles of wood and a old house whereas in the Contemporary version of Giselle the backdrop at the start is very bright and then the backdrop is of dismended body parts.