New Giselle set in old South Africa

Classic ballet of passion and madness is translated into young love across the colour line, writes Robyn Sassen

Johannesburg

Dance

• Redha’s Giselle
• Choreographer and soundtrack: Redha Benteifour
• Design and lighting: Wilhelm Disbergen
• Visuals: Andrew Gush
• Cast: Mari-Louise Basson, Craig Arnolds, Liyabuya Gonga, Johan Dippenaar, Sarah-Leigh Moorhouse and others
• Costumes made by: Rhalda Bowling
• Where: University of Johannesburg Arts Centre
• When: Until May 8

Moroccan-born, Paris-based contemporary choreographer Redha Benteifour is a coup for South Africa. He has collaborated with Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Elton John and Tom Jones and, when it comes to serious contemporary dance, he's worked with the likes of Roman Polanksi, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

An intense and focused individual, he is engagingly humble and direct. His is the tight physical presence of a dancer. He speaks minimally of his experience working with the late Jackson -"I worked on his Closet video in 1991. There was a different momentum of work to what I'm doing here."

Seven years later, he was invited by the artistic director of the then State Theatre Dance Company, Esther Nasser, to create a work. On the Wings of Sue was a groundbreaker. "It was the first time I'd collaborated with South Africans. There wasn't a lot of information on South African dance. It is always interesting to me what other cultures do with dance."

Two years ago, he met up with Nasser again, in Argentina. "She suggested I do Giselle. My instinct was initially that Giselle's very far away from me. But I gave it thought."

The story of Giselle, a romantic ballet which debuted in 1841, was written by Théophile Gautier. It was a shocker for mid-19th century audiences: the central character was a young lass with a heart problem who messes with taboo love between social classes; the story does not end happily ever after, but with a violent death and a ghostly resurrection.

Choreographed to music by Adolphe Adam, Giselle has become a ballet repertoire classic. Historically, it changed fashions for everything from shoes to tutus to hairstyles. Benteifour's choreographic intellect, however, brings something else. He has stripped it down and reworked it. "I had to break all its codes; I decided to frame it around mid-apartheid, when rules were being established - the '70s.

"As I worked, I began to love the characters in the story. It's their story: three youngsters trying to live life in a violent social context which does not allow them to be.

"It's a Romeo and Juliet story, only the characters are anonymous. They're nobody - and she goes mad. But can one really go mad for love? Giselle is a white girl who falls in love with a black boy. Community violence is what makes her lose her mind.

"Teenagers - which is what these characters are - dream that everything will be okay in the end. A teenager's wishes are impervious to the disappointment of reality. Giselle, however, has no exit. The only way out is for her whole world to break down."

Benteifour's vision for the work is informed by research and empathy. "We have to feel the climate of the '70s while we watch. It is South African, wherever it travels from here."

He has choreographed for dancers from the Tshwane Dance Theatre - "They're young. Too young to have known apartheid. They had to do careful research."

The work is risky by nature. "We don't want 'okay'. There is too much mediocrity on stage. We live in a world where there is much to say. And we need to be empathetic and generous in listening and speaking to others. There is no recipe for good work. My challenge is to make my public go home with something incredible in their heads and hearts."

This is his promise for Giselle. Don't miss it.