"Giselle": reality as uncanny fact at Akram Khan's ballet

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_tropelias/tropelias.2020344211

Keywords:

ballet, uncanny, Théophile Gautier, Sigmund Freud, Akram Khan, Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, reality, fantasy, Romanticism, feminism, exploitation, industry, status

Abstract

Giselle was first performed in Paris in 1841. A German legend inspired the love triangle story of the libretto: young female dancers who died before marrying are turned into ghost ballerinas.

In 2016 a new choreography by Akram Khan is released. The framework is also a love triangle but Khan manages to disturb the audience not just because of the hard mise-en-scène and music arrangements but also by letting them to identify themselves with the performance. Romanticism allowed the audiences at 1841 to escape from their lives far from identifying with what they were watching while, contemporary audiences of this Giselle, react by the portrayed injustice of the argument. What should have been hidden comes to light and the uncanny feeling is revealed according to Freud theories (Das Unheimliche, 1919).

The article will develop paralelisms between Freud theories and Akram Khan's choreography coupled with the guideline of Gautier's libretto.

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Published

2020-07-17

Issue

Section

Dossier

How to Cite

López Villarquide, M. (2020). "Giselle": reality as uncanny fact at Akram Khan’s ballet. Tropelías: Review of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature, 34, 52-65. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_tropelias/tropelias.2020344211