Giselle is much more than a pretty ballet. Realised to its potential, as evidenced in this production, its impact can be transcendent.

What sets this Romantic era work apart from many classics is that its virtuosity and visual beauty are not ends in themselves; rather, they’re intrinsic to the storytelling, relating universal themes that endure nearly two centuries after its creation. We are left feeling – ineffably and lingeringly.

In just two acts, the choreography passed down from Coralli and Perrot to Petipa and staged here by Ai-Gul Gaisina, conveys the gamut of human frailty and its karmic consequences.

Act I plays out in familiar fashion as an ill-fated love story. Yes, its effect is theatrically heightened, but who doesn’t love a good mad scene?

Especially when it’s followed by a display of female empowerment predating #MeToo by centuries.

Act II’s supernatural reckoning by the wrathful Wili wraiths who make men dance to their death resonates with modern women who’ve been swept off their feet, only to be betrayed and then gaslit.

This is life schooling featuring the three Rs: retribution, remorse and redemption. We get the oft-evaded satisfaction of accountability. And that is what permits forgiveness.