Last year BalletNext leaned into the supernatural elements of the classic ballet “Giselle” and created the “Spooktacular Giselle.” This year, Park City’s resident dance company takes the story of the frail peasant girl who dies from a broken heart and becomes a vengeful ghost and goes full on gothic with “Beyond the Veil,” which is scheduled for Oct. 20 in Salt Lake City and on Oct. 28 in Park City, said Artistic Director Michele Wiles, who dances the title role. “We got darker with this one,” she said with a laugh. “Everyone is dressed in goth. I have a half-goth and half-punk skirt, and we have steampunk skirts that lace up the front and have a long train. And all the costumes have a cuff or black leather band. That’s the style.” BalletNext also drove the point home with the music selections that Wiles calls “the Three Ms — Marilyn Manson, Madonna and Mozart” — which replaces Adolphe Adam’s original score. “We are really turning ‘Giselle’ into something new,” she said. “Plus, there are other songs in there as well.” Manson’s version of “This Is Halloween,” a song from Tim Burton’s 1993 holiday mashup film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas, opens the show, Wiles said. “The song plays when we introduce all the characters, and it sort of sets the tone that this isn’t your ordinary ballet,” she said. The characters feature Wiles as Giselle, Matthew Helms as Prince Albrecht, the man who breaks Giselle’s heart, and Bashaun Williams as Hilarion, the man who loves Giselle and exposes Albrecht’s double life, which leads to Giselle’s heartbreak. Rounding out the cast are the company’s preprofessionals — Charli Adams, Julia Scherbel and Courtney Rich — who dance the roles of the vengeful ghosts known as the Willis, and Olympic Ballet Theater’s Sienna Hopper, a frequent BalletNext guest, who dances the role of Myrtha, their queen. Wiles tapped INXS’s song “Never Tear Us Apart” to play during the scene where Albrecht and Giselle meet, and she selected a remix of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Infernum to highlight the scene where Hilarion and Albrecht both confess their love to Giselle. “There is a little pantomime in that scene between Albrecht and Giselle so you get the gist of what’s happening, and then we break into a more contemporary pas de deux,” Wiles said. “When Hilarion comes in, we get into that, and use the choreography from the coda of the peasant pas de deux, so there is classical choreography infused in a ton of contemporary choreography.” These strong choices left Wiles herself with a choice. “The heart of the story is Giselle and her vulnerability, and I wanted to find a way to present Giselle to the audience and get to the heart of the story,” she said.  So Wiles dances her first solo to the song “Promise” by Laufey, which Olympic Gold Medalist Alysa Liu skated to during her Olympic short program. “It’s gorgeous and fits this version of the story,” Wiles said of the song. “Because in this version of the ballet, Giselle knows love can break her, but she’s like, ‘I’m going to love you anyway.’ So, she’s not as naive as performed in the past.” Giselle’s death of a broken heart in “Beyond the Veil” is also more dark than the original story, Wiles said. “There is a representation of the two men, Albrecht and Hilarion, ripping out my heart,” she said. “It’s not literal but it’s pretty powerful.” The music used during the scene where the Willis wake Giselle and turns her into one of them is a remix of Mozart’s “Requiem,” Wiles said. “Then we really get into Myrtha and use Elton John’s ‘Funeral for a Friend,’” she said with a laugh. “And we have Korn’s version of ‘Kidnap the Santy Claws’ playing when the Willis attack and give it to Hilarion.” Other musical choices include Falling In Reverse’s “God Is a Weapon” for the first pas de deux danced by Giselle and Albrecht, another Infernum remix, “Rhythm of the Night,” for the Willis’ dance, and Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life” for Albrecht and Giselle’s second pas de deux.  BalletNext Artistic Director Michele Wiles decided to lean into the dark and supernatural elements of the classic ballet, “Giselle.” So she went full on goth with a new production called “Beyond the Veil.” Credit: Photo courtesy of Michele Wiles “Then we do Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ for Albrecht’s solo,” Wiles said.  Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Loved By the Sun,” a song by Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and Tangerine Dream that appeared in the Ridley Scott’s 1985 dark fantasy film, “Legend,” which starred the late Tim Curry, also appear in “Beyond the Veil,” and a couple of audio edits enhance the show’s aura, according to Wiles. “We added the bell gongs from the film ‘Hellraiser,’” she said with another laugh. “We have to keep it goth, so they couldn’t be regular bells.” The final song of the performance is Michael Jackson’s “Scream,” Wiles said.  “As I looked at the story, I decided to turn it into a tale about transformation and finding one’s voice,” she said. “So ‘Scream’ is the perfect one to use. In fact, every song was strategically picked and placed in the storyline.” Wiles enjoys dissecting the classics and putting them back together with new choreography and music. “I think we’ve come up with a new formula in creating these new ballets like we did to ‘Swan Lake’ with ‘Beyond the Swan’ and ‘Unwrapped’ with ‘The Nutcracker,’” she said. “So, everything was just screaming for us to do ‘Beyond the Veil’ with ‘Giselle.’” Pairing contemporary music with classic technique, which BalletNext did with a production called “Echoes in Time,” also engages new audience members, Wiles said. “There’s a couple who had never seen dance in their lives but decided to take a risk with ‘Echoes of Time’ because we used the music of the Grateful Dead,” she said. “And now they are coming to everything we do.” BalletNext’s stylistic mashup actually began a few years ago when the company workshopped and performed at the Park City Library, Wiles said. “I think these ballets are coming into fruition because we have been heading that way,” she said. “They didn’t just drop out of the sky, but they have grown into this, which has been amazing to experience. I’ve been having a blast putting these new kinds of ballets together.” The audiences feel that joy to the point where BalletNext hosts post-production dance parties in the theaters, Wiles said. “We have a playlist for after the show and people will dance,” she said. “This playlist will include some Prince and other artists.”  BalletNext ‘Beyond the Veil’ When: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20 Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center’s Leona Wagner Black Box, 138 W. Broadway in Salt Lake City Tickets: tinyurl.com/mr3c3f8s Web: balletnext.org Also: When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28 Where: Artistic Director Michele Wiles’ home studio Tickets: tinyurl.com/v4xsu24n Web: balletnext.org The post BalletNext ventures ‘Beyond The Veil’ of ‘Giselle’ appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less