Megan Buckley and Jennifer Jones are very different women and very different dancers.
But for the current production of “Giselle” by Portland Ballet, they share one thing in common: the lead role.
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Buckley, 25, and Jones, 32, will both portray Giselle in the classical production, which sometimes is referred to as the “Hamlet” of ballet.
Portland Ballet will present the show three times this month at Westbrook Performing Arts Center at Westbrook Middle School and again during a mini-tour to New Brunswick, Canada.
It’s unusual for a company the size of Portland Ballet to cast two dancers in a single role. But the role of Giselle demands so much, artistic director Eugenia O’Brien thought it wise to prepare two dancers. Similarly, the role of Myrtha is shared by dancers Mary Stride and Morgan Sanborn.
“One of the beautiful things about live performance is that each performance offers a different texture,” O’Brien said. “I think audiences will detect a very different flavor from one show to the next, depending on who they see in the role. That is the thrill of live performance, and why we come back over and over.”
The ballet follows Giselle through love, heartbreak, forgiveness and death. She is an innocent girl beloved by the local gamekeeper Hilarion. But she falls in love with Count Albrecht, a nobleman who showers her with his affections while disguised as a peasant.
When Giselle discovers Albrecht is engaged, she loses her mind and dies broken-hearted. She returns in Act Two with other ghost maidens who have died before their wedding nights, also the victims of heartbreak.
The ghost maidens seek revenge, forcing men who cross them to dance to their death. When Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave, she appears and forgives him, saving him from the fate of other men.
The role of Giselle challenges dancers for many reasons, primary among them the range of emotions a dancer must convey.
“This was one of the first ballets I ever saw, and I was blown away by the vast array of emotions that the dancer had to perform,” said Jones, who will dance the lead role at the March 24 matinee.
“To prepare for this role, as a dancer I have to find myself in her, and that can be a scary process,” she said. “She comes across early on as needy, but she has an underlying strength that really surfaces and grows as the ballet goes on. In the end, her love transcends death, and she finds a way to forgive. She has a quiet strength.”
She calls Giselle “the most challenging role I have ever done, by far.”
Jones will dance another role alongside Buckley during other performances, and will be available for the lead in the event that Buckley cannot dance.
Buckley prepared for Giselle in much the same way as Jones.
“To get into the character, I have to find the Giselle in me and me in her,” Buckley said. “This role has a little bit of everything. It’s a roller-coaster of emotion. She goes from this young and happy-in-love girl to this mad young woman who dies and returns as a ghost capable of forgiveness.
“The degree and range of emotions is challenging. It’s equally acting and dancing.”
Neither woman tries to emulate the other. Both watch each other during rehearsal, and both are open to the other’s interpretation of the role.
But both approach the role individually.
“We feel no pressure to be alike,” said Jones, who has had many conversations with associate artistic director Nell Shipman, who portrayed Giselle in Portland Ballet’s 2009 production.
“Nell is great about allowing us to make the role personal,” Jones said. “I will be watching Meg in rehearsal and see something I like and think, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ But things that work for her might not work for me. We learn from each other.”
For O’Brien and Portland Ballet, “Giselle” also represents a challenge because of the touring component. After the Westbrook performances, the company will pack up the costumes and sets and head northeast across the border for a performance on March 31 at the Imperial Theater in St. John, New Brunswick.
That means transporting about two dozen dancers, which presents logistical challenges. There is no orchestra — Portland Ballet is using a recorded score by Adolphe Adam — but this represents a major undertaking.
O’Brien got the idea for the Canadian trek after attending a cross-cultural exchange conference sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission. The conference encouraged Maine artists to look north instead of only south for performance opportunities.
Portland Ballet will be the guest of the Imperial Theater, which is producing the show and incurring the costs and risks.
“We are building a bridge in a direction that few people go,” O’Brien said. “We feel there are great possibilities for us, and we are going with a great sense of honor and obligation. We are representing Maine, and proud to do so.”
Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or:
bkeyes@pressherald.com
Twitter: pphbkeyes
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