Akram Khan's Giselle Was Memorising

Last updated on 25 November 2025

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Akram Khan’s Giselle was amazing.

This past weekend my lovely friend gave me her 2 tickets to see the ballet production of Giselle, as she couldn’t make it. You may recall that I went to see the classical production of Giselle a few years ago, which was performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. This version of Giselle, choreographed by Akram Khan, was so different from the classical production, and yet so beautiful in so many ways.

The story line was slightly different to the one I was familiar with, so I did find it harder to follow. If you know the story of Giselle but ever get to see Akram Khan’s version, do read the synopsis before you go. Here’s what I should have read:

“Khan’s new vision for this classic tale of love, betrayal and redemption places the story in a timeless setting where an outcast migrant factory worker discovers her lover is betrothed to another woman and dies from grief. Giselle joins a group of ghosts who seek revenge on him, but their love proves too powerful and he is released, forgiven.” – Event Finda website

A little different to the traditional story, which has various other aspects to it. I was a little confused at who some of the characters were because of this, but it didn’t subtract for the sheer awesomeness that was the ballet.

The dances were incredible, as were the dancers, who used props of thin sticks at one point creating a extra layer of effects. There were some epic group moves too, and a fantastic moving backdrop. The music – oh, dear reader, the music! – was amazing! It was this spectacular mixture of beautiful orchestral melodies, and some crazy, jarring beats and clashes, and it was just a brilliant juxtaposition of sounds.

While the ‘season’ in Auckland was short – just 4 days over the course of the first weekend in March, if you ever get the change to see Akram Khan’s Giselle, then I highly recommend it.

Did you manage to catch it in Auckland? What did you think ?