For centuries, “Giselle” has been celebrated as the “Hamlet” of ballet because of the tremendous demands placed on the company performing it, both technical and emotional. One of the oldest consistently performed ballets since debuting in 1841, “Giselle” hasn’t been staged by the Richmond Ballet for 15 years.
“I’ve been thinking about ‘Giselle’ for a while,” says Ma Cong, the company’s artistic director. “It requires a level of maturity, especially for the leading dancers, to carry a ballet with this much artistry and dramatic storytelling. I think we are there now.”
Created at the height of the Romantic period in France, “Giselle” tells an intense story of a poor girl who catches the eye of a nobleman and the two fall in love. He is already engaged to another woman, however, and when Giselle discovers the betrayal, she dies of heartbreak. The story then transforms into a supernatural tale filled with ghosts, vengeful spirits and magic, with some characters forced to essentially dance themselves to death.
Ma says his dancers have been eager to tackle such a challenging work. “‘Giselle’ is captivating because it’s so dramatic and can help educate us to be better,” he says. “I think our dancers wanted to experience this production as part of fulfilling their own individual missions as artists.”
That’s certainly true for Eri Nishihara, a 12-year veteran of the company and one of two dancers who will be alternating in the title role. “It’s a dream role for me,” she says. “It’s a dream role for a lot of ballerinas. It’s a beautiful ballet that I don’t think is done as often as it should be.”
Nishihara has danced several principal roles over her career, playing the Sugar Plum Fairy in “Nutcracker” and featured in “Dracula,” for instance, but taking the lead in “Giselle” has a specific responsibility. “Principal roles set the tone, set the level for the entire company,” she explains. “There is a high level that has to be set for this production so it is a lot of pressure. But I love having that challenge.”
The character of Giselle poses another specific challenge because she starts as a simple peasant girl whose experiences drive her to extremes, so she has to start out subdued and build in intensity. “It’s more natural for me to be expressive in active scenes,” says Nishihara. “So to tamp it down [in the early scenes] is quite hard because you still want to be read visually, to have the audience be able to see what she’s going through.”
Though she is now one of the company’s relative old-timers, Nishihara may gain some insight from one of its newest members. Zoila Peña joined the company just last fall but formerly performed as a principal dancer for Teresa Carreño Ballet Theater in Venezuela, starring in their production of “Giselle” in 2023.
Speaking through an interpreter, Peña says experience in the role won’t necessarily make it easier to perform. “It’s actually a bigger challenge now,” she says. “Since I’ve already done it once, I feel there is more pressure to make an even bigger impact this time.”
Peña gained attention through her success at the Miami International Ballet Competition in 2025, winning gold medals in the solo and pas de deux categories. She seems sheepish about the accomplishment. “I don’t like competitions because I like to enjoy the experience, not to compete against other dancers who are also doing wonderful work,” she says. “But I know it is something valuable to have on my resume.”
Assuaging the pressure of tackling Giselle again is Peña’s confidence that she’s better equipped to handle the role. “I feel I have a different level of maturity and I can appreciate her story more,” she says. “I’ve gone through many things that can help me carry the emotional weight that Giselle requires.”
Ma says that the emotional extremes of “Giselle” makes it the perfect offering for Valentine’s Day weekend. “I am looking at this production as a vehicle for understanding what love is really about,” he says. “This is a story that asks: What is love? What is betrayal? What is romance? I think that makes it a Valentine’s gift for our audience.”
Richmond Ballet will perform “Giselle” accompanied by the Richmond Symphony at the Dominion Energy Center, 600 East Grace Street, Feb. 13-15. Tickets and information available at https://richmondballet.com/.
