Giselle was not a dream role for Ballet Manila principal dancer Joan Emery Sia – in the sense that it’s a character she had always seen herself doing. And how! Apart from dancing Giselle’s Act 2 adagio many times as a competition piece, she has channeled the spirit of the girl who dies of a broken heart in three full-length performances – in 2012, alternating with artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde; in 2016, as part of a tribute to ballet teacher Tita Radaic during Dance MNL; and in 2019, when she was cast in a one-night-only show at the Cultural Center of the Philippines following a fire that razed Ballet Manila’s Aliw Theater.

Giselle is very timeless, very old. It doesn’t have 32 fouettés, no fireworks coda where everyone is doing their turns and jumps. It’s very simple and if you open your heart a little, you can feel it and appreciate the beauty and simplicity. 

Act 2 is the hardest because you have to be half human, half spirit. A wili is fully evil, but Giselle is not evil because of her love. Imagine you are fighting that inner urge to kill because of love. You cannot come off as human. I have to stop that instinct and be a spirit. All your movements are controlled. You cannot wobble because what would be spirit-like about that? Everything is soft and very light and that is technically hard.

Giselle is one of those ballets wherein whenever you get to do it, it’s never the same. Maybe now I’m more sensitive to my feelings. (In 2019) every time we rehearsed it, I got teary-eyed! I didn’t feel that way before! Like watching Act 2, the girls dancing in unison... before it was like, okay, focus on me. But now, I get distracted because the music is so strong and I feel the unity. I think of this as me growing up as an artist... maturing. I don’t feed off myself but I feed off what other people are giving – their energy. Whatever I put out, it’s because of whatever it is they are putting out also.

Top photo: Ballet Manila principal dancer Joan Emery Sia says channeling the spirit-like Giselle in soft and light movements is technically hard. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag