![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/org_img_1523644076_L-DSC_3068.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Kevin Parry, as is the big one at the top of the page.<\/p><\/div>\n
And this past week-end, we got to see something truly special. Resplendent South African dancer and choreographer, Dada Masilo, and company performed an entirely new take on the classic ballet, Giselle<\/em>. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.<\/p>\n Wow.\u00a0 Just wow.\u00a0 I’ve seen Giselle<\/em> countless times in my life, but never like this. This choreography is its own unique style.\u00a0 It\u2019s mainly a mix of contemporary dance and ballet, with some afro-jazz mixed-in. There\u2019s even some chatter, most of it for comic effect. And it\u2019s all seamless.<\/p>\n Dada Masilo. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n And, since no one is just ever walking across the stage here, (as happens with most classical<\/em> ballets at one point or another,) the action moves right along. So much so that this company tells the whole sad tale in under an hour and a half, including an intermission! That\u2019s<\/em> getting it done for you!<\/p>\n Many of you may know how much I hate any kind of change, (unless it\u2019s my weight decreasing,) but this presentation was great. It’s still the basic story of Giselle<\/em>, but with way different choreography and music. And it\u2019s performed on just a bare stage with a few projections, and one ending visual effect that\u2019s stunning. (Here\u2019s a clue: LeBron James fans will love it!)<\/p>\n Xola Willie. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n And, oh yeah, a way different ending, period. The quick story of Giselle<\/em> is that she dies (of a weak or broken heart, or of going mad\u2014depends whose writing you accept, but it doesn\u2019t really matter\u2014all you need to know is that she dies at the end of Act I,) because she fell in love with a guy (in this case, the beautiful Xola Willie,) who was already engaged to another. So, in the second act, she falls in with a bunch of deceased love-rejected women, known as the \u201cWilis,\u201d (which is what Mr. X says I<\/em> have in the middle of the night when I scream from a nightmare,) who make men dance until they, too, die. In the classic ballet, Giselle\u2019s love for her ersatz beau spares his life.<\/p>\n But not in this<\/em> version!!! Oh no no no no no. This is not your grandma\u2019s Giselle<\/em>–get your revenge, women! (Unless you\u2019re Khloe Kardashian, that is. I think she needs to channel Dada Masilo ASAP!)<\/p>\n Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n There are only a dozen dancers in this entire presentation, but, somehow, it seems like a lot more. They all change costumes so quickly in the first act, which makes it appear like a lot more characters are coming and going. And in Act II, the half dozen males double as Wilis in dresses, which, in this case, doesn\u2019t really seem strange. As a matter of fact, the Queen of the Wilis is danced by a male, the forceful Llewellyn Mnguni, but it makes no difference whatsoever. Gender doesn’t matter much in this one.<\/p>\n Llewellyn Mnguni as the Queen of the Wilis. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n I really have nothing profound to add to this review. This Giselle<\/em> is fabulous, innovative, riveting, and worthwhile. And tiny dancer Dada herself is striking. If you ever get the chance to see any<\/em> of her\u00a0works\u00a0anywhere<\/em>, I heavily suggest you go for it.<\/p>\n I do<\/em> have to tell you that there is a bit of nudity in this Giselle<\/em>. It\u2019s actually more than a bit; Dada dances topless for a couple of sections of the first act, and by the end of it, all she\u2019s wearing is underpants. Stuff like that usually bothers me, (unless the chiseled person who\u2019s naked is a guy<\/em>!,) but all I could think of is her 0% body fat!!! OMG! That is one perfect petite body!<\/p>\n Dada Masilo and Xola Willie. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n As I was watching Dada\u2019s top open up early one, the recent Olympics Ice Dancing competition flashed before my eyes, (where the French girl\u2019s top came undone and fell partially down her chest, and she and her partner basically lost the gold medal because of that snafu.) I felt awful for Dada. I whispered to Mr. X, \u201cOh no\u2014her boob\u2019s coming out!\u201d But in the very next scene, her whole top was whipped-off! I remember with horror an episode of my former TV show when the audience told me they could see my white bra through my black gauze-y top. I\u2019m still mortified about it a decade later. And even now, I can barely take a shower naked, let alone leap through the air! But Dada is the person who choreographed this show, so I applaud her body-confident self. You go, girl! (I finally figured-out what she was going for with that spark of creativity, but it took me a few days.)<\/p>\n I understand that she\u2019s also given her special new-vision treatment to a few other classics, (Carmen<\/em>, Swan Lake<\/em>, and Romeo and Juliet<\/em>,) and I just hope that I get to see them all someday. (Wallis booking people\u2014I\u2019m talking to you<\/em>!)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>