Akram Khan’s Giselle by English National Ballet – Performance Film Screening in Abu Dhabi

Akram Khan’s Giselle by English National Ballet is a powerful reimagining of the iconic Romantic ballet, brought to the screen in a haunting, cinematic production.

Set in a stark, divided world, Giselle is one of a community of migrant garment factory workers – the Outcasts – shut out from their livelihoods by a looming wall that separates them from the wealthy Landlords who once exploited their labour.

Giselle’s love for Albrecht, who secretly belongs to the Landlords, leads to betrayal and heartbreak, driving her to a tragic fate. In the second act, she joins the Wilis – ghostly women who exact vengeance on men – and must choose between revenge and forgiveness as Albrecht faces their fury.

Choreographed by Akram Khan with an intense, physical movement language and set against Vincenzo Lamagna’s dark, reworked score and Tim Yip’s monumental designs, this film screening immerses audiences in a gripping story of love, exile, and redemption – revealing Giselle as a timeless tale for our age of borders and displacement.