A touch of the Wilis spices up Giselle

ENGLISH National Ballet's latest foray offers traditional fare with a cheeky twist – and it's coming to Scotland. Kelly Apter reports

NOT many 60-year-olds would try something completely new before an audience of thousands. But then English National Ballet (ENB) has never shied from a challenge. Currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, it will shortly arrive in Glasgow with the well-loved ballet Giselle. Perhaps more interesting, however, is the companion piece being served as a warm-up to the main event.

Choreographed by artistic director Wayne Eagling, Men Y Men is a short work that has left audiences across the UK gasping for more. Partly because it's performed by nine bare-chested male dancers – but largely due to Eagling's athletic choreography, which, unusually, features men partnering men.

Taking a break from rehearsals at ENB's London headquarters, Eagling explains why he was determined the piece should be about strength and grace, not macho posturing. "I didn't want to make it the ballet Olympics or men showing off," he says. "So I tried to find music that was suitable and came up with some nice Rachmaninov piano preludes. And I was able to tailor the choreography to what the men are good at. For example, one has a beautiful line, another can jump six miles high and spin like a top – so I've used all that."

Shorter than ballets such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, Giselle was traditionally performed with another dance preceding it, to flesh out the evening for audiences. Which is one reason why Eagling created Men Y Men. More importantly, however, he needed to keep the men in the company challenged and busy while touring the female-intensive Giselle, when only the high-ranking male dancers get to shine.

"Giselle is certainly good enough on its own," explains Eagling. "But the male corps de ballet really don't dance very much in it. So the idea was to give some dancing opportunities to all the male dancers in the company, from soloist downwards."

Eagling has included subtle elements of Giselle in his new piece to tie the two works together. He wanted to go even further, however, and name the dance after the "Wilis" – the vengeful sprites that populate Giselle's second act. "I originally wanted to call it Strictly Wilis," he says, smiling cheekily. "Because I think it's very important to find new ways of generating interest in the work you're showing. But I was prevented from doing so by the taste police, and we decided on Men Y Men instead."

As a counter-balance to the contemporary approach Eagling has taken with Men Y Men, the Giselle they're bringing is as traditional as they come: with pointe shoes, a beautiful set depicting a charming German village and a sea of floating white lace costumes. "It's a marvellous production and feels very genuine," says Eagling. "There are a few unique elements but no gimmicks – it's not set in the 1960s, there are no flying Wilis or anything like that, it's a proper old-fashioned version."

Throughout its six-decade history, ENB have been committed to touring as widely as possible. So while we never see hide or hair of the Royal Ballet in Scotland, this is ENB's second trip north of the Border in six years. We're lucky to have them, because even a 100 per cent sell-out show will still generate a loss for the company.

"If we bring Swan Lake, our most popular ballet, and it sells out every single seat, we will still lose money," says Eagling. "Because the cost of touring these big ballets with so many dancers and a large orchestra is so great, a sell-out show won't cover our costs. So sometimes, it's cheaper not to go.

"But I'm happy that ENB are a touring company and that we're able to bring these shows to people."

For Eagling, and every other ballet company head, finding ways to keep classical ballet fresh and interesting, while securing enough bums on seats, is a constant challenge. "I think classical ballet is a relevant living art form," he says.

"But unless you practise that art form it will stop and we'll end up with all the big classical companies doing the same repertory.

"You have to keep ballets like Swan Lake and Giselle alive to give audiences who haven't seen them and dancers who haven't danced them the opportunity to do and see these great things.

"But it's also vital to try and create new works. I always compare a ballet company to a great museum or art gallery – you have the old masters to preserve the history, and then you do new things to create the classics of the future." Enter Men Y Men stage left.

English National Ballet perform Giselle and Men Y Men at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 17-20 March.