I have long been campaigning for an arts-world equivalent of agricultural set-aside where choreographers are paid to stop choreographing. Some seem so ill-equipped to produce stage art that they really should get an EU grant to do nothing.
Such is the case with Amanda Miller, whose chamber-scale version of Giselle is so feeble that it's very difficult to know where to start. You pity the poor dancers who have to perform this decimation of the 19th-century classic.
Giselle is the story of an innocent country girl mislead by a philandering toff. It's about how easily we make promises, and how easily we break them, and how redemption is both possible and difficult.
There are great traditional versions of the ballet and several successful re-imaginings, the last from Fabulous Beasts Dance Company seen at the Barbican a couple of years back.
But with Miller, it becomes a pointless skip-about, with pixie-cute costumes and a muddled plotline. The piece lacks just about everything: story, dramatic depth, atmosphere, pathos, choreography. You name it, it's missing. If this is the first ballet you see, you will come away thinking it is amateurish fare, no more than floating around to prerecorded music.
Contrary to what you will have heard, critics would much rather rave than hiss but there's little good to say on this Giselle. The one star is for the hapless dancers.
Tonight only. Dance Umbrella runs until 10 November. Information: 0844 412 4312, www.danceumbrella.co.uk.
Dance Umbrella 2007: Amanda Miller/Pretty Ugly Tanz Koln: Giselle - On Love And Other Difficulties
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
The South Bank Centre,Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
