Misty Copeland’s Giselle is all about the acting

At age 34, Misty Copeland is finally performing many of ballet’s iconic roles. In May, she tackled “Don Quixote’s” Kitri for the first time and made her New York debut in the title role of “Giselle” with American Ballet Theatre, where she has spent her entire career. She has been a principal dancer with the company for two years.

Nobody would deny that’s rather a late start for some of classical ballet’s most demanding parts, but nothing has come easily for this beloved star. Copeland’s early life was fraught with family conflict, and her career has been marked by injuries. Her much anticipated performance in the world premiere of ABT’s “Whipped Cream” at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in March was canceled out of concern for her fragile left leg; a 2014 fracture left her with a plate in her tibia.

So when Copeland does appear in a canonical part, as she did  Friday at the Segerstrom Center in Teatro alla Scala’s production of “Giselle,” her many fans – and Southern California is full of them because she was raised in San Pedro – understandably approach the date with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

Orange County is no stranger to memorable “Giselles.” In the last decade we’ve seen the Kirov’s Old World version, with Diana Vishneva as a fiery yet elegant Giselle, and a 2009 ABT production starred veteran Julie Kent in a thoughtful and restrained interpretation of the role.

In Copeland’s performance on Friday (her only appearance during the company’s Orange County run), she opted for the latter approach. Her Giselle may have lacked girlish virtuosity, and in the second act her solos were delivered with a sense of caution – understandable, but not a desirable quality for the part.

Still, Copeland has worked hard on her acting chops over the last decade, and that investment has paid off. Her Giselle is no empty-headed teen without a clue about the inherent dangers of a suitor such as Albrecht, the princeling who slums with peasants for fun. From their first encounter, Copeland projects a more knowing and even worldly young woman that the role’s 19th-century originator, Carlotta Grisi, probably wouldn’t have recognized.

Copeland is careful with the details during that initial encounter: a down-turned gaze, a hint of hesitancy at the beginning of some phrases. It’s the body language of someone who suspects this handsome young man can’t be trusted. The end of the first act is tricky: Giselle is driven mad when she discovers Albrecht is betrothed to another. Copeland doesn’t overplay the moment – her Giselle internalizes the pain rather than breaking into fluttering histrionics – and the effect is devastating.

Roberto Bolle, a veteran of the Milan company who is also an ABT principal dancer, is 42 but still boyish looking, and his physicality is as sharp-edged as ever, so it isn’t difficult to see him as an impetuous young prince on the verge of adulthood. His acting, though, resides in a different world than Copeland’s. Bolle is deeply schooled in classical ballet’s mime-heavy approach to role playing, and the contrast between his interpretive style and Copeland’s can be jarring at times.

Fortunately, Friday’s performance contained many other strengths and inspired performances. Nicoletta Manni made a captivating entrance at the top of the second act as Myrtha, Queen of the Willis. Vittoria Valerio and Antonino Sutera were fresh, charming and full of verve in the Peasant Pas de Deux. Members of the corps de ballet were precise and ethereal when the Willis descend to wreak havoc with the mournful prince.

This production is also lovely to look at. The late Yvette Chauviré, France’s greatest prima ballerina of the postwar years and a memorable Giselle herself at Teatro alla Scala, restaged the original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, and her work seems crisp and concise yet faithful to 19th-century traditions. Aleksandr Benois’ sets and costumes for the 1910 Ballets Russes production have been artfully elaborated by Angelo Sala and Cinzia Rosselli. The second-act graveyard scene is wonderfully eerie, and the villagers’ costumes in the first act are a riot of rustic color.

Giselle

When: July 28. Next: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29, 1 p.m. Sunday, July 30

Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

Tickets: $29-$159

Call: 714-556-2787

Info: scfta.org