Showtime

What: Giselle

Who: National Ballet of Cuba

Where: Hamilton Place

When: Oct. 4 at 7.30 p.m.

Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

Tickets: 905-527-7666

My best memory of Giselle is at Jacob's Pillow in the heart of Massachusetts, watching Canadian ballerina Evelyn Hart dance as if her soul were on fire.

Her performance, a perfect synthesis of form, style and personal commitment, is etched forever on my memory.

Years earlier, I watched Hamilton-born Karen Kain fall into the arms of Hamilton dancer Frank Augustyn. They created a burning chemistry that fueled fantasies of passion off stage as well as on.

What does it take to make a great Giselle? Of course, it goes beyond just dancing. A ballerina who slips inside this great role must touch base with her soul.

This weekend Alicia Alonso's great Ballet Nacional de Cuba brings Giselle to Hamilton Place.

It has been many years since any company danced it there. It's an important occasion. For one thing, this year Hamilton is the only Canadian city to see this remarkable company. For another, Alonso will be here to coach her dancers in this thrilling production.

I looked through my scrapbook to recall some of the great Giselles of our time. Here are their thoughts:

"For me, Giselle was always the touchstone. The way it made me feel had something to do with internalizing the ballet's drama. It's a poetic piece that touches the heart and mind. It's about the redemptive powers of love. Whenever I danced it, I succumbed to its elusive spirit.-- Evelyn Hart, Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

"Giselle is the lodestone of the Romantic era. It's a work of great passion and purity. I danced it with many partners, but when Frank and I danced it, it felt special. We were young and cute. I know, I've seen the pictures. When we danced time seemed to stand still. These are glorious memories that fill my heart." -- Karen Kain, National Ballet of Canada.

"Many ballets have a sense of ethereal beauty. Many have truth at their core. Giselle takes you beyond even that. It is a ballet that makes you know what it means to love, what it means to survive death, what it means to find resolution in an afterlife."-- Natalia Makarova, American Ballet Theatre.

"I love Giselle because it touches me so deeply. Other ballets may be beautiful, but they haven't the spiritual quality this one has. When Giselle dies for love, it is a dark moment. When she comes back from the grave to save Albrecht, her lost love, it is a powerful affirmation of the depth of love - how it can transcend every other emotion." - Svetlana Lunkina, Kirov Ballet St. Petersburg.

"I danced Giselle as if my life was going to end. I burrowed deep inside to find special powers - powers that could make me seem light as a feather, soft as air. - Ekaterina Maximova, Bolshoi Ballet.

"Giselle is a role you live, you don't just dance it. It's heartbreaking in the way it captures the tragedy of mistaken love. I will always feel something like that little girl, even though I am now a very old woman"-- Alicia Alonso, Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

If you've only seen The Nutcracker you haven't really seen ballet.You owe it to yourself to experience Giselle.

Gary Smith has written on theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years. He has loved Giselle for many more.