AS REVENGEFUL as it is romantic, Dada Masilo’s adaptation is a far cry from the traditional chocolate box Giselle. The fourth classical ballet that the choreographer and lead performer has reinterpreted, it draws on the dance and culture of her native South Africa.

The basic storyline remains unchanged in this production by Masilo and Dance Factory Johannesburg — a peasant girl dies of a broken heart after discovering that her lover, a disguised nobleman, is betrothed to someone else. A group of supernatural women, the Wilis, then summon her from the grave and target her beau for death.

In this version, the Queen of the Wilis is a fly-whisk toting Sangoma — a traditional healer, danced by Llewellyn Mnguni — and the women she leads have all been betrayed in love. But rather than being sad, they are out for revenge and their vibrant red costumes and earthbound movements, drawing on tribal dance traditions, communicate power and energy.