Saratoga Springs, New York

Giselle Synopsis      

ACT I 

The first act is set in a Rhineland valley surrounded by vine-clad hills in medieval Germany. Giselle, a peasant girl, has a passion for dancing, which is shared by her sweetheart, Loys, who courts her ardently. Hilarion, a rival for Giselle's affections, unmasks Loys as Albrecht, Duke of Silesia, who is already betrothed to the Countess Bathilde. The betrayal so shocks Giselle that she loses her reason, stabs herself with a sword and dies, leaving Albrecht crazed with despair and love.

ACT II 

The scene opens on a moonlit forest glade near the tomb where Giselle has been buried. After midnight, the forest is haunted by Wilis, spirits of betrothed girls who have died as a result of being betrayed by faithless lovers.

Hilarion mourns by Giselle's grave. As midnight tolls, he becomes aware of the presence of the Wilis. Terrified, he flees. The Queen of the Wilis summons her subjects for the initiation of Giselle. Albrecht comes to Giselle's tomb to beg forgiveness. Giselle appears before him and he pursues her disappearing image.

Hilarion is once again attracted to Giselle's grave, but is surrounded by the Wilis. The Queen shows him no mercy and commands the Wilis to throw him into a nearby lake. Albrecht is discovered and is prescribed the same fate but warned by Giselle he clings to the shelter of the cross. The Queen, wanting revenge, commands Giselle to dance and so lure Albrecht from the cross. He is drawn towards his beloved and dances with her until he is exhausted. Just as his death seems imminent, dawn breaks. Daylight destroys the Wilis' power, and he is saved. The ghostly figures fade away. Giselle, too, must melt into the air, leaving Albrecht sorrowful and alone.

Background Notes  

Giselle: The Ballerina's Hamlet > 

A Note on Giselle >

The Roles of Giselle and Albrecht >  

Leitmotifs in Giselle >

Giselle: The Ballerina's Hamlet    

It’s often said those works of art endure that seem to read us as we read them. Shakespeare, naturally, Mozart’s operas, Rembrandt’s self-portraits. And in ballet? Among others, you could make a good case for Giselle. Created in 1841 with a libretto by the French poet Theophile Gautier and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Joseph Perrot, the work, with its gauzy, dream-like textures, its check-list of 19th century literary obsessions and its volkische appeal (the Wilis were borrowed from a Slavic legend via the German poet Heinrich Heine) to both earthiness and mystery, has always been the standard reference point for Romantic ballet. And that’s perfectly apt. It is a romantic ballet, in terms of reflecting so many of the intellectual and artistic currents of its age, of representing certain channels of feeling and social attitudes prevalent in European society of the time. But looked at that way, it becomes a curio, a museum piece, lacking the power to still touch us, to shake us up in some way, to make us re-think the foundations (or absence thereof) of our present condition.

And so we have had the ballet re-set in a madhouse, in the Louisiana bayous and, most recently, courtesy of a hybrid spoken word/song and dance extravaganza created by Fabulous Beast Dance Company, in a small town in Ireland where Albrecht is a bisexual line dance instructor from Bratislava. Yes, Giselle is still getting to us, a choreographic Rorschach test, even if the contested fields today are class consciousness, race and the patriarchy.

But what of that traditional ballet, the familiar spooky, spectral, gorgeous, touching ballet blanc reverie that most of us still recognize Giselle being? That story of love, betrayal, revenge and forgiveness that strikes a chord because, despite the formal adherence to an earlier aesthetic (or perhaps because of it), those themes never do get old. Can we still experience that story unoccluded by theory, in its emotional openness, its agonized beauty? Giselle is a pivotal ballet because it both looks back almost nostalgically to a romanticism that was beginning to fade, and points ahead to the challenges and preoccupations of symbolism, of interiority, of abstraction, that modern ballet would take up. And that gives its story a special meaning and place both in the history of ballet and in the history of self-understanding. We still want to hear that story and to see it danced.

At the heart of the ballet is the title character. In fact, although the work boasts some of the most haunting and distinctive corps dancing in any ballet and despite how richly suggestive the other characters are, it’s safe to say that Giselle is Giselle. The role is often described as a “testing ground” for ballerinas, not just because of the demands of its technique, but because it is so emotionally exacting. Of course, that is often code for “it has a mad scene,” which tends to fold it into such staples of exquisite, male-conceived female derangement as Lucia de Lammermoor or a raft of other 19th century operas. But Giselle as a character is more than her madness, and although her emotional collapse, which is brought about by her heartbreak and which brings on her death, is the ballet’s famous showstopper, what completes Giselle is her transformational arc: she dies for love and then gets to come back as a spirit to save the man who betrayed her. That’s the ultimate romantic gesture: her revenge is her forgiveness.

Greta Hodgkinson, Principal Dancer with The National Ballet of Canada, has danced Giselle numerous times and will be performing the role again this season, along with fellow ballerinas Sonia Rodriguez, Xiao Nan Yu and Jillian Vanstone. She’s attuned especially to a Giselle she sees as a creature of pure feeling, “the epitome of all that is pure and true.” That’s certainly a key to constructing the role, but just as important for Hodgkinson is the challenge of playing that role on two planes. “Inhabiting her as a real person in Act I and transitioning to an ethereal being in Act II is both a physical and emotional journey,” she says. There’s the rub. Dancing Giselle is often compared to playing Hamlet, and there’s truth enough in the remark. But once Hamlet is dead, he stays dead. Giselle gets another chance to set things right and at least partially dispel the ballet’s tragic cloud. She’s proof that at least in the lives of Romantic ballet heroines, there are second acts. They just happen beyond the grave.

A Note on Giselle     

Giselle is considered by many to be the quintessential Romantic ballet, representing the aesthetics of a bygone era, not only in dance, but music, literature, philosophy and art as well. It premiered in France at the Paris Opera in 1841 where it proved to be an instant success. Following its Paris premiere Giselle was performed throughout Europe and the United States and inspired a number of theatrical productions as well as the naming of a new flower, “The Giselle.” Giselle’s farewell to Albrecht even inspired a popular Victorian song, Ah No! You’ll not forget me! The production was introduced to Russian audiences in late 1841 with the title role performed by the great dramatic ballerina Fanny Elssler.

It is from this version that today’s interpretations take their cues with the ballet’s emphasis lying in the drama of the story. Despite its early success Giselle disappeared from the stage in Paris and London for nearly 40 years only to be reintroduced in the early 20th century spawning many modern productions. Giselle has been called the Hamlet of ballet and the title role is one of the most challenging roles to perform due to the great contrast in character which must be portrayed by the ballerina, from the earthly sweet movements of the first act through the dramatic climax of madness to the spiritual, airborne, weightless movements of the second act.

The Roles of Giselle and Albrecht    

The longevity of Giselle is credited not only to its historical value but also to the universality of its tale— a story of love, class distinction, betrayal, remorse and forgiveness. Like Romeo and Juliet, Giselle is a story of lovers separated by the artificial barriers of society. For both dancers and audience members, the roles of Giselle and Albrecht prove a fascinating challenge, as they allow for multi-faceted psychological character development.

The role of Giselle is unique, from its costuming to the complexity of its character makeup. At the time of its creation in 1841, Giselle was one of the first ballets to introduce the female dancer in pointe shoes, a device that allowed her wider possibilities of movement. The result was that she seemed light, ethereal and otherworldly on stage. The introduction of calf-length, lightweight tulle dresses with tight bodices also allowed for greater freedom in leg movements and the appearance of softer, “romantic” arms.

The contrasting thematic concerns of Giselle also lent themselves to the Romantic fervour of the period. While many ballets dealt either with an idealized peasant life or the fantastic, Giselle incorporated both. The ballet is set in two locales, which are set off in sharp contrast. Act I takes place in the peasant village, which is contrasted with the moonlit forest glade of Act II. As well, the realism of Act I is contrasted with the fantasy elements of Act II. The first act incorporates bright and lively mime and musical leitmotifs that develop the drama. Before the end of Act I, Giselle’s mad scene begins the transition to Act II, in which the demonic world of the Wilis is represented as dark, sombre and melancholic.

The character of Giselle also goes through a transformation, from light-hearted peasant girl to crazed woman and, finally, to a ghostly vision. Giselle is a challenge for ballerinas who must combine dramatic ability and technical brilliance to bring about a convincing performance in a role that is both physically and mentally exhausting.

One of the most powerful scenes in the ballet is Giselle’s death. Does she die of madness or of a broken heart? Or does she commit suicide when she thrusts Albrecht’s sword toward her heart? Since early documentation proves inconclusive on the subject, the scene has been dealt with in various ways. The only clear fact is that Giselle is not buried in a graveyard but in the depths of a forest in unhallowed ground. Only a suicide would warrant such a burial. Choreographer Sir Peter Wright has said he believes Giselle kills herself, but in his own productions dancers have changed the scene to suit their own interpretations. In the late 1800s in Russia, during Marius Petipa’s tenure as Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatre, suicide was not accepted on the stage, so Giselle invariably was shown as dying from madness.

The role of Albrecht provides male dancers with one of ballet’s most interesting and complex characters. Far removed from the porteurs of most classical works, who simply carry the ballerina, Albrecht is a fully rounded character capable of standing on his own and holding centre stage.

There is no right or wrong way to portray Albrecht. Because Albrecht is a nobleman in disguise, it might be assumed that he wishes to be freed from his elevated social position. It is also possible that he has grown alienated from his wealth and is seeking a more spiritual, simple and authentic existence. Or maybe he is a restless dreamer who seeks a quaint diversion among the peasants.

In falling in love with Giselle is Albrecht a cad? Is he a thoughtless nobleman and idle flirt? Or is he truly in love with Giselle but simply naive about the social implications of their liaison? Whether or not he is concerned with the consequences of his actions, he is soon confronted with them.

Already engaged to be married, Albrecht is prevented by his duty to his aristocratic family from fulfilling his love for Giselle. Giselle’s madness and subsequent death not only awaken Albrecht’s moral sense, but also bring to the fore his emotions, primarily love and guilt. Through Giselle’s love and forgiveness in Act II, Albrecht gains new awareness, humility, and a sense of responsibility. He is also made aware of the gulf between reality and his ideals, and his inability to merge the two. He must fight for his life in this act, at the mercy of the powerful Wilis, who attempt with their supernatural powers to compel him to dance to his death.

At the end of the ballet, Albrecht is left on stage, a solitary figure. Dancers’ interpretations vary in these final moments, sometimes walking into the distance, away from the audience or toward it; sometimes carrying a flower, the only tangible link with Giselle, at other times, allowing the flower to fall to the ground; others end the ballet reaching out for the elusive dream or kneeling in remorse. In the original production, this scene was taken one step further, with Bathilde, Albrecht’s betrothed, returning to his side. The audience would have concluded that although he had savoured his ideal (Giselle), he was reconciled to return to reality.

Leitmotifs in Giselle      

A leitmotif is a theme used recurrently to denote a specific person, object or feeling, either through music or movement. Giselle composer Adolphe Adam ingeniously used musical leitmotifs in his score. Adam’s leitmotifs were complemented by dance movement leitmotifs created by choreographers Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli, and are still incorporated in the ballet today, more than 150 years after its premiere.

Giselle’s theme 
There is one sequence of steps with accompanying music that Giselle repeats at various key moments in the drama. This series of ballonnes, piqués and pas de basque denotes Giselle’s love for dance. They are very simple steps, light and airy, that reflect Giselle’s simple peasant background and carefree existence. When Bathilde asks Giselle what her favourite pastime is, Giselle executes this series of steps, telling Bathilde that she loves to dance.

Flower theme
The flower theme in which Giselle plucks the petals of a daisy (“he loves me, he loves me not”) is performed twice, once in a happy duet with Albrecht, and again in the mad scene, as Giselle recalls her lover.

Huntsmen’s theme
The huntsmen’s theme is the sound of horns that always precedes the arrival of the nobles and their hunting party.

Wili theme
The Wili theme is first heard in Act I when Berthe, Giselle’s mother, warns her about dancing too much; it acts as a premonition of the tragedy that is to follow. The theme is reintroduced in the second act with the arrival of the Wilis, who surround Hilarion on his visit to Giselle’s grave.

Hilarion’s theme
Hilarion’s entrance is heralded by his own distinct musical theme. For this music, Adolphe Adam used an excerpt from the Fate theme of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.