About the Ballet

Overview

Giselle is the quintessential Romantic ballet with a haunting story of love, betrayal, madness and remorse that has captivated audiences since its Paris premiere in 1841. Nearly 180 years later, the title role is still among the greatest in the classical repertoire, demanding exquisite technique and emotional range in equal measure. The National Ballet of Canada performs the widely celebrated staging by Sir Peter Wright after Marius Petipa.

The Story

Giselle is a young peasant girl courted by two suitors: Hilarion, a local man, and Albrecht, a nobleman disguised as a villager. Giselle falls in love with Albrecht, not knowing that he is betrothed to someone else. When Giselle learns of his deception, she kills herself in a fit of madness. In death she is summoned by the Wilis, the ghosts of jilted women who threaten to dance their lovers to death. But Giselle’s love is so pure that Albrecht is spared.

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Five Things About Giselle

• Giselle reflects thematic concerns of 19th century Romanticism, specifically the idealization of peasant life and the intersection of reality and the supernatural. These two themes give the ballet shape, with Act I set in the village and Act II in the mystical forest. The mad scene that closes Act I serves as the bridge.
   
• Giselle was one of the first truly substantial roles for female dancers. To excel in the role, dancers must assume an enormous arc of emotional experience, from innocent love through madness and death. For this reason, Giselle is often called “the Hamlet of ballet.”
   
• Act II of Giselle constitutes “ballet blanc” or “the white act,” where female dancers dress in white to embody otherworldly spirits. La Sylphide, the other great Romantic ballet, also features “ballet blanc.”
   
• The librettists Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier consulted writings by Heinrich Heine and Victor Hugo for descriptions of the Wilis. Then, as now, to have “the willies” is synonymous with feelings of unease.
   
• Adolphe Adam wrote his score for Giselle using a structure of leitmotifs, or recurring phrases representing different characters or themes. These correspond with dance movements that also recur, as when Giselle plucks petals from a flower.

The Choreographer

Sir Peter Wright has worked as a dancer, choreographer, ballet master and artistic director and is celebrated for his interpretations of the classics. His productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle and The Nutcracker feature in the repertoires of top ballet companies around the world. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1985 and was knighted in 1993.

The Composer

Born in Paris, Adolphe Adams was a prolific 19th century composer who created music for theatre and the stage. He collaborated on a number of comic operas, including the highly successful Le Chalet but is best known for his ballet scores for Le Corsaire and Giselle.

More Video

Read More

Giselle – The Ballerina's Hamlet

The Roles of Giselle and Albrecht

The History of Giselle

Credits

Choreography and Production:
Sir Peter Wright after the choreography of Jean Coralli and Marius Petipa
(Based on the book by Vernoy de Saint-Georges, Gautier and Coralli)

Music:
Adolphe Adam, arranged by Joseph Horovitz

Set and Costume Design:
Desmond Heeley

Lighting Design:
Gil Wechsler

Giselle was produced as a memorial to the late William P. Walker and was made possible through the courtesy of many generous friends of the National Ballet.

Video Credits: Jillian Vanstone on Giselle

Featuring: Jillian Vanstone, Naoya Ebe, Stephanie Hutchison, Alejandra Perez-Gomez, Etienne Lavigne, Christopher Stowell, Artists of the Ballet, The Musicians of The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

Video Credits: Sonia Rodriguez Celebrating 30 Years

Featuring: Sonia Rodriguez in Giselle rehearsal. Choreography by Sir Peter Wright after the choreography of Jean Coralli and Marius Petipa.
Sonia Rodriguez and Guillaume Côté in Cinderella. Choreography by James Kudelka.
Sonia Rodriguez in La Sylphide. Choreography by Nikolaj Hübbe after August Bournonville.
Artists of the Ballet in Company Class.
Sonia Rodriguez and Guillaume Côté in Manon. Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
Sonia Rodriguez with Artists of the Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty. Choreography by Rudolf Nureyev after Marius Petipa.
Sonia Rodriguez in Chroma. Choreography by Wayne McGregor.
Sonia Rodriguez in Romeo and Juliet. Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky.
Sonia Rodriguez and Naoya Ebe in Opus 19/The Dreamer. Choreography by Jerome Robbins.
Sonia Rodriguez and Skylar Campbell in Nijinsky. Choreography by John Neumeier.
Sonia Rodriguez and Harrison James in The Winter’s Tale. Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon.
Sonia Rodriguez and Naoya Ebe in Romeo and Juliet. Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky.
Sonia Rodriguez and Evan McKie in A Streetcar Named Desire. Choreography by John Neumeier.

Photography:
Sonia Rodriguez and Andrea Burridge with Artists of the Ballet in Giselle. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
Sonia Rodriguez and Former Principal Dancer Ryan Boorne in Giselle. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.

The Musicians of The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

Video Credits: Giselle The Ghostly Wilis

Featuring: Heather Ogden, Jillian Vanstone, Tina Pereira, Artists of the Ballet, The Musicians of The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

Video Credits: 5 Things About Giselle

Featuring: Sonia Rodriguez, Skylar Campbell, Naoya Ebe, Francesco Gabriele Frola, Harrison James, Svetlana Lunkina, Piotr Stanczyk, Jillian Vanstone, Jordana Daumec, Alexandra MacDonald, Chelsy Meiss, Artists of the Ballet, The Musicians of The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. Photography: Magdalena Popa as Giselle in Giselle by Liana Grill.

Musicians have been recorded by permission of the Toronto Musicians' Association, Local 149, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.