When was the ballet giselle written

Learn more here. The ballet was first designed as an exercise for the students of the School of American Ballet SAB , the training school […]. We typically respond within hours. For faster responses to your inquiry, please call during business hours.

New Clients: 2 Live Stream Classes for 1! Facebook-f Youtube Tiktok Envelope. Written by Robyn Jutsum What better way to celebrate the month of love than with the Romantic storybook ballet, Giselle! Act I The basic premise of the ballet follows the love story between Giselle, a young woman who is afflicted with a weak heart and a love of dance, and Albrecht, a count or other courtier depending on interpretation in disguise as a peasant.

Fast Facts About Giselle As the composer, Adolphe Adam used leitmotifs , little musical themes that coincide with different characters or moments in the plot. Share on facebook. Share on twitter. Share on linkedin. Share on email. More Blog Posts. Swan Lake: A brief history of this famous ballet Swan Lake is arguably one of, if not the, most recognized Classical ballet a nod to the Nutcracker is perhaps due.

Marius Petipa performed the role of Albrecht when Perrot set the ballet for St. From a Romantic point of view, Giselle pushes all the right buttons. The ballet is set in a bucolic village in the Rhineland during the Middle Ages.

Giselle has a passion for dance. Albrecht, a nobleman in disguise, is drawn to the peasant girl because he is dissatisfied with his life. When Giselle realizes that her lover has betrayed her, she goes mad and kills herself. The vengeful Wilis introduce the supernatural element. Dance historian Cyril Beaumont compares the role of Giselle to Hamlet in terms of challenges. She is first a winsome teenager, then she goes mad, then she becomes an ethereal sylph, moving from sweetly girlish, to intensely dramatic, to lighter than air.

In fact, both Giselle and Albrecht are richly developed characters and legendary partnerships have performed the roles to great acclaim. Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky. Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch. A wagon decorated with flowers comes into view and little Bacchus is carried triumphally astride a cask in keeping with an old country tradition. Giselle dances with Albrecht, surrounded by the entire village. The happy scene ends with a kiss that Albrecht bestows on Giselle. At this sight, the fury of the jealous Hilarion knows no bounds.

He throws himself into the middle of the crowd and declares Albrecht to be a nobleman in disguise. Giselle responds with disbelief. He then seizes the horn and blows it forcefully, summoning the entire hunting party, which comes rushing in.

The nobles recognize Duke Albrecht and overwhelm him with salutations and deference. She is devastated, and goes mad. She recalls her happy times with Albrecht, seizes his sword, and nearly kills herself before he grabs it away. Life seems to abandon her; her mother takes her in her arms, and moments later, Giselle dies.

Albrecht tries to revive her, but sees that her heart has ceased to beat. Act II The curtain opens in a dark and gloomy forest on the banks of a pond. Several gamekeepers arrive, hoping to set up an observation post, but Hilarion warns them away: this is the place where the Wilis gather at night, attacking any men who stray into their territory, drowning them or forcing them to dance themselves to their death. Myrtha, the queen of the Wilis, arrives on the scene, mysteriously radiant and piercing the shadows of the night.

She summons the other Wilis to join her in a fantastic ball. The Wilis, including Moyna and Zulma, present themselves to their sovereign, and soon all of the Wilis are waltzing with abandon, gratifying their love for dancing which they were unable to fulfill in life. Before long, at a sign from the queen, the dance comes to an end, and Myrtha announces the arrival of a new Wili.

Giselle appears, rising from her grave, wrapped in a shroud. When Myrtha touches her with her rosemary branch, the shroud falls off and Giselle is transformed into a Wili. She dances with fervor until a sound is heard in the distance. The Wilis disperse and hide themselves. Some youths are returning from a festival in a neighboring village. The Wilis seek to detain them and try to force them to dance.

However, an old man throws himself in their midst warns them of the danger; they barely escape, with the Wilis in hot pursuit.

The grief-stricken Albrecht appears with his faithful squire, Wilfride. Though Wilfride begs his master not to linger near the fatal tomb, Albrecht sends him away. Soon thereafter, Albrecht, in his state of sorrow, believes he sees the ghost of Giselle. He tries to embrace her, but he cannot. She looks at him lovingly and throws him some roses. Giselle disappears back into her tomb. Albrecht is about to depart the scene when he sees Hilarion. Hiding behind a tree, Albrecht watches as the poor hapless gamekeeper, frightened nearly to death and begging for pity from the Wilis, is forced to dance himself to exhaustion.

The cruel Wilis throw him into the pond and then begin dancing amongst themselves. Desperately, he tries to escape, for he knows what cruel fate awaits him. But Giselle re-appears miraculously, takes him by the hand, and leads him to her tombstone, a marble cross, which holds a power even stronger than that of the Wilis.

Just as Myrtha is about to touch him with her scepter, it breaks in her hands. Myrtha is furious at her loss of power. As a last resort, and seeking revenge on the Wili who robbed her of her prey, Myrtha extends her hand toward Giselle and casts a spell on her. Giselle begins a slow, graceful dance, as though transported by an involuntary delirium.

Albrecht is unable to resist the Wili Giselle and he leaves the cross—the only thing that could protect him—and begins dancing ardently with her. Albrecht becomes exhausted. Just as it seems Albrecht will dance himself to death, the first rays of the sun appear. It is morning! The chimes strike four. Because the Wilis lose their power in daylight, they must withdraw. Giselle, too, must return to her grave. Albrecht kneels by her and gives her a kiss, as if to restore her to life, but Giselle seems to say that she must obey her fate and leave him forever.

Suddenly, loud fanfares are heard; Wilfrid, the faithful squire, arrives on the scene with the Prince and Bathilde, whose efforts, he hopes, will be more effective than his own in persuading Albrecht to leave this place of sadness. Giselle points Albrecht toward Bathilde, as if to tell him it is her last wish that he marry the young noblewoman.