Giselle - Ballet - Season 21/22 Programming

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Giselle

Palais Garnier - from 25 June to 16 July 2022

Sales open on 11 January 2022 at 12h00

Book Subscribe Option booking This production is no longer available for subscription

Giselle

Ballet Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot

Sales open on 11 January 2022 at 12h00

Book Subscribe Option booking This production is no longer available for subscription

Personal offers for this show

Palais Garnier - from 25 June to 16 July 2022

2h00 with 1 interval

Opening night : 25 June 2022

About

In few words:

The ultimate romantic ballet, Giselle marked the apogee of a new aesthetic that saw diaphanous tutus, white gauze, tulle and tarlatan take over the stage. The Willis bring the illusion of immateriality to this ghostly transfiguration of a tragedy. Premiered at the Royal Academy of Music on June 28, 1841, the ballet travelled to Russia, then temporarily disappeared from the repertoire before returning to France in 1910. Today’s version by Patrice Bart and Eugene Polyakov – which closely follows Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s original choreography – continues to reaffirm the ballet’s initial success. Bright, earthbound scenes opposed to spectral, nocturnal visions: dance becomes the language of the soul while the ethereal ballerina seems to defy gravity.

ACT I

A village in the midst of celebrations.
Giselle, a pretty village girl, has fallen in love with a handsome young man who comes from elsewhere. She knows nothing about him. He says his name is Loys. However, Hilarion the gamekeeper, whose shrewdness is made all the sharper by jealousy, suspects that he is a nobleman. Everyone is swept up in the dance. Waltz Giselle’s mother worries that her daughter’s fragile health will not withstand her passion for dancing and, recounting the fate of the wretched Wilis – maidens who having died before their wedding day are condemned to dance every night until dawn – fears a similar end for her daughter. Giselle laughs off her mother’s concerns and continues dancing with the handsome young man. She is crowned queen of the festivities. The Prince of Courland happens to pass through the village with his entourage. He stops in front of Giselle’s house and asks for something to drink. The Peasants’ pas de deux (also known as “the Harversters’ pas-de-deux”). His daughter, Princess Bathilde, is engaged to Albrecht, Duke of Silesia, who is none other than… the young man whom Hilarion has just unmasked, having discovered the coat of arms on the sword of his rival.

Giselle – shocked by the revelation – loses her mind and dies.

ACT II

The forest at midnight: a tombstone topped with a cross.
Several white shades suddenly streak furtively by, then return. Who are these ethereal creatures? They are the Wilis, the souls of young maidens abandoned by faithless lovers. They reap their revenge luring young men to their death by night in the world of shadows. Myrtha, their queen, gathers them together to welcome a new companion into their midst: Giselle appears, shrouded in a deathly pale veil. Dance of the Wilis Albrecht arrives to place flowers on Giselle’s grave. He sees the ghostly-white vision of his beloved floating above him and tries to catch hold of her, but the apparition continually escapes his grasp. Finally, it flees. Entranced, he follows her. The foolhardy Hilarion arrives and the Wilis lead him into a feverish yet fatal dance: he is their first victim of the night. Albrecht is set to suffer the same fate. Giselle implores Myrtha and the other Wilis to show clemency but they remain inflexible. Condemned to dance until exhaustion, Albrecht finds support in Giselle’s love: momentarily united, they dance desperately. Soon, the first light of day forces the ghosts to flee. Giselle, in turn disappears, leaving Albrecht to real life.

CHARACTERS

Giselle: A young peasant girl. She falls in love with Loys, who turns out to be Duke Albrecht. Consumed by madness, she dies of a broken heart at the end of Act I.

Albrecht: Duke of Silesia. Already betrothed to Princess Bathilde, he seduces Giselle during the harvest season.
Myrtha: Queen of the Wilis, spirits of young maidens who have died before their wedding day. At night, they lure men into a deadly dance.
Hilarion: The village gamekeeper who is in love with Giselle. He reveals Albrecht’s true identity then dies, punished by the Wilis.

Opening
First part 50 mn
Intermission 20 mn
Second part 50 mn
End

Giselle - The ultimate Romantic balle

15 min

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Giselle

Ballet en deux actes (1841)

Libretto :

Théophile Gautier

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges

Music :

Adolphe Adam

Conductor :

Benjamin Shwartz

Choreography :

Jean Coralli

Jules Perrot

Adaptation :

Patrice Bart

Eugène Polyakov

Set design :

Alexandre Benois

Sets realized by :

Silvano Mattei

Costume design :

Alexandre Benois

Costumes realized by :

Claudie Gastine
Les Étoiles, les Premiers Danseurs et le Corps de Ballet de l’Opéra
Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris

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