Giselle

Love, betrayal and the desire for forgiveness characterize one of the most moving works of Romantic Ballet. Giselle, ou les Wilis was premiered at the Paris Opera on June 28, 1841 and is considered the highlight of the era in which dance became the embodiment of the supernatural.

The focus is on a young peasant girl who loves dancing and falls in love with the noble Albert. When Giselle learns that Albert has been promised to someone else, her world falls apart. She loses her mind and dies of a broken heart. But their story doesn't end with death.

As one of the Wilis, ghostly brides who died before their wedding, she becomes part of a nocturnal community that forces men to dance to the death. In the second act, that “white” sphere of Romantic Ballet, Giselle meets Albrecht again. Their movement becomes a language of compassion and removes the line between life and death.

Giselle is considered the epitome of Romantic Ballet and at the same time a turning point in dance history. The idea of the “floating body” shaped the ideal of lace dance and made the dancer a symbol of the unreachable.

The production by Patrice Bart, which is based on the original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, is in this tradition. Since its premiere in 2000 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Patrice Barts has touched Giselle with her mix of classic beauty and timeless intensity.

Recommended from 7 years