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Giselle, a Classic Ballet of Romanticism
| Article
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10816 |
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Section : |
The Arts
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1986 |
1,694 Words |
| Author
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Barbara Binkley
Barbara Binkley writes frequently about dance for several
newspapers in Pennsylvania and New York. She currently resides
in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. |
In the classical repertory, the ballet Giselle remains as the ultimate challenge to the ballerina and the one role that all prima ballerinas must dance.
The romantic ballet was first presented at the Paris Opera on June 28, 1841. It was choreographed by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli and based on the book Giselle, or The Wilis, by Vernoy de Saint-Georges, Theophile Gautier, and Carolli.
Giselle was the brainchild of Gautier, a well-known nineteenth-century ballet critic and writer. He had become enraptured by Heinrich Heine's book De l'Allemagne and envisioned it as a ballet vehicle for Carlotta Grisi, with whom he was enamored.
In his De l'Allemagne Heine writes, "The Wilis are betrothed girls who have died before their wedding day. The poor young creatures cannot be still in their graves ... there lingers yet the Tanzlust that they could never satisfy in life, and at midnight they rise up, assemble like a troop on the high road, and woe unto the young man who may encounter them there. He must dance with them ... and he must dance without pause until he drops dead. Decked out in their wedding finery ... the Wilis dance, elflike, in the moonlight ... these dead bacchantes are irresistible."
Giselle is a trusting girl who delights in nature and believes that all people are truly kind. She also has an intense passion for dancing, despite frail health.
The trouble comes when Albrecht, the Duke of Silesia, disguises himself as the peasant Loys to
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