GISELLE

A seemingly idyllic rural village life by day and, parallel to this, an eerie ghostly dance at night: these two realities characterise the events on stage in Giselle. Peter Wright choreographed the production for the Munich company in 1974, following the tradition of the classical step material by Marius Petipa, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Peter Wright was not interested in reconstructing the original from 1841, but adapted the staging and choreography to the technique of today's dancers. The result is a Giselle that, on the one hand, is completely committed to the spirit of Romanticism and, on the other, puts the acting skills and virtuosity of classical ballet in the foreground.

Giselle is a young girl who first falls in love, then falls into madness and finally turns into a "Wili". The plot of the ballet goes back to a text by Heinrich Heine, who recounts the legend of these nocturnal elemental spirits as follows: "The Wilis are brides who have died before the wedding. The poor young creatures cannot lie quietly in their graves, in their dead hearts, in their dead feet there still remained that desire to dance which they could not satisfy in life, and at midnight they rise, gather, and woe to the young man who meets them! He must dance with them, they embrace him with unbridled frenzy, and he dances with them, without rest or repose, until he falls down dead."

1. Act

Duke Albrecht leaves his castle for a village where he hides his sword and his cloak in a hut so as to conceal his noble origins. He has fallen in love with Giselle, a young peasant girl who believes he too is of peasant stock and that his name is Loys.

Giselle’s mother Berthe hopes that her daughter will marry the forester Hilarion who loves her with all his heart. Hilarion interposes himself between Loys and Giselle, reminding Giselle that she is betrothed to him and warning her against Loys. Giselle however trusts Loys (Albrecht) and refuses to listen to Hilarion’s reproaches although she knows that her mother too dislikes Loys. Giselle goes off happily to the harvest festival. Far off in the distance hunting horns can be heard. Wilfried, Albrecht’s trusted friend, hurries to the scene and warns the Duke of the approaching hunt. Hilarion observes them both and once they have left he enters the hut in which the sword and cloak had been concealed and thus discovers Loys’ aristocratic origins. The hunt appears, led by the Duke of Kurland and his daughter Bathilde who is so delighted by the beauty of the peasant girl that she gives her a necklace. Berthe invites the guests into the house. The Duke of Kurland hangs his hunting horn in the doorway. Hilarion compares the arms on the Dukes’s horn with those on the sword of Loys and thus discovers his secret. At the height of the harvest festival Hilarion reveals to all those present that Loys is really Duke Albrecht in disguise. At first Giselle refuses to believe Hilarion but when Bathilde introduces Albrecht as her fiancé Giselle suffers a shock, with the balance of her mind disturbed she relives her love for Albrecht once again, takes his sword and kills herself.

2. Act

Hilarion is keeping vigil over Giselle’s grave situated in unconsecrated ground in the forest near a lake. It is midnight, the hour of the Wilis, that is the ghosts of those young maidens who have been jilted by their betrothed and who have died before their wedding. Now they take their revenge on all the men who stray into their nocturnal sphere by forcing them to dance until death. Myrtha, their Queen, appears and summons the Wilis. Giselle is then called forth from her grave to be initiated as a new Wili. Albrecht enters the clearing, places flowers on Giselle’s grave and sees her in a vision. The Wilis pursue Hilarion and force him to dance until he is exhausted. Hilarion throws himself into a lake and drowns. Albrecht is to be the next victim. Giselle attempts to bring him into the area protected by the cross on her grave but Myrtha’s power is greater. Albrecht is compelled to dance. Giselle wants to come to his assistance but gradually Albrecht’s strength begins to fail. Just as he believes he is lost, day begins to dawn. The nocturnal power of the Wilis wanes; the ghosts of the young maidens disappear. Albrecht has been saved. Giselle bids him farewell and he is left alone, deeply moved.