47 Facts About Giselle

Giselle, originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis, is a romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam.

The role of Giselle was intended for Carlotta Grisi as her debut piece for the Paris public, and she was the only ballerina to dance it at the Paris Opera for many years.

Duke Albrecht of Silesia, a young nobleman, has fallen in love with a shy, beautiful peasant girl named Giselle, despite being engaged to Bathilde, the Duke of Courland's daughter.

Hilarion, a local gamekeeper, is in love with Giselle and is highly suspicious of the newcomer who has won her affections.

Giselle tries to convince her that her beau can't be trusted, but she ignores his warnings.

Related searches

Giselle is charmed with Giselle's sweet and demure nature, not knowing of her relationship with Albrecht.

Giselle is honored when Bathilde offers her a necklace as a gift before the group of nobles depart.

Giselle has discovered Albrecht's finely made sword and presents it as proof that he is really a nobleman who is engaged to another woman.

All are shocked by the revelation, but none more than Giselle, who becomes inconsolable when faced with his deception.

Giselle begins to dance wildly and erratically, ultimately causing her weak heart to give out.

Giselle pleads to Myrtha for his life, but she coldly refuses.

Giselle's pleas are dismissed and he is forced to dance until sunrise.

Giselle was the first to dance en pointe for artistic reasons rather than spectacle and was the first to wear the white, bell-shaped, calf-length ballet skirt now considered an essential feature of the romantic ballet.

Giselle had read Heinrich Heine's description of the Wilis in De l'Allemagne and thought these evil spirits would make a "pretty ballet".

Giselle planned their story for Act II and settled upon a verse by Victor Hugo called "Fantomes" to provide the inspiration for Act I This verse is about a beautiful 15-year-old Spanish girl who loves to dance.

Giselle becomes too warm at a ball and dies of a chill in the cool morning.

Giselle would try to keep her lover from partnering other girls.

Giselle had no experience writing ballet scenarios so he called upon Vernoy de St Georges, a man who had written many ballet librettos.

Giselle wrote the story of Giselle as it is known today in three days, and sent it to Leon Pillet, the director of the Paris Opera.

Typical of the theatrical practices of the time, Giselle was preceded by an excerpt from another production—in this case, the third act of Rossini's opera, Mose in Egitto.

In spite of the chief machinist shouting orders to his crew that could be heard by the audience, Giselle was a great success.

Giselle thought the Act I waltz "ravishing" and noted that the scene of Berthe's narrative was filled with "quite new" harmonic modulations.

Giselle praised other moments in Act I, and was in raptures with the music of Act II, singling out the entrance of the Wilis and the viola solo played through Giselle's last moments.

Souvenirs were sold, pictures of Grisi as Giselle were printed, and sheet music arrangements were made for social dancing.

Giselle wrote with great speed and completed Giselle in about two months.

Related searches

Adam's score for Giselle acquired several additional numbers over the course of its history, with some of these pieces becoming an integral part of the ballet's performance tradition.

Giselle crashed face-first into the scenery and the swoops were dropped.

Giselle indicates that the choreographic vocabulary is composed of a small number of simple steps:.

Parts of Giselle have been cut or changed since the ballet's first night.

Giselle's Act I pantomime scene in which she tells Albrecht of her strange dream is cut and the peasant pas de deux is slightly cut back.

The machines used to make Giselle fly and to make her disappear are no longer employed.

Giselle took a few unsteady steps toward them and then collapsed into their arms.

At the time Giselle was written, people thought of Germany when they heard a waltz because the waltz is of German origin.

Giselle makes her first entrance to the music of a waltz, and the audience would have known at once that the ballet was set in Germany.

Giselle said that the "Giselle Waltz" in Act I has "all the German color indicated by the locality" and people agreed.

Giselle's costumes were in use at the Opera until the ballet was dropped from the repertoire in 1853.

Giselle was revived in 1863 with new costumes by Lormier's assistant, Alfred Albert.

Giselle wanted to revive the costumes of the original production but dropped the idea, believing the critics would charge him with a lack of imaginative creativity.

Giselle was two months in rehearsal, which was a very long rehearsal time for the period.

Giselle was performed in Paris from its debut in 1841 to 1849, with Grisi always dancing the title role.

Giselle was mounted by other ballet companies in Europe and America almost immediately after its first night.

Giselle was first performed in Russia at the Bolshoi Theatre, St Petersburg, on 18 December 1842.

Giselle made many changes to the ballet in his years of service to the Imperial Ballet.

Giselle was first staged in Italy at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 17 January 1843.

Giselle returned to the United States in 1841 with the directions for Giselle and other ballets.

Related searches

Giselle did this on 1 January 1846 in Boston at the Howard Athenæum.

Giselle refused to apologize and was dismissed from the Imperial Ballet.