Giselle: A Story of Love, Deception and Forgiveness

From a joyous town celebration turned bad to midnight apparitions who dance men to death, all in a single evening. What else could you ask for?

The story of this ballet is the ultimate test of true love; one of my personal favorites; Giselle: A story of love, deception and forgiveness.

Houston Ballet will be performing Giselle at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on May 4 at 7:30 pm. So if you’re in the Houston area don’t miss this ballet with one of the top ballet companies in the United States.

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Houston Ballet performing Act I of Giselle

Balanchine said it best “Like Hamlet, Giselle is a classic: it is not only important historically, it also happens to be good (…) People go to see Giselle and to see ballerinas dance it for the same reason we got to see new interpretations of Hamlet: the work is such a good one that we always discover something in it we hadn’t seen before…”

Linda from The Ballet Bag gives an outstanding explanation of the ballet Giselle. Drop by here to read more.

The Story of Giselle: A Story of Love, Deception and Forgiveness

Giselle, a moving new staging by celebrated Russian ballerina Ai-Gul Gaisina and artistic director Stanton Welch, was choreographed by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli to a commissioned score by Adolphe Adam. The work originally premiered in Paris on June 28, 1841.

Giselle is the story of a peasant girl deceived by Count Albrecht, her transformation into a Wili (the ghosts of women betrayed on their wedding day) and her forgiveness of her errant lover which results in his salvation. This new staging by Gaisina harkens back to the Russian productions of her childhood. Giselle is one of the oldest ballets of the Romantic era still performed. Before the full-length performance of Giselle with live orchestra accompaniment, enjoy a presentation of the famous lakeside scene from Swan Lake, one of the most beautiful passages in all of classical ballet, and the spectacular classical showpiece, Le Corsaire (The Pirate).

“I hope that the lyrical, delicate, and grave beauty of Giselle will stir the emotions of audiences of all ages,” said Gaisina. “If there is one story ballet that will be a benchmark for ballet lover’s knowledge, it will always be Giselle. I hope my contribution to this important piece of art will be a meaningful one.”

Article source by The Paper Magazine.

If you’re a hopeless romantic, you’ll love the video below. It’s begins in Act II of the ballet. Listen to Stanton Welch, the director of Houston Ballet, as he explains the storyline behind the ballet Giselle. The musical score is beautiful.

Video from Houston Ballet YouTube channel.

Did you enjoy this brief video of Giselle: A story of love, deception and forgiveness? We have lots of great videos at Classical Ballet News. Sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss anything! I hope you find this romantic ballet and the video inspiring and attend a ballet performance in your town soon!

Tickets are $20 for orchestra seating. Mezzanine and lawn seating are free courtesy of George P. Mitchell, The Wortham Foundation and The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts.

For more information on ticket prices for this ballet at The Pavilion, please visit www.woodlandscenter.org or look for The Pavilion on Facebook or Twitter.

5 Comments

  1. I love the look of the veils flowing over the dancers, so pretty, though sad as well. The Indigo ballet looks so impressive with the Valvadi

    Reply
  2. I would love to see this, as it sounds like a terrific ballet. The storyline is magnificent. Thank you for the information.

    Reply
  3. Hi Romy!

    Thanks for linking back to our Giselle piece. Glad to find your website. Are you based in Querétaro?

    Best,
    Linda

    Reply
    • Hi Linda!

      Yes, I live in Queretaro, Mexico…have for the past 26 years.
      I enjoy reading your articles and am glad to have you visit our site!

      -Romy

      Reply
  4. A story of love, deception and forgiveness is always compelling! Thanks for sharing this story and video of Giselle.

    Reply

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