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Giselle

Dance and Choreographic Works

Giselle is a Romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, first performed on June 28, 1841, at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris with Carlotta Grisi in the title role. It tells of a peasant girl, Giselle, who falls in love with Albrecht, a nobleman disguised as a villager and already engaged to another woman; when his deception is revealed, the shock kills her, and in the second act her spirit is called up among the Wilis, vengeful ghosts of betrayed young women who force men to dance themselves to death, though Giselle's love ultimately spares Albrecht from their curse. Drawing partly on writing by Heinrich Heine and Victor Hugo, it has remained a central work of the classical ballet repertoire and is considered one of the most demanding roles a ballerina can dance.

Facts
Year Created
1841 1
Medium
Ballet 1
Location
Salle Le Peletier, Paris, France 1
Site of the ballet's premiere on 28 June 1841, per cited source.
Classification
Genre
Dance 1
Connections

In Form

Ballet, Art Forms

Romantic-era narrative ballet (1841).

In Movement

Romanticism, Movements

One of the defining works of Romantic-era ballet (1841).

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Giselle (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Second sentence, premiere-date clause ('on 28 June 1841')
    Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first performed by the Ballet du Theatre de l'Academie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle.
  • Lead sentence, medium clause ('a romantic ballet in two acts')
    Giselle, originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis, is a romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam.
  • Second sentence, premiere-venue clause ('at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris')
    Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first performed by the Ballet du Theatre de l'Academie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle.
  • Genre reference
    Giselle is a Romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, first performed on June 28, 1841, at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris with Carlotta Grisi in the title role.
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