Ballet in two acts (1841)

Encore Screenings! As the ultimate romantic ballet Giselle wows audiences in Paris with another sold-out run, here's a chance to revisit a classic performance.

The charming peasant girl Giselle (stunning étoile Dorothée Gilbert) loves Albrecht (Mathieu Ganio), who, beneath his modest clothing, turns out to be a duke. When she discovers that he cannot marry her because he is already engaged, Giselle goes mad and dies. She is taken by the Wilis, the souls of young girls abandoned by unfaithful lovers. Will Giselle choose to punish or forgive?

First performed in 1841 at the Royal Academy of Music (former Paris Opera), Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli's ballet - here adapted by Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov - introduced a new aesthetic in the history of Western dance. Pointe shoes, arabesques, and white tutus evoke a fantastical, diaphanous universe that has become the very embodiment of romanticism.

Please note programme change: this performance is conducted by Koen Kessels. [updated 28 Aug 25]