Ballet in two acts (1841)
The world turns upside down for the peasant girl Giselle (Akane Takada) when she discovers her lover Albrecht (Steven McRae) is actually a nobleman promised to another. In despair, she kills herself. Her spirit joins the Wilis: the vengeful ghosts of women hell-bent on killing any man who crosses their path in a dance to the death. Wracked with guilt, Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave, where he must face the Wilis – and Giselle’s ghost.
Peter Wright’s atmospheric and bewitching 1985 production of this quintessential Romantic ballet is a classic of The Royal Ballet repertory. Set to Adolphe Adam’s evocative score and with atmospheric designs by John Macfarlane, Giselle conjures up the earthly and otherworldly realms in a tale of love, betrayal and redemption.
