Ballet
Giselle
Adolphe Adam
A village, a lie, and a second act that is one of the few things in the repertoire that still frightens people.
Libretto Vernoy de Saint-Georges and GautierSung in DancedSurtitles Not requiredRunning time 2h 10mIntervals OneFirst performed 1841
Synopsis
Act I
Harvest. A stranger with clean hands, and a mother who has heard the story about the wilis before.
Act II
Midnight in the woodland. The dead keep their own court, and they do not grant appeals.
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The wilis are danced without the traditional veils, which makes the corps work harder and the act read as grief rather than decoration. Restored to the 1841 running order after our 2018 revival cut the peasant pas de deux.