Giselle ballett

Description

Act I. A small, peaceful village, bathed in sunlight. It is inhabited by simple, unsophisticated people. Giselle, a young peasant girl, is rejoicing in the sun, the blue sky, the singing of the birds and, most of all, in the happiness of pure, trusting love which has lit her life up.She is in love and believes that she is loved. The gamekeeper, who is in love with Giselle, tries in vain to persuade her that Albrecht, her loved one, is not a peasant at all but a nobleman in disguise and that he is deceiving her.The gamekeeper manages to steal into the cottage which Albrecht is renting in the village and there he finds a silver sword with a coat of arms on it. Now the gamekeeper knows for sure that Albrecht is concealing his noble origin.A party of distinguished noblemen, attended by a sumptuous suite, seek rest in the village after the hunt. The peasants give their guests a cordial welcome.Albrecht is embarrassed by this unexpected meeting. He tries to hide the fact he knows them because Bathilde, the girl he is engaged with, is among the group. Meanwhile the gamekeeper shows everyone Albrecht’s sword and reveals the lies.Giselle is shocked to the core by the perfidy of her beloved. The pure, crystal-clear world of her faith, hopes and dreams has been destroyed. She goes mad and dies. Act 2. It is night-time. The ghostly forms of the Wilis, died brides, appear among the graves of the village church yard which is bathed in moonlight. “Dressed in bridal gowns and garlands of flowers…The irresistibly beautiful Wilis danced to the light of the moon. And as they felt the time given them for dancing was running out and that they had again to return to their icy graves, their dancing became more and more impassioned and rapid…” (Heinrich Heine).The Wilis catch sight of the gamekeeper who, suffering pangs of conscience, has come to visit Giselle’s grave. At the command of Myrtha, the unrelenting Queen of the Wilis, the Wilis encircle the gamekeeper and make him dance until he drops lifeless to the ground.Albrecht is also unable to forget the deceased girl. And, in the dead of night, he also comes to her grave. The Wilis immediately encircle the young man. Albrecht is now risking the same horrifying fate as the gamekeeper. But the shadow of Giselle now appears and her eternal and self-sacrificing love protects and saves Albrecht from the anger of the Wilis.The ghostly, white forms of the Wilis vanish with the first rays of the rising sun. And Giselle’s ethereal shadow vanishes too, but Albrecht will always remember Giselle and have that eternal regret for a lost love, a love that is stronger than death.