Mariinsky II (New Theatre)

The Performance has one intermission

Giselle (French: Giselle ou les Wilis) is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Theophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine. The ballet tells the story of a lovely peasant girl named Giselle who has a passion for dancing, and when she finds out the man she loves is engaged to someone else she dies of a broken heart.

Libretto: Vernoy de Saint-Georges, Theophile Gautier and Jean Coralli
World premiere: 28 June 1841, Theatre de l’Academie Royal de Musique, Paris
Premiere in St Petersburg: 18 December 1842, Bolshoi Theatre
Premiere Marius Petipa’s version: 5 February 1884, Bolshoi Theatre, St’Petersburg