Giselle

Giselle
Carlotta Grisi in the first act of Giselle, (1842).
Choreographer	Jean Coralli Jules Perrot
Music	Adolphe Adam
Libretto	Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Théophile Gautier
Based on	Heinrich Heine's De l'Allemagne Victor Hugo's "Fantômes" from Les Orientales
Premiere	28 June 1841 Paris, France
Original ballet company	Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique
Characters	Giselle, a peasant girl Albrecht, Duke of Silesia Hilarion, a gamekeeper Berthe, Giselle's mother Bathilde, a princess Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis
Setting	Rhineland during the Middle Ages
Created for	Carlotta Grisi
Genre	Romantic ballet

Giselle (French: Giselle, ou les Wilis) is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on Monday, 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. The ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

The ballet is about a peasant girl named Giselle, who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave. They target her lover for death, but Giselle's great love frees him from their grasp.

Librettists Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier took their inspiration for the plot from a prose passage about the Wilis in De l'Allemagne, by Heinrich Heine, and from a poem called "Fantômes" in Les Orientales by Victor Hugo.

The prolific opera and ballet composer Adolphe Adam composed the music. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot created the choreography. The role of Giselle was intended for Carlotta Grisi as her debut piece for the Paris public. She became the first to dance the role and was the only ballerina to dance it at the Opéra for many years.