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Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis

Giselle
Giselle C Grisi as Giselle 1842.JPG
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 [ʒi.zɛl u le vi.li]) 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.

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.


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