Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes

The performance has 1 intermission

Schedule for Adolphe Adam "Giselle" (fantastic ballet in two acts) 2012

Dancer: Yevgenia Obraztsova
Dancer: Yekaterina Kondaurova
Dancer: Alexander Sergeyev
Dancer: Filipp Stepin
Dancer: Konstantin Zverev

Composer: Adolphe Adam
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Choreography: Jules Perrot
Set Designer: Igor Ivanov
Costume Designer: Irina Press
Choreography: Jean Coralli
Ballet company: Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet

Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra

Classical Ballet in 2 act

Premiere of this production: 5 February 1884 Bolshoi Theatre, St Petersburg

The Performance has one intermission

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

ACT FIRST

A count Albert is in love with a country girl Giselle. He wears a simple dress to be not recognised. Giselle accepts him for s peasant.

Giselle has got another admirer - it is a forester Gans. He tries to explain to her, that Albert passes himself off as another man. But Giselle does not want to listen for him.

When staying alone, Gans penetrates into the hunting house and steals an Albert’s sword with a count coat of arms.

The sounds of a horn annouce appearance of the hunters. A count bride and her father are among them. The hunters have stopped to have a rest in the village. The count bride charmed by naivety and beauty of Gissele gives a necklace to her.

When the hunters go away, the peasants begin the holiday - day of harvest. At the height of fun Gans appears. He unmasks Albert and shows the count sword as a proof. Giselle can not believe in happened. Then Gans sounds the horn, and the count bride appears before confused Albert.

Giselle, striken by a sudden shock, dies.

ACT SECOND

Midnight. Gans has come to the grave of Giselle. The appearance of villisses frightens him. At night villisses rise out graves. They make dance everyone coming to the cemetery in this time, so long as the man does not fall dead.

Mirta, a villisses queen, calls the shadow of Giselle from a grave to accept her in a round dance of the girls.

Albert comes to the grave of Giselle. Griefe and dispair of the count touch Giselle. She forgives him.

Surrounded by a round dance villisses, Gans appears. Villisses make him dance again and again and, whirling throw in the lake. Same destiny waits for Albert also. Mirta orders him to dance. Giselle asks Mirta to release Albert, but villisses are relentless.

Dawns. With sun rising villisses lose the force. Albert is rescued. Giselle takes leave of her beloved last time.