03 December 2015
Giselle at the National Theater Tonight; Icon of French and Russian Romantic Dance
In one of a Thousand and One Nights sensational stories, Bahrain National Theater hosts on 3rd December 2015, Giselle, when the audience will be able to enjoy a mesmerizing ballet show.
Giselle is a romantic ballet in two acts inspired by ancient Slavic folklore and the work of Victor Hugo. The ballet was written by French dramatists Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Saint-Georges, and featured choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli and musical score by composer Adolphe Adam.
First performed in Paris in 1841, the show became a runaway success. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th century.
The show stars Anna Nikulina and Alexander Volchkov, principal dancers of the Bolshoi Theater, in the lead roles of Giselle and Albrecht, respectively.
Interwoven with elements of fantasy, the story tells the tale of a peasant girl named Giselle who dies of a grief-stricken heart after discovering that her one true love, Albrecht, is betrothed to another woman. The Wilis - mythological women who dance men to death in Slavic folklore - summon Giselle from her grave and target her lover to death, but her love frees him from their grasp.
