Slip into La Sylphide
As a ballet, La Sylphide has everything you could ask for: ethereal sylphs, wicked witches, and men in kilts! Premiering in 1836, Bournonville's La Sylphide is the world's oldest surviving ballet. Its importance cannot be overstated, but, surprisingly, BTM has never performed it before! This October will be the company's premiere of La Sylphide.
Did you know that La Sylphide takes place in Scotland? As we've been preparing in the studio, we've been learning a lot about the story, history, and significance of La Sylphide. Read on to find out more before joining us on October 16-18, 2026!
The Story of La Sylphide
Act I: A Scottish Farmhouse
La Sylphide opens on the morning of James's wedding, as he sleeps by the hearth in his favorite armchair. Unbeknownst to him, a sylph—a sort of woodland spirit or fairy—has been watching him for some time. Impulsively, she wakes James with a kiss.
Before James can react, the Sylph flies up the chimney and disappears. He tries to tell his friends, but none of them believe him. James sits distracted at the fireside when his bride-to-be, Effie, joins them. James's cousin (and rival) Gurn is very interested in Effie, but she brushes past him to pull James out of his reverie. Still somewhat distracted, James shows Effie a sash of his tartan print that she will wear after they're married.
They're interrupted when James spots an old witch named Madge warming her hands by the fire. The young women clamor for her to read their fortunes. To James's dismay, Madge tells Effie that she won't find wedded bliss with James. Instead, she predicts that Gurn will marry her. Angered, James throws Madge out of the house.
Everyone goes to prepare for the wedding, leaving James alone with his thoughts. The Sylph reappears at his window. She is heartbroken that he is marrying Effie, and explains that she has been watching over him ever since she first saw him hunting in her forest years before. She begs him to run away with her, but James refuses.
Gurn walks in on them. He tries to tell the other guests, but the Sylph disappears and no one will believe him, either. As James prepares to say his vows to Effie, the Sylph returns and snatches Effie's ring from his hand. She flies away with the ring, forcing James to make a decision. He chases after her.
Act II
A Dark Forest at Night
Up to no good, Madge and her fellow witches gather around a cauldron. From the cauldron's bubbling depths, Madge pulls out a long, diaphanous scarf and disappears with it into the night.
The Same Forest, Morning
The Sylph shows James around her idyllic forest home. They swear their love for one another, and James tries to pull the Sylph in for a kiss. She is so light and airy that his hands cannot catch onto her, and the Sylph darts away. Though he cannot hold her, the Sylph tries to make him at home by foraging for berries and fetching fresh water.
The other sylphs join them, and they delight in frolicking around James. They make it impossible for him to keep track of his Sylph, and he once again chases after her.
In another part of the forest, James's friends search for him. Madge watches as Gurn finds James's discarded hat. Ready to get her revenge on James, she throws the hat away and encourages Gurn to propose to Effie. Effie accepts, to Madge's glee.
James returns, narrowly missing his own search party. Frustrated that he and the Sylph cannot touch, he asks Madge for help. Madge gives him the scarf, which she says will make the Sylph mortal if he wraps it around her.
Unaware of her intentions, James thanks her. He finds his Sylph once more, and eagerly wraps the scarf around her arms. They embrace, but James can tell something is terribly wrong. When the Sylph staggers away, both of her wings drift to the ground.
Making the Sylph mortal means she must lose her wings; without them, the Sylph will die. She falls back into the arms of her fellow sylphs, who carry her away.
Madge finds James collapsed in grief. She points to where merry sounds approach in the woods. Effie and Gurn go by, happily married and walking home with the rest of their bridal party. In following the Sylph and trying to possess her, James has lost everything.
The History Behind La Sylphide
La Sylphide is a significant work in the ballet canon, as it is the oldest surviving ballet and marks the beginning of the Romantic period of ballet. In 1832, French choreographer Filippo Taglioni created the ballet as a vehicle for his daughter, Marie Taglioni, to show off her innovation: dancing en pointe as part of the character she was portraying, rather than just as a circus trick. By perching on the tips of her toes, Marie Taglioni created the illusion that she was an ethereal sylph.
After seeing Taglioni's La Sylphide, the Danish dancer and choreographer August Bournonville loved it so much he wanted to bring it back to Denmark. He asked the Paris Opera Ballet about restaging it, but thought their price for the musical score was too high. Undaunted, Bournonville created his own production on the Royal Danish Ballet with original choreography and a new score from Herman Severin Løvenskiold. Løvenskiold was only 19 at the time, so his beautiful, atmospheric music is all the more impressive!
In a twist of fate, Taglioni's production was lost later in the 19th century. Pierre Lacotte reconstructed it in 1972 for the Paris Opera Ballet, but it's Bournonville's version that has endured since its premiere. BTM is excited to join the other professional companies worldwide that have performed Bournonville's classic work.
Audiences may notice some similarities between La Sylphide and Giselle, which BTM performed last season. This is not a coincidence, as Taglioni's La Sylphide was a source of inspiration for Giselle's 1841 premiere. As you view the show, look for places where the structure, choreography, and storytelling lay the groundwork for later ballets.
Romantic Themes and Lessons of La Sylphide
La Sylphide marks the beginning of ballet's Romantic Period for good reason. First, there's the exotic locale. Romantic art and literature often featured exotic settings, and in the 1830s, Scotland was seen as quite a faraway place.
Secondly, consider its protagonists. Like all Romantic heroes, James yearns for something more than what life has offered him. As he prepares to make the serious commitment of marriage, the Sylph represents an intangible fantasy. She is someone that only he can see and ultimately proves unattainable.
For her part, the Sylph also seems to see something in James that her otherworldly existence doesn't offer. She impulsively wakes him with a kiss, sparking everything that comes afterward. When she entices him to run out into the night after her, neither of them stops to consider whether her supernatural realm will suit a human man.
Perhaps the simplest lesson (as James unfortunately learns) is this: never cross a witch. By throwing Madge out of the house, James seals his fate and the Sylph's.
What to Watch For in La Sylphide
Act I
Moving like a sylph: Bournonville created the illusion of the Sylph's flight by giving her lots of quick jumps and traveling movements that make it seem like she is just skimming the ground.
Second-Fiddle Effie: Poor Effie! She's shown to be a sweet young woman, eager to join James's family, but James is almost too distracted to notice. Her precise, ladylike dancing is a pleasure for the audience to watch but unfortunately earthbound compared to the sylph.
Fortune-telling: One of the joys of ballet pantomime is understanding characters' emotions without them saying a word. Watch the reactions of each young woman as Madge tells them their fortune—some have received happier news than others!
Fancy footwork: The sylphs aren't the only ones who get to enjoy Bournonville's signature style of brilliant allegro dancing. James and Gurn's variations have the same speed as the Sylph's, but with more power and strength behind the music and dance steps chosen. In a time when French ballet was beginning to sideline male dancers in service of "the cult of the ballerina", Bournonville believed in balancing the contributions of the male and female dancers.
The tartan sash: When the Sylph tries to convince James to run away with her, she drapes herself in Effie's tartan sash. This not only shows that the Sylph wishes to take Effie's place, but foreshadows how James will wrap the cursed scarf around her at the end of the ballet.
The Scottish Reel: At the end of Act I, the wedding guests perform a lively Scottish reel.
Act II
A dance for two: When James and the Sylph arrive in the forest, their inability to touch creates some interesting limitations for what we now think of as a ballet pas de deux. Bournonville's choreography creates the illusion that every time James comes near the Sylph, his movement blows her away.
The butterfly: During this same dance sequence, the Sylph catches a butterfly. It's another moment of foreshadowing: like the butterfly, the Sylph cannot be captured.
La Sylphide's ballet blanc: The showpiece of La Sylphide, this ballet blanc features a corps de ballet and several demi-soloist sylphs in a series of dances with James and the lead Sylph. Although their costumes resemble the wilis of Giselle or swans of Swan Lake, the sylphs have their own unique joy to their dancing.
A master manipulator: Although it's James and the Sylph's impulsiveness that leads to their undoing, watch how Madge nudges the tragedy along. Like the devil on Gurn's shoulder, she throws away James's hat so Effie won't know James is alive and then pushes Gurn to propose. As James is drawn deeper into the charms of the sylphs, the door back to his old life is closing behind him.
There's plenty to dive into when it comes to La Sylphide, and we're looking forward to sharing it with you! In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled here on the blog as well as Facebook and Instagram for rehearsal updates.
La Sylphide
Performing at Maryland Hall in Annapolis, MD
Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Visit our La Sylphide page for tickets and more information!
Promotional photos by Joanne Salyer.
