Step into Giselle
- Cindy Case
- Sep 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 11
Often performed by many ballet companies all over the world, Giselle is a beloved production for many dancers and audience members alike. With its compelling characters, tragic story, and beautiful dancing, Giselle remains one of the most popular works in the ballet repertory.
Ballet Theatre of Maryland will bring Giselle to the Maryland Hall stage on October 17-19, and our dancers are hard at work preparing for their performance. In the meantime, read on for more information about Giselle's history, its story, and what to look out for when you see the show.
The History of Giselle
Giselle emerged as a star vehicle for rising Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi. She was the muse and lover of Jules Perrot, a noted French choreographer. When the writer Théophile Gautier suggested a work inspired by the wilis of Slavic folklore, Perrot jumped on the idea.
Originally, Gautier imagined that each wili would represent a different nation--much like the divertissements in Act II of The Nutcracker. Through collaboration with Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, they eventually settled on a ballet blanc, or "white ballet" act, reminiscent of the white-costumed sylphs of La Sylphide.
They turned to composer Adolphe Adam to create the score. Giselle is Adam's best-known ballet, but he also contributed music to Le Corsaire. Additionally, English speakers would recognize his Christmas carol "Minuit Chretien" as the more familiar "O Holy Night."
Once rehearsals for the ballet began, Perrot choreographed for the leading dancers while Jean Coralli staged the corps de ballet. Notably, ballerina Carlotta Grisi was paired with Lucien Petipa, a French danseur whose younger brother Marius would go on to stage The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and many other famous works in the latter part of the 19th century.
Did you know?
Giselle and La Esmeralda, which are both part of BTM's 2025/2026 season, have some surprising similarities. They opened merely three years apart, both with choreography by Jules Perrot, and both starred Carlotta Grisi.
Thematically, both heroines show mercy and forgiveness--Giselle by protecting Albrecht from the wilis after he breaks her heart, and Esmeralda by taking pity on Quasimodo after he tries to kidnap her for the evil Claude Frollo. These two ballets would later be revived by Marius Petipa, ensuring their inclusion in the classical ballet repertory.
These similarities make Giselle and La Esmeralda wonderful bookends to our season.
The Story of Giselle
Act I
Giselle follows the story of a young peasant girl who loves to dance but unfortunately has a weak heart. She has fallen in love with Albrecht, whom she believes to be a fellow peasant. Her mother encourages her to marry a local forester named Hilarion, but she is enamored by Albrecht's fine manners and his flirtatious visits to her cottage.
Unbeknownst to the happy lovers, Hilarion has found Albrecht's finely made sword and hunting horn--two items that no peasant would possess. Hilarion tucks them away, ready to reveal Albrecht's secret when the time is right.
The Duke of Courland and a noblewoman named Bathilde stop in the village while out with a hunting party. Giselle and her mother show them hospitality, and Giselle admits that she loves Bathilde's beautiful gown. Charmed by Giselle's dancing, Bathilde offers Giselle her necklace.
Bathilde and the Duke disappear into Giselle's cottage, and Hilarion takes his chance: he shows Giselle and Albrecht the sword and hunting horn. To prove Albrecht's lie, Hilarion blows the horn.
Drawn by the familiar sound, Bathilde and the Duke step out of Giselle's cottage. Giselle realizes not only that Albrecht is a nobleman in disguise, but also that he is betrothed to Bathilde! Overwrought with emotion, Giselle goes mad.
Giselle's shock and madness are too much for her weak heart to bear. When Giselle collapses, her mother pushes Albrecht aside. In her mother's arms, Giselle passes away.
Act II
Act II opens on Hilarion in a dark forest, where he hammers a crudely made cross into the ground at Giselle's grave. Startled by a flash of movement in the corner of his eye, he flees.
That movement was Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis. She and her company of ghostly beings are young woman betrayed by their lovers. Having all died before their wedding day, their spirits roam the forest at night while dressed in their bridal gown and veil. To get their revenge, they force any young men they encounter to dance to their deaths.
Myrtha awakens the other wilis before raising Giselle from her grave. Soon after, Myrtha and the other wilis hear someone approaching their forest clearing. They retreat into the trees to plot their next move.
Albrecht arrives to pay his respects at Giselle's grave. Like Hilarion, he glimpses mysterious movement. This time, however, it is Giselle watching over him.
Albrecht can hardly believe his eyes. She is still the lovely young woman he knew, but now in the form of a ghostly shadow that drifts through the air. The experience of losing her has changed him, and he struggles to get close enough to express his remorse. Giselle offers him flowers from her grave as the only tangible sign she was ever there.
As Albrecht searches for Giselle, Myrtha and the wilis reemerge with new prey: Hilarion. They dance him to exhaustion until Myrtha commands the wilis to throw him off the nearest cliff.
With Hilarion dispatched, the wilis waste no time finding their next victim. Albrecht kneels before Myrtha and begs mercy for breaking Giselle's heart, but Myrtha is unmoved. The wilis encircle the clearing, leaving no room for escape.
Albrecht's only hope is Giselle. Despite the pain he caused her, Giselle cannot bear to see him harmed. Defying Myrtha's order that he dance without ceasing, Giselle does her best to protect him.
When Albrecht grows too weary, Giselle dances in his stead. She appeals to Myrtha's sense of mercy, in the belief that Myrtha, too, was once in love. However, Myrtha is resolute. As the shadows of the night recede, the wilis prepare Albrecht for his final punishment.
As a new spirit, Giselle lacks the power to stop them. But in the end, her forgiveness and steadfastness prove Albrecht's salvation. She has delayed his execution for so long that dawn begins to break, signaled by the peal of nearby churchbells. As wicked spirits of the night, the wilis have no choice but to return to the cool darkness of the earth.
Giselle lingers, but the early light of dawn leaves Albrecht alone beside her grave. By refusing the bitterness of the other wilis, Giselle has freed her spirit from their cursed existence. She has earned an eternity of rest.
What to Watch For
Peasant Pas de Deux
In Act I, the action pauses for the peasant pas de deux, a dance for two unnamed peasants. Rather than progressing the plot forward, this brief interlude is there to provide beautiful dancing for dance's sake. Additionally, the uncomplicated joy of the Peasant Pas de Deux provides an interesting foil to the heartbreak and tragedy about to befall Giselle and Albrecht.
Grape Stomping Peasants
Act I of Giselle takes place in a German village during the grape harvest. Midway through the scene, groups of peasants will emerge for a lively dance. Their skipping movements evoke the image of stomping grapes to make wine.
Myrtha Creating the Way for the Wilis
As the Queen of the Wilis, one of Myrtha's responsibilities is to create a space within which the wilis can wreak their havoc. Myrtha's dancing at the beginning of act II--starting small and gradually widening--depicts her "de-consecrating" the ground for her wicked sisters.
Moyna and Zulma
Myrtha is aided in her mission by two lead wilis, Moyna and Zulma. Ballet legend says that their solos in Act II are meant to represent the way they both died: one by drowning and the other by falling from a great height.
Giselle passing right through Albrecht
The choreography in the second act emphasizes that Giselle is now an otherworldly spirit. When she and Albrecht first encounter each other in the dark wood, Albrecht feels her presence before he sees her. He goes to embrace her, but she seems to pass right through him. When he finally picks her up in an overhead lift, the effect is that she is as light as a whisp of wind.
32 Entrechat Sixes
When the wilis attempt to dance Albrecht to his death, he traditionally performs 32 brilliant entrechat sixes. These jumps are interwoven beats where both feet exchange three times in the air before landing.* That's 96 changes in total!
Join us at Maryland Hall on October 17-19 to see these big moments in the ballet Giselle. To reserve tickets, visit our Giselle page today.
Further Reading
Stage photos by Nick Eckert
Promotional Photos by Joanne Salyer
*The number in the name, entrechat six, is because you count both feet that cross the dancer's midline in a beated jump. Both feet cross over three times, so that adds up to six per jump.