MY FAVOURITE BALLET

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 387.

"Giselle" is my favourite ballet. It is an old ballet about a peasant girl who is in love with a nobleman in disguise. She finds out that he is betrothed to someone else and goes mad with grief and dies. That is Act One. In Act Two her spirit rises from the grave to join the mysterious Wilis, the ghosts of girls who died before their wedding days. The Queen of the Wilis tries to take revenge on the young nobleman and make him dance with them until he dies; but Giselle manages to save him. That is the story. The music is old-fashioned, but it was written specially for the ballet and so it fits perfectly all the scenes and dances. The costumes and scenery are fairly traditional - the girls wear long beautiful dresses, and the men wear tights and tunics. It always has a very charming effect - but when two superb artists dance in it, it is very much more than charming. The modest, lovely peasant girl lives in a cottage with her mother and picks grapes with her friends and leads them in dances; the young count runs away from the oppressive life of the court dressed in simple clothes. He falls in love with an unspoilt peasant girl although he is betrothed to a princess - they are both completely real to us. When the princess and her father come to the village, they recognize the count, and tell Giselle the truth. Giselle goes mad. There is not a sound in the audience while pitifully she tries to dance and remembers with horror that Albrecht has deceived her. Every expression, every movement, every gesture of the ballerina goes straight to our hearts so that we share with her in every moment of the tragedy. The performances of the ballet dancers in "Giselle" are superb.