The Kirov Ballet: Giselle

“Spirits in white gowns... the snow-white wilis who waltz pitilessly the whole night long... What a pretty ballet one could make of that!” wrote prominent French writer and critic Théophil Gautier in 1841, inspired by a legend from Heinrich Heine’s novel De l’Allemagne. This is how the greatest romantic ballet Giselle or Les Wilis (the original title) was conceived. History has it that composer Adolphe Adam completed the music score in a week. And what great music it was! Adam’s music with its enchanting leitmotifs tailored to each personage of the story made history of the practice of repackaging existing songs for ballet.

Read this review in the September issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.