BalletGiselle

American Ballet Theatre
GiselleDance: Ballet Series February 26 - 28, 2009

Act I: A young peasant girl, Giselle, is in love with Loys, a villager who lives in the cottage opposite hers. Unbeknownst to Giselle, Loys is really a nobleman -- Count
Albrecht. Hilarion, the gamekeeper, is in love with Giselle, and during a meeting between Loys and Giselle, Hilarion jealously declares his love for her. Giselle rebuffs him.
Hilarion is insistent, but the angered Loys orders him to leave. Villagers return from the grape harvest and Giselle and Loys join them in dancing, of which Giselle is
inordinately fond. Berthe, Giselle’s mother, comes upon the scene and scolds her daughter, for Giselle is not strong, and Berthe warns her that, if she dies before she is
married, she will become a wili (a restless spirit of a girl whose love was unrequited). The hunting party of the Duke of Courland and his daughter Bathilde arrives seeking rest
and refreshment. Giselle is overcome at the sight of Bathilde and her lovely clothes and explains that she sews but that she loves to dance -- and she proceeds to dance a
few steps for Bathilde. The two exchange confidences and both learn that they are engaged. The gentle, kind-hearted Bathilde gives Giselle a gold necklace as a gift. The
hunting party then leaves. During a moment when no one is around, the
jealous Hilarion breaks into Loys’ cottage and finds his sword, proof of his suspicions that Loys is really a nobleman. The villagers return and proclaim Giselle the Queen of
the Wine Festival, and all dance. Hilarion bursts upon the scene holding Albrecht’s sword, and insists that Loys is a nobleman in disguise who is not truly in love with Giselle.
He blows a hunting horn, summoning the Duke of Courland and Bathilde. They recognize Albrecht, asking why he is dressed as a peasant. Albrecht brushes off their
questions, saying that the disguise was just a lark. The shock of Albrecht’s duplicity and his engagement to Bathilde is too much for Giselle and she goes mad and dies.

Act II: Hilarion is making a cross for Giselle's grave; sensing the imminent arrival of the wilis he flees. The Queen of the Wilis, Myrta, summons her followers for the ceremony
which will initiate Giselle into their company. They disappear at the approach of Albrecht, who arrives to place lilies on Giselle’s grave. Giselle appears to him and they dance
together. The wilis return, having caught Hilarion, and they command him to dance himself to death, a fate for all unwary men caught by the wilis. Albrecht returns looking for
Giselle, and he is also trapped by the wilis and commanded to dance. Giselle arrives to protect Albrecht and they stand by the cross over her grave. She is then commanded
to dance by Myrta, and Albrecht is drawn from the cross’ protection to dance with her. Just as Albrecht is ready to drop from exhaustion and die, five o’clock strikes, and,
with the arrival of dawn, the power of the wilis is broken. Giselle bids farewell to Albrecht and returns to her grave.