Giselle ou les wilis

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
UCT

GISELLE

OU

LES WILIS

1841

MARILIA ROSSETTO COSTA

MARILIA ROSSETTO COSTA

GISELLE

OU

LES WILIS

1841

Name: Marilia Rossetto Costa
Student Number: CSTMAR010
Western Dance Musicology 1
MUZ1817H
Lecturer: Danie Fourie
Due Date: 09/11/2012

Words: 2540

Introduction

The focus on this paper is an analyses of the ballet Giselle, ou Les Wilis; originally choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, having its premiere in 1841, and music by Adolphe Adam. The ballet is about a peasant girl with a weak heart and a passion for dancing, who becomes engaged to a man she believes to be a peasant as well, only to discover that he is, in fact, Duke Albrecht, and engaged to someone else. Giselle goes mad and dies of a broken heart. In the second act the scene shifts to a forest haunted by Wilis, the spirits of young women who died before their wedding day and spent eternity dancing from midnight to dawn, killing any man who happens to cross their way. Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, summons Giselle from her grave in order to initiate her into the community. A despondent Albrecht comes to pay his respects at Giselle’s grave, and is almost killed, but with Giselle’s intervention, his life is saved, and Giselle rests in peace (Pennsylvania Ballet, 2012).
By empirically examining this ballet, we hope to produce a more complete understanding of the score written, intrinsically related to the choreography and the particular period and style in the history describing the Romanticism and the Romantic Ballet Giselle, the music of Giselle: Adolphe Adam’s Score, and Giselle’s Choreography Accompanying the Music Score.

GISELLE

Romanticism and the Romantic Ballet Giselle

Giselle is a romantic ballet choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Adolphe Adam beautifully composes the music. This ballet was originally performed in Paris in 1841. Giselle is