Giselle

There are few significant or famous ballets from the Classical and Romantic eras that are not part of our company’s repertoire. We are including *Giselle*—a masterpiece of Romantic ballet and, without exaggeration, a cornerstone of the ballet canon—in our performance schedule.

The premiere of the new ballet *Giselle* took place in Paris in 1841; it was such a resounding success that, within a decade, it had been staged at all the major venues of the ballet world. The subject matter was drawn from the German poet Heinrich Heine’s collection *De l’Allemagne*. The story—concerning young women who die of betrayed love before their weddings and subsequently find no peace in the grave—was adapted by Théophile Gautier, a leading theorist of Romantic theatre, and librettist Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Adolphe Adam composed the poignant, enchanting, and melodic score, which is imbued with French charm. The first interpreter of the fragile Giselle was Carlotta Grisi, one of the greatest dancers of the Romantic era; the ballet was created specifically for her by choreographers Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. In the Czech lands, *Giselle* won over audiences only gradually. It did not reach the Brno stage until the late 1960s, when choreographer Miroslav Kůra presented it there for the first time (1968). Audiences also fondly remember Jiří Blažek’s 1983 production—which enjoyed a run of over a hundred performances—featuring the unforgettable, ethereal ballerinas Soňa Zejdová and, later, Jana Kosíková in the title role.