The history of the ballet Giselle was choreographed by Gautier it was about a young girl who dies from injuries received from the sword of Albrecht’s. Petipa didn’t think it was suitable that Giselle should die that way. Instead Petipa story of Giselle was that the young girl dies of a weak heart caused by sorrow and sadness. Giselle’s lover was Albrecht. Albrecht was already engaged to another girl Bathilde.
When Giselle died she became a Wilis, which is a female vampire, which was also known as a spirit. Willis are souls of females who died before their wedding night and they were betrayed in love. The idea for the Wilis came from choreographer Heine which Petipa adapted for his ballet Giselle. The Wilis would lure young travelling men at midnight and would dance them to death. Wilis lured men because they were unable to settle in their graves because of their love of dance when they were alive. [1]
The ballet Giselle was created in the 18th century which was in the romantic era. It was a time of change and emancipation. Opera was becoming more popular and woman dominated the ballet in this era. The famous male dancers in the era were Jules Perrot and Arthur Saint-Leon. The famous female dancers were Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotti Grisis and Fanny Cerrito. Male dancer were used just to partner the girls.
The ballet Giselle and the romantic era improved the point work for the ladies and partnering for the men. By the end of the 18th century ballerinas wore blocked point shoes and they wore shorter lengthen dresses that went to the calf. By the 1850 ballet was declining and the famous ballerinas retried. In the 18th century ballet was in every major capital city in Europe. [2,3,4]
The choreographers of the ballet where Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot they choreographed and performed Giselle in Paris 1841. The ballet was then choreographed by another man named Marius Petipa, he choreographed the modern version of Giselle for the