Dance of the Willis – GISELLE Adam – Polish National Ballet

Late at night in a dark forest, Hilarion mourns at Giselle's grave but is frightened away by the impending arrival of the Wilis. As midnight strikes, Myrtha (Natalia Pasiut), their merciless queen, leads their nightly dance ritual before rousing Giselle's spirit from her grave.

Giselle, which was first performed in 1841 in Paris (and in Warsaw in 1848), is the ultimate romantic ballet, a product of the French romantics longing for an idealised female presence on the ballet stage. This vision set a standard for all the romantic ballets to come. Having women dance en pointe was meant to serve this very purpose; an impressive dance technique inspiring great art, putting the revered female figure at its centre. For this 2022 production, Polish National Ballet have meticulously recreated their designs from 1968 and 1976 by the late Andrzej Kreutz Majewski, whose sets and costumes excellently convey the romantic atmosphere of the French masterpiece. Based on the canonical choreography by Marius Petipa, the production is overseen by Maina Gielgud, once a star of European ballet stages, later the head of the Australian Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet. Danced by some of the greatest ballerinas of all time, Giselle is pastoral charm, touching drama, and ephemerality to savour at Christmas on OperaVision.

Streamed on OperaVision on 26 December 2022 at 15:00 CET and available until 26 June 2023:

CAST

Giselle - a young peasant girl
Chinara Alizade

Duke Albrecht of Silesia - in disguise as peasant Loys
Vladimir Yaroshenko

Hilarion - gamekeeper in love with Giselle
Kristóf Szabó

Wilfried - menservant of Duke Albrecht
Carlos Martín Pérez

Prince of Courtland
Wojciech Ślęzak

Bathilde - his dauther and Duke Albrecht’s fiancée
Irina Wasilewska

Berthe - mother of Giselle
Marta Fiedler

Peasant Pas de deux
Mai Kageyama
Diogo de Oliveira

Myrtha - the queen of the Willis
Natalia Pasiut

Willi 1.
Yume Okano

Willi 2.
Mai Kageyama

Ballet
Polish National Ballet

Orchestra
Polish National Opera Orchestra

Music
Adolphe Adam

Choreography
Jean Coralli
Jules Perrot

Director
Maina Gielgud

Conductor
Patrick Fournillier

Sets and costumes
Andrzej Kreutz Majewski

Set design adaptation
Małgorzata Szabłowska

Costume design adaptation
Katarzyna Rott

Lighting
Maciej Igielski

Film director
Ewa Krasucka

Sound
Emilian Rymarowicz

OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision.

[violinhunter]

Lovely girls they all are. I love the sound of their shoes on the stage. I used to play in a pit orchestra in college and I could hear the tapping sounds and that made me happy. I don't know why.

[evelanpatton]

I just love hearing the toe ballet shoes tap, tap, tapping onto the stage…🎶🎵🎶🫶🏼👂🏼🧚🏽

[cynthiafletcher]

Breathtaking!! The dancers embodied this difficult choreography with great discipline, skill and timing. 💙🌼💙🌼💙🌼💙

[hannacieslak]

Uważam, ze to wykonanie jest absolutnie ikoniczne, ogladalam wiele wersji z roznych lat i roznych krajow i to jest definitywnie najbardziej przejmujace, wzruszające i dające najgłębszą immersję w klimat i historię. Jestem niesamowicie dumna, że Polski Balet Narodowy dostarcza sztukę na najwyzszym poziomie. Widzimy sie w marcu na żywo, nie mogę się już doczekać!!!

[lavandeyracaro]

I was surprised by the perfection of the corps de ballet, and by a more malevolent Mirtha than usual. Bravisimo!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[hrbooksmusic]

These wonderful dancers make every step and move seem so effortless… while we all know that ballet demands a kind of sporting excellence… Beautiful, just beautiful… 🩰🩰🩰
Thank you for the lovely post! 🙏🍀

[Joao-cktz]

3:50 This was SUBLIME, the orchestra, the corps of ballet, perfect!

[BytomGirl]

This was wonderful production, I saw the full ballet with Vladimir Yaroshenko as Albrecht and Chinara Alizade as Giselle. It was beautiful

[trtar]

It’s interesting …I’m a painting living in New Mexico I’ve witnessed water being brought by two cultures. One was a rain dance by Native American the other is this piece, were water flows from my eyes

[ascendien]

Entre 0:05 y 0:42 otra bailarina danza el rol de Mirtha