A love triangle with some unusual twists, the ballet tells the story of a peasant girl who dies of a broken heart when she learns that the nobleman with whom she has fallen hopelessly in love is engaged to another woman. A gamekeeper, who has fallen in love with the peasant girl, is seen weeping at her grave when he is startled by a band of spirits of young women who had died before their wedding days. The bitter spirits rise from their graves to torture men to their deaths.
It was the practice of the Wili to use their abundant beauty to attract vulnerable young men and force them to dance until they died of exhaustion. Hilarion, they pursued and then threw him to his death in a lake. Albrecht, to whom the band of bitter spirits turn their attention after disposing of Hilarion, fares somewhat better. The spirit of the peasant girl is summoned from her grave. She protects him from the Wili until daybreak, when they go back to their graves to rest until night falls again. Giselle forgives her lover and goes back to her grave where she may now rest peacefully for eternity.
The ballet was first shown in Paris in June 1841. It came to London in 1842 and travelled to Russia, Italy and the USA. It has been released as a film in 3D.
The leading role in this ballet is one of the most sought after by promising young dancers. It requires tremendous grace, a high level of technical skill and the ability to act convincingly. It was written by dramatist Theophile Gautier. It first starred Carlotta Grisi, for whom it was created by Gautier. Since then, the peasant girl has been portrayed by Alicia Markova, Svetlana Zakharova and Anna Pavlova.
It was Henrich Heine' tale of the Wilis that inspired Gautier, who imagined it as a ballet. He worked with the composer, Adolphe Adam and Jules Perot, choreographer.
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