Giselle
Cast sheet
Monday 16 February 2026
|
7pm
Exceptional philanthropic support from Royal Ballet and Opera Principal Julia Rausing Trust
Generous philanthropic support from Alex and Elena Gerko, Kenneth and Susan Green, Sandra and Anthony Gutman, Lindsay and Sarah Tomlinson, Doug and Ceri King, Philipp Freise, John and Susan Burns, the Fonteyn Circle and the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund
The 2025/26 Royal Ballet Season is generously supported by Aud Jebsen
The role of Giselle is supported by Stuart and Jill Steele and Pippa Lewington
The role of Myrtha is supported by Emma Gilbey Keller
In his centenary year, we pay tribute to the late philanthropist Paul Hamlyn whose legacy has been life changing for young people’s access to the arts. We dedicate these performances of Giselle to his memory.
Approximate timings
Choreography
Marius Petipa
ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY
Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot
Music
Adolphe Adam
Edited by
Lars Payne
Scenario
Théophile Gautier
Original Scenario
Heinrich Heine
Production and Additional Choreography
Peter Wright
Designer
John Macfarlane
Original lighting
Jennifer Tipton
Lighting re-created by
David Finn
Staging
Christopher Carr, Samantha Raine
Senior Répétiteur
Samira Saidi
Répétiteurs
Zhan Atymtayev, Sian Murphy
Senior Benesh Choreologist and Assistant Répétiteur
Gregory Mislin
Principal Coaching
Alexander Agadzhanov, Leanne Benjamin, Darcey Bussell, Stuart Cassidy, Helen Crawford, Olga Evreinoff, Monica Mason, Isabel McMeekan, Christopher Saunders, Edward Watson
Benesh Choreologist
Daniel Kraus
Audio Description
16 February 2026
Julia Grundy, Jonathan Nash
Giselle
Sarah Lamb
Albrecht
Ryoichi Hirano
Hilarion
A forester
Lukas B. Brændsrød
Wilfred
Albrecht’s squire
Téo Dubreuil
Berthe
Giselle’s Mother
Kristen McNally
The Duke of Courland
Bennet Gartside
Bathilde
His daughter
Isabel Lubach
Leader of the Hunt
Aiden O'Brien
Pas de six
Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Luca Acri, Hanna Park, Harris Bell, Sumina S. Sasaki, Francisco Serrano
Peasants and Courtiers
Artists of The Royal Ballet
Myrtha
Queen of the Wilis
Annette Buvoli
Moyna
Myrtha’s attendant
Leticia Dias
Zulme
Myrtha’s attendant
Hannah Grennell
Wilis
Artists of The Royal Ballet
Conductor
Vello Pahn
Orchestra
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Associate Concert Master
Melissa Carstairs
Director
Kevin O’Hare CBE
Music Director
Koen Kessels
Resident Choreographer
Sir Wayne McGregor CBE
Artistic Associate
Christopher Wheeldon OBE
Administrative Director
Heather Baxter
Rehearsal Director
Christopher Saunders
Clinical Director Ballet Healthcare
Shane Kelly
Synopsis
Giselle, a peasant girl, has fallen in love with Count Albrecht...
Giselle, a peasant girl, has fallen in love with Count Albrecht, who tells her that he is a villager named Loys. Her superstitious mother, Berthe, hopes that Giselle will marry the forester Hilarion and warns her against Loys. To discourage Giselle, Berthe recounts the legend of the Wilis, ghosts of young women who dance to death any man who crosses their path between midnight and dawn. Giselle disregards her mother and joins in the harvest celebrations with Loys.
Wilfred, Albrecht’s squire, warns him that a hunting party is approaching, led by the Duke of Courland and the Countess Bathilde (Albrecht’s future bride). Albrecht hides, but Hilarion has witnessed this meeting and decides to discover the secret of his true identity. The hunting party arrives. Giselle dances for the nobles and tells Bathilde that she too is engaged. The Countess gives her a necklace and asks to rest in Berthe’s cottage. The Duke decides to continue the hunt and leaves a hunting horn so that he and the rest of the party can be recalled when Bathilde wants to rejoin them.
Hilarion now appears from Loys’s cottage, having found Albrecht’s sword. It bears the same crest as the hunting horn – this is the evidence he needs. Albrecht returns and Hilarion reveals the truth: that Loys is really Albrecht. He sounds the horn, the hunting party returns and Bathilde, coming out of the cottage, claims Albrecht as her fiancé. The shock is too much for Giselle. In her madness she relives her love for ‘Loys’ and, seizing his sword, she kills herself.
Hilarion keeps vigil by Giselle’s grave, which lies deep in the forest. It is midnight and the Wilis materialize, causing Hilarion to flee in terror. Myrtha, their queen, arrives and summons her Wilis. She initiates Giselle into their rites. Albrecht approaches and lays flowers at Giselle’s grave. When her spirit appears, he follows it into the forest.
Hilarion, pursued by the Wilis, is forced into an endless dance. Exhausted, he is driven into the lake and drowns.
The Wilis now seek out Albrecht. When Myrtha commands him to dance, Giselle urges him to the safety of the cross. But Myrtha orders Giselle to entice him away by dancing with him, rendering him powerless. Giselle tries to sustain him, but he becomes weaker and weaker as the night progresses. Just as he is about to die, dawn breaks. Daylight destroys the Wilis’ power and they fade away. Giselle returns to her grave, leaving Albrecht sorrowful and alone.
— Peter Wright
Further information
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