Giselle's grave is on stage. As he weeps, the Wilis (vengeful female spirits who died abandoned on the day of their weddings that haunt and kill men), dressed in all white, rise from their shallow graves and dance around him. The Wilis, including Moyna and Zulma, present themselves to their sovereign, and soon all of the Wilis are waltzing with abandon, gratifying their love for dancing which they were unable to fulfill in life. But Giselle re-appears miraculously, takes him by the hand, and leads him to her tombstone, a marble cross, which holds a power even stronger than that of the Wilis. Overwhelmingly distraught and horrified, Giselle dies of a broken heart.

2.3.4.1 For Piano solo (Cook) 2.3.4.2 For Piano 4 Hands; 2.3.5 Act II: Pas de deux.

Giselle's pleas are also dismissed and Albrecht is forced to dance until sunrise.Two ballets caused great excitement in Paris in the 1830s. The evil spirits turn their sights to the Duke and are determined to kill him, too.

Just as Myrtha is about to touch him with her scepter, it breaks in her hands. Giselle, her love undiminished unlike her vengeful sisters, gently forgives him. Cuts were made in Grisi's role to spare the dancer's health. The show closes with Act II of the classic romantic ballet, Giselle. We… For other uses, see By the end of his career, Adalphe Adam had composed nearly 40 operas and a handful of ballets. Twitter ... Giselle dies of a broken heart. "Ethnic music, dance, and costume were a large part of romantic ballet. Hilarion is discovered just before midnight keeping vigil by Giselle's tomb. This is the night Giselle is to be initiated as a Wili. Giselle begins a slow, graceful dance, as though transported by an involuntary delirium. Giselle (/ dʒ ɪ ˈ z ɛ l /; French: ), originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis (French: [ʒizɛl u le vili], ' Giselle, or The Wilis '), is a romantic ballet ("ballet-pantomime") in two acts, and is considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon. Comments; Performances. Hilarion is secretly in love with Giselle and has been for quite some time. The ballet opens on a sunny autumnal morning in the A party of noblemen seeking refreshment following the rigors of the hunt arrive in the village, Albrecht's betrothed, Bathilde, among them. She picks a daisy from a nearby bed of flowers and proceeds to pluck its petals, asking if "he loves me" or "loves me not." Berthe, Giselle's mother, does not approve of Giselle's infatuation with the stranger and immediately orders her back into the house to finish her chores. He has returned to the village disguised as a peasant in order to see her. The gamekeeper has gone to lay flowers at Giselle’s grave. Act 2 of Giselle is set at night time in the forest, with a gas lamp used to create the moon. While he is mourning, he is startled by signs that the Wilis (the spirits of dead maidens, wronged by men) are near. Giselle and the harvesters dance, but the merriment is brought to a halt by Hilarion who, having investigated Albrecht’s cottage, now brandishes the nobleman’s horn and sword. Hilarion becomes so frightened, he runs back to the village. However, it was his organ playing that earned him enough income to live comfortably. Giselle is immediately drawn to him and falls deeply in love. Giselle’s tombstone can be seen at the left; the bluish gleam of the moon gives a cold and misty appearance to the scene. She returns to her grave in peace knowing that she'll never have to rise at night to hunt down the lives of men. Even in the afterlife, she still loves him and is quick to forgive his deception. Meanwhile, the Wilis have pursued Hilarion who is unable to escape their torment. He planned their story for Act 2, and settled upon a verse by Victor Hugo called "Fantômes" to provide the inspiration for Act 1. The Story of Giselle-Act 2. The Wilis seek to detain them and try to force them to dance. Giselle - Act II pas de deux (Natalia Osipova and Carlos Acosta, The Royal Ballet) - Duration: 5:12. Gautier's "ethnic" idea was dropped as the ballet developed and it has not been picked up by modern producers. In which BalletMet dancers give you the lowdown on act II of Giselle, one of the most iconic and romantic ballets ever created. Instead of returning to her tomb at the end of the ballet, it was decided that she would be placed on a bed of flowers and sink slowly into the earth. Gautier praised their performance in Act II, writing that the two dancers made the act "a real poem, a choreographic elegy full of charm and tenderness ... More than one eye that thought it was seeing only [dance] was surprised to find its vision obscured by a tear—something that does not often happen in a ballet ... Grisi danced with a perfection ... that places her in the ranks between Adam thought Petipa "charming" as both dancer and actor, and that he had "rehabilitated" male dancing with his performance. Albrecht becomes exhausted.Just as it seems Albrecht will dance himself to death, the first rays of the sun appear. Adam put bits of French, Spanish, German, and Indian-sounding music in the waltz for this purpose. In November 1831, In an 1841 news article announcing the first performance of Gautier thought Heine's Wilis and Hugo's fifteen-year-old Spanish girl would make a good ballet story.Gautier was not satisfied with this story.

Distant chimes strike midnight—the hour when the Wilis appear—and the men flee in terror as will-o’-the-wisps flash threateningly around them.Myrtha, the queen of the Wilis, arrives on the scene, mysteriously radiant and piercing the shadows of the night.