Giselle Review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/jan/13/giselle-royal-ballet-review?INTCMP=SRCH
this is a link to a review of Giselle by the Guardian.

Principal dancers of Ashtons Giselle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucWxfvoIi7E this is a link to Ashtons version of Giselle starring Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev

Fonteyn:
Margot Fonteyn was born in Reigate, Surrey, England 1919, as Margaret Hookham. Joined Vic-Wells Ballet in 1934. She had quick progress and in 1939 she had already danced Giselle, Odette-Odile and Aurora. She became the world's greatest ballerina and could have retired as such when she was 40. But her meeting with Rudolf Nureyev in 1962 gave the world the magic of their great partnership and her career continued until she was 58.
http://www.ballerinagallery.com/fonteyn.htm


Nureyev:

No male dancer ever had more influence on the history, style and public perception of ballet than Rudolf Nureyev. He changed people's expectations. Starting out from inauspicious beginnings in a remote town in the Urals, he ended up changing the whole face of the art.

By indefatigably performing a uniquely wide repertoire night after night, month after month, year after year, all over the world, he reached a wider audience than any rival, to which must be added millions more who saw him only in films and on television (he was filmed more than any other dancer before or probably since). But more important than the size of his audience was the effect on them of his charismatic personality and the utter dedication with which he performed. His own idiosyncratic way of putting it was that "every step must be sprayed with your blood".
http://www.nureyev.org/biographie_introduction.php 

Giselle Plot Summary

Act 1:
Giselle is a peasant in love with her neighbour Loys, who is in fact the rich Count Albrecht in disguise.
Hillarion is also a peasant who is in love with Giselle bus it is not mutual
At the village party Hilarion is finds out Loys is really the Count Albrecht
During the village party royals arrive arrive who should recognise Loys as Bathilde is there, who is supposed to be marrying
Hilarion reveals Loys' true identity
Giselle goes mad and kills herself (she may die of shock because in those catholic times suicide was a disgusting thing to commit.)

Act 2:
in a forest at night
at midnight Hilarion is at Giselles grave and meets the Willies (willies- women that have died before they got married, they seek revenge on men and dance men to death)
Giselle becomes a Willie under the rule of Queen Myrtha
Albrecht comes to mourn Giselle, she shows herself to him
willies kill hilarion
They try to kill Albrecht but Giselle stands up to Myrtha and tells her and the willies to leave him as she still loves him
Dawn arrive and the willies leave Albrecht alive.

Sir Fredrick Ashton - Background Info

Sir Fredrick Ashton 1904-1988, was an important choreographer who restaged Giselle, his main aim was to concentrate on pleasing and entertaining the audience, eventhough he wasnt in the 'Romantic Era' he had the same themes running through his works. He was described as 'Graciously Lyrical' and his dance style was refined and polished to perfection, everything he did was perfect.


Ashton grew up in peru where he fell in love with dance when he saw the russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova in 1917, later on in his life he was sent off to england to go to school there, and in 1921 worked in an office, but his passion was to dance. His brother then paid for his classical training when Ashton was 17, this is a very old age to start training. He trained from 1925-1935, and Dame Marie Rambert, who trained with Enrico Cecchetti, she was convinced of his talent but steered him toward choreography as she though he was too old for a performer.


His first choreographed work was 'The tragedy of fashion', which starred he and rambert as a couturier and his cigar smoking partner.


In 1928-1929, Ashtons influences changed from Pavlova, when in paris to Bronislava Nijinska, she was a russian, petit and strong ballerina, successful with the Mariinsky Ballet, who also is the sister of Valslav Nijinski.


In the year 1935 Ashton moved from rambert to work with Ninette De Valois and The Vic Wells Ballet, which is now know known as The Royal Ballet.


Fredrick Ashton was heavily influenced in his dance technique and style by Enrico Cecchetti as Cecchetti either influenced or trained with the four ballerinas (Pavlova, Rambert, Najinska, Valois.) who influenced Ashton.

Some Of Petipas Other Works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vbVLo7Mhv4 this is a video link to a long section of a reconstrustion of Coppelia by marius Petipa for the Bolshoi Ballet.

Some Of Petipas Other Works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzXkZEg2Qa8&feature=related this is a video link to a section of a remake of Marius Petipas 'The Sleeping Beauty' this contains some of the original choreography by Petipa also.

Some Of Petipas Other Works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXUIOY8uZZk this is a video link to a small section of Swan Lake, this is obviously one of the more up to date versions, but it does contain some of the original choreography by Marius Petipa. 

More about Marius Petipa

http://www.russianballethistory.com/diaghilevchoreographers.htm
Petipa is noted for his long career as Premier Maître de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position he held from 1871 until 1903. Marius Petipa created over fifty ballets and is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived. 

Petipa revived a substantial number of works created by other Ballet Masters. Many of these revivals would go on to become the definitive editions from which all subsequent productions would be based. The most famous of these revivals are Le Corsaire, Giselle, La Esmeralda, Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée (with Lev Ivanov), The Little Humpbacked Horse and Swan Lake (with Lev Ivanov).

http://www.nekropole.lv/lv/person/view?id=2113&l=en 

Petipa created over fifty ballets, some of which have survived in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from the original — The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862); Don Quixote (1869); La Bayadère (1877); Le Talisman (1889); The Sleeping Beauty (1890); The Nutcracker (which was most likely choreographed by Lev Ivanov, perhaps with Petipa's counsel and instruction) (1892); Le Réveil de Flore(1894); Le Halte De Cavalerie (1896); Raymonda (1898); Les Saisons (1900), and Les Millions d’Arlequin (a.k.a. Harlequinade) (1900).

Marius Petipa - The Choreographer - Background info

Marius Petipa, the choreographer of  Giselle was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1818 (11th March) His parents were both in the performing arts, his father was also a ballet master, so their family had travelled many parts of the world with their jobs. Petipa went to ballet lessons from the age of seven at first he really didnt like it but in time it grew on him and he discovered his natural talent of dance. During the revolution of Belgium no one had much money, the economy was poor and there were many fights breaking out etc. so the Petipas decided to relocate to Bordeaux, France. Here, he finished his training in 1843 and started becoming a choreographer, in 1869 he became a Ballet Master of the Russian Imperial Ballet, like his father. He was the choreographer who had the most impact on the formation of Russian ballet in St. Petersburg.

His choreographic style was simple and clean, less narrative. Motifs were often repeated but gaining intricacy with less narration each time. Also Russian folk dance was often incorporated into his choreographies.

Romantic Ballet Era

These are a few pictures from the romantic ballet era containing the ballerias that were famous at this time:

Filippo Taglioni

(left), Marie Taglioni (center), Lucille Grahn (right back), and Fanny Cerrito (right front) in the Perrot/Pugni Pas de Quatre

 Marie Taglioni

Romantic Ballet

Romantic Ballet was an era in ballet, where the dance style was affected by the vast romance in art and literature. This was called 'The Romantic Period' which started in the 19th century due to INDUSTRIALISATION, and  industry revolution. This was where people wanted ESCAPISM from the hard life of constant work, migrating to the city, money problems and factories taking over country life. Even children were being put to work to earn their family money from a very young age. Writers choreographers and artists fought back against this to give people a quick fix of escapism from their hard lives by introducing romanticism into their art. And this is how the romantic era started, with people wanting to read about and see beatiful pretty things, fantasy things, often like faries, the supernatural and nature etc.

Giselle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbMogtezO7k - this is the link to a small section of
Giselle, which was a Romantic Ballet choreographed originally by Marius Petipa, and staged in the year 1884 for Maria Gorshenkova. Petipa then made his final touches to the work, for 1903, Anna Pavlova's debut.