What is "giselle"

Giselle (French: Giselle, ou les Wilis) is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on Monday, 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. The ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

The ballet is about a peasant girl named Giselle, who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave. They target her lover for death, but Giselle's great love frees him from their grasp.

Librettists Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier took their inspiration for the plot from a prose passage about the Wilis in De l'Allemagne, by Heinrich Heine, and from a poem called "Fantômes" in Les Orientales by Victor Hugo.

The prolific opera and ballet composer Adolphe Adam composed the music. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot created the choreography. The role of Giselle was intended for Carlotta Grisi as her debut piece for the Paris public. She became the first to dance the role and was the only ballerina to dance it at the Opéra for many years.

Giselle may refer to:

Giselle is a female given name of French origin. It is derived from the Germanic word gisil, meaning "hostage", "mutual obligation" or "pledge", and may have originated as a nickname for a child given as a pledge to a foreign court. Variants of the name include Gisela, Gisele, and Gisèle. The name may refer to:

• Giselle of Bavaria (985–1065), Queen of Hungary
• Giselle Ansley (born 1992), British field hockey player
• Giselle Blondet (born 1964), Puerto Rican actress and television host
• Giselle Bonilla (born 1994), American actress
• Giselle Fernández (born 1961), American journalist
• Giselle Itié (born 1982), Brazilian actress
• Giselle Juárez (born 1991), Argentine field hockey player
• Giselle Kañevsky (born 1985), Argentine field hockey player
• Giselle Khoury (born 1961), Lebanese journalist
• Giselle Laronde (born 1963), Trinidadian model and 1986 Miss World
• Giselle Loren (born 1964), American actress
• Giselle Martin-Kniep (born 1956), American educator
• Giselle Patrón (born 1987), Peruvian model
• Giselle Rosselli (born 1990), Australian musician
• Giselle Salandy (1987–2009), Trinidadian boxer
• Giselle Toengi (born 1978), American actress
• Giselle Zado Wasfie (born 1976), American writer

Giselle is a 2013 New Zealand drama film written and directed by Toa Fraser. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is based on the 2012 production Giselle, performed by The Royal New Zealand Ballet which many of the cast members are part of.