Royal Ballet: Giselle, Covent Garden

The story of the peasant girl who turns into a restless forest spirit after dying of a broken heart, Giselle was first performed in Paris in 1841 and has been the Romantic ballet par excellence ever since.

The current Royal Ballet production by Peter Wright follows closely Petipa’s classic staging which took St. Petersburg by storm only three years after the ballet’s Paris premiere.

The plot is well known and Peter Wright captures the work’s two Acts to perfection: in Act I we’re in a sun-lit, brightly coloured farming village, where the naïve young Giselle is visited by her lover, Albrecht, and comes to grief when she realises the extent of his betrayal.

Act II is all eerie, monochromatic, moonlit, mist-enveloped forest. Here the Willis come out at night to dance and kill any man who dares set foot in their realm. A remorseful Albrecht is only saved from having to dance himself to death through the intervention of Giselle’s spirit.

Royal ballet principals Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov, both perfect for the lead roles, once again figure in the first cast.

Among other casts, we're excited for the debut in this ballet of the Royal's youngest female principal, the truly gifted Francesca Hayward, and Marcelino Sambé, in what's becoming an established and delightful partnership (9 Feb, 19:30).

And tickets will, of course, sell off immediately for the two performances where Natalia Osipova - one of the great Giselles of our time - will be partnered by guest American Ballet Theatre principal, David Wallberg, now back at work after a long layoff with a career threatening injury.

If you can't get into these performances (1 and 9 March), there are plenty of interesting casts to choose from!