Enjoy Giselle, one of ballet’s great romantic classics

Staff report

(Kansas City, MO) The Kansas City Ballet’s production of Giselle, newly staged by Artistic Director Devon Carney to the enchanting music of Adolphe Adam, is an opportunity to enjoy one of ballet’s great romantic classics. Created in 1841, the hauntingly beautiful Giselle is considered by many to be the supreme achievement of the Romantic Age of Ballet. Giselle, a full-length ballet in two acts, tells the tale of enduring love even after death, featuring two of the most celebrated and demanding roles for a ballerina and premier danseur.

This haunting and tragic ballet tells the heart-breaking story of an innocent young village girl who falls in love with Albrecht, a prince disguised as a peasant lad. Act I closes with Giselle discovering his real identity and that he is betrothed to the Duke’s daughter. Giselle, driven mad with grief, dies of a broken heart – a scene widely recognized to be the most dramatically challenging role in the ballet canon.

Act II unfolds as Albrecht comes grieving to her grave and is surrounded by Wilis, the spirits of young girls who were jilted before their wedding day and now seek revenge upon men by dancing them to their deaths.

Giselle protects him from the avenging spirits, and through true love, saves him from death. This ballet is one of the most technically challenging for dancers. Giselle exemplifies the exhilaration of love, the tragic heartbreak of betrayal and the power of forgiveness.

Kansas City Ballet is a 29-member professional ballet company under the leadership of Artistic Director Devon Carney and Executive Director Jeffrey J. Bentley. The Ballet certainly is one of the region's great success stories. The Company is one of the most artistically dynamic and financially sound performing-arts institutions of its size in the country. It has earned the respect of the national dance community as well as the city and region as an organization devoted to excellence, committed to the best interests of its artists and willing to take artistic risks.

Performances of Giselle are Fri., Mar. 13 and Sat., Mar. 14, at 7:30 pm; Sun., Mar. 15 at 2pm; Fri., Mar. 20 and Sat., Mar. 21 at 7:30pm; and Sun., Mar. 22 at 2pm, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, MO. Tickets are available from $49 to $119, by calling the Kansas City Ballet Box Office at (816) 931-8993, or online at kcballet.org/performances-tickets/.

The Gayly – March 8, 2015 @ 11:45am.