Alberta Ballet opened its 2026–27 season by marking its 60th anniversary, celebrating bringing Alberta moments onstage that may last only a few hours, but remain within hearts long after the dancers take their final bow.
Opening this season was one of ballet’s diamonds: Giselle, a story that tells you about a world of love, betrayal, heartbreak and the ability to forgive.
A classic of the Romantic era, Giselle was first performed 185 years ago at the Paris Opera in France, with music composed by Adolphe Adam and original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot; the ballet was created from a story by Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
For Alberta Ballet’s production, the story was placed in the hands of the Artistic Director Francesco Ventriglia. Rather than separating the production from its traditional views, Francesco Ventriglia choreographed this piece in his own interpretation while preserving the traditional roots and movements of Coralli and Perrot’s choreography.
The story itself begins innocently with a young village woman named Giselle who falls in love with Loys, who is actually Albrecht, who covers up the truth about him being betrothed to another woman. Hilarion, who also loves Giselle and wishes to win her hand, becomes suspicious of Loys and eventually exposes his true identity. What Hilarion and Loys were unable to see nor hear were the crying pleas of Giselle's mother warning about Giselle’s weak heart.
After finding out the truth, Giselle goes delirious from the betrayal and could not withstand the pain this had caused her heart; she dies of heartbreak. Yet, her death, which broke the hearts of many, did not end but it instead opened the doorway into the second world.
The production’s two acts could almost be experienced as two different realities of place and time. Act I was considerably more theatrical, relying on character, acting and the interactions of the village to establish the world Giselle lived in. Alberta Ballet's set moved away from the traditional woodland setting with a medieval forest, and instead designed a warm architecture and scenery that gave the village an almost Mediterranean or an Italian atmosphere.
The set itself was carefully constructed and visually beautiful, creating a convincing space for the characters to inhabit and have the space to live fully within their character. Despite its theatricality, Act I seemed to lack a certain gem — something that would allow the production to fully shine brightly. It told the story well, but it did not yet possess a quality that would eventually define the performance. It was choreographed to a difficult degree; however, it felt disconnected between the dancers and felt more like a rehearsed play.
Then, Act II came along. The warmth disappeared. The village disappeared.
Only a cross in the background marked a grave where a body lay six feet below the ground. It was for Giselle, and everyone knew it. But the performance had morphed into something entirely different, almost as if the second act belonged to a different show.
Taking place within a dark forest after Giselle's death, the second act introduces the Wilis — ghostly spirits of women who died after being betrayed by their lovers before marriage. They are led by their queen, Myrtha, who condemns men who enter the forest to dance until their death.
Here, the production seemed to find the element it had been searching for.
The stage no longer simply showed a forest; it began to feel separated from the living world altogether. Between the movements and the scenery of the Wilis, there was an unsettling sensation of watching figures who were physically present onstage while somehow no longer belonging to it. It was as if the floor itself disappeared and the ghosts were floating in a beautifully haunting display.
The greatest storyteller of the evening was not any dancer, but was the lighting.
The lighting designer Stéphane Ménigot's work transformed the stage throughout the production, shifting alongside every change of mood. The lighting did not simply illuminate the dancers or scenery, but it communicated with them and translated every moment of pain, sadness, happiness and grief through to the audience. Viewers were able to experience the story not only with their eyes but with their hearts. In those moments, the light seemed to speak with words. This became especially powerful during Act II where the shadows, colder tones and the moonlit atmosphere of the forest blurred the boundary between the physical and supernatural.
After everything that has happened to her, Giselle's spirit is given the opportunity to let the Wilis take Albrectt’s life in vengeance. The Wilis, spirits of young women who died before their weddings, would seek revenge by forcing men to dance to their deaths. Having been betrayed by Albrecht, Giselle has every reason to surrender him to their punishment. Perhaps somebody else would have chosen vengeance, allowing the Wilis to take his life, but not Giselle.
Instead, she protects him from the Wilis and saves him from the punishment. Therefore the cold and empty land of the dead did not take Albrecht's life because Giselle rose above the act of betrayal and found where her heart truly was — in forgiveness.
This is perhaps the lesson of this piece and why, as a young woman myself who has so much of life ahead, it feels burdening to forgive those who have caused so much pain — even the ones who felt the most dearest. It feels wrong, and maybe it is, but even when this piece was first performed two centuries ago, it shows us who we really are inside — human. We are supposed to feel emotional, angry, happy, or even simply sad. We may choose to not forgive, but it is important to remember who we are from within and think of what the future holds and not dwell on the weight of the past.
An overview of Giselle can explain its plot, explain what happened and what to do next in life. It cannot entirely explain what happens when those ideas are translated onto a stage — or the feeling carried through an audience before erupting into applause.
Alberta Ballet's Giselle was not equally powerful in every moment. Act I created a beautiful and theatrical world, though at times it seemed to be searching for the spark that would elevate it beyond the story it was presenting. Act II found that spark through its ghostly choreography, atmospheric forest and extraordinary use of light. The production moved from simply telling Giselle to making the audience feel trapped within its world.
A flight, a dance and a story 185 years in the making — Giselle proves that some ghosts have no intention of disappearing, and we must remember that time heals, and even in death, our hearts exist in our souls that beat twice as hard and love twice as much.
For more information about Alberta Ballet’s upcoming productions, visit their website.
