It might look like a woman alone on stage, but in reality, there are two. First there’s Giselle (or The Wilis), a legendary ballet first performed in 1841 at the old Paris Opéra to a libretto by Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The story of a young girl who dies of love sickness, is reincarnated as a spirit and taken in by the Wilis (creatures from Slavic mythology, fiancées who died before their wedding day and are condemned to wander indefinitely) who join a world where dance is the language of the soul.

And then there is Giselle… (with the ellipsis) by author and director François Gremaud (we still remember his Phèdre! presented here in 2023), a danced version of the first Giselle (or The Wilis), adding new choreography to the memory of the work in a score performed by one of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Thomas Hauert’s greatest dancers: Samantha van Wissen. Accompanied live by the music of Luca Antignani, she turns this Giselle, her Giselle, into a second masterpiece.

A hymn to love, to the stars and to life.
A hymn to grace