By Michelle Berry
Staff Writer
A well-known ballet is making its way to the Amarillo stage.

Lone Star Ballet will present “Giselle” for one night only at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts.
“Giselle” was written by Adolph Adam. It has two acts and two scenes with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier. It was originally choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot (the principal ballerina dances).
The choreography of almost all modern productions of the ballet come from the revivals of Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet. “Giselle” was first presented by a French ballet company in Paris, France, in 1841.
In the first act of the ballet, Giselle, a village maiden, is smitten with a man she knows only as Loys. However, the man is really Albrecht, who is a nobleman in disguise as a peasant.
Albrecht is engaged to Bathilde, who is the daughter of the Duke. When Giselle uncovers his lie, she is beyond consolation, eventually going mad and dying.
One version of the ballet says she dies of a broken heart, while the other says she commits suicide in the midst of her madness.
In the second act of the ballet, Giselle’s undying love for Albrecht protects him from the wicked magic of the wilis, who are vampiric ghosts of betrothed young women who were betrayed by their lovers and died before their wedding day.
The Queen of the Wilis, Myrtha, forces Albrecht to continually dance. However, Giselle is able to intervene just long enough to save his life and allow him to survive until dawn.
At sunrise, the wilis are required to return to their grave. While Giselle must return, she shows Albrecht that she forgives him for his treachery.
The two pledge their devotion and she goes back into the grave. However, the two are forever separated, and Giselle is a wili for all of eternity.
Tickets for the production of “Giselle” are available through the Lone Star Ballet office at 372-2463. They can also be purchased by calling 378-3096, logging on to www.panhandletickets.com, or stopping by participating Panhandle Tickets outlets.