Giselle: From Paris to St. Petersburg and Back Again

Abstract This chapter discusses productions of Giselle performed by the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet, tracing changes and revisions made between 1842 and 1907 under the supervision of Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa, and others. It also discusses the 1863 revival of Giselle at the Paris Opéra that was performed until 1868 and included revisions and interpolations that have since become canonical. A description of source material leads to a detailed account of the choreography, mime, and action of the St. Petersburg Giselle based on the choreographic notation made in the Stepanov system by Nikolai Sergeyev circa 1903. Elements of this production are compared with the Lyon Giselle recorded by Henri Justamant circa 1858 and the conclusion is drawn that both versions share a common source in the 1841 Paris Opéra Giselle. The chapter ends with a survey of selected twentieth-century Western productions of Giselle that were based on the St. Petersburg version.