This programme runs from 3 – 5 July 2008, including Le Baiser de la fee, a world premiere for the Company by choreographer Michael Corder.

Giselle, from 25 to 28 June

This production of Giselle, a full-length ballet, was first performed by the Company in 1999 and tells the tragic story of a gentle peasant girl and her doomed love for a young nobleman.

Giselle is unaware that the man she loves, Albrecht, is in fact a nobleman, engaged to be married to a Countess. When Albrecht’s true identity is revealed, Giselle is distraught at the betrayal and dies of a broken heart. We are then transported into the eerie world of the forest, with its gliding ghosts and tortured spirits where Giselle and other would-be brides are destined to remain.

The tragic story of Giselle is considered by many to be the epitome of the 19th Century Romantic classical ballet and broke new ground when it was first conceived. The fusing of the popular appeal of historical local colour with shadowy spirits created The Wilis, ghosts of girls jilted by their lovers, who haunt the forest. These spirits dance to death any man they meet during the hours of darkness.

The role of Giselle is one of the most sought-after in ballet, demanding both technical perfection and outstanding grace and lyricism, as well as great dramatic skill. -- www.brb.org.uk