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Creole Giselle is a version of the balletGiselle in which the story's events are moved to 1840s Louisiana and given an Afro-Creole focus.
For centuriesclassical ballet has been seen as an elitist art form and has rarely been identified as a form of dance ordinarily performed byAfrican Americans or other minorities. In 1984,Frederic Franklin restaged the traditional EuropeanGiselle for theDance Theatre of Harlem. To many, this restaging was seen as inappropriate and inferior to those based on the 1841 original choreographers,Jean Coralli andJules Perrot.[1] To others,Creole Giselle was a ground-breaking achievement.
The Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded byArthur Mitchell andKarel Shook in 1969, shortly after the death of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Arthur Mitchell was the first African-American soloist for theNew York City Ballet. In 1955, he was chosen byGeorge Balanchine andLincoln Kirstein to join the company. Mitchell's career boomed during the pre-civil rights era and set the precedent for African Americans inconcert dance, specifically classical ballet. Mitchell and Shook were influenced by the “optimism and idealism of the Civil Rights Era” when they founded the school in the community where Mitchell spent his adolescent years,Harlem,New York.[2] Mitchell's plan was to give underprivileged children the same opportunities that he had as a teenager. The mission statement of the company is to “present a ballet company of African-American and other racially diverse artists who perform the most demanding repertory at the highest level of quality.”[3] This statement stays true to what Mitchell has done throughout the years, either through touring the company or community outreach.
Frederic Franklin was born inLiverpool,England, in 1914 and at the age of six his mother took him to his first dance class.[4] From an early age, Franklin was noticed for his innate capacity for remembering dance steps. When Franklin moved toParis, he dabbled incabaret and then moved toLondon to continue performing in numerous cabarets andvaudeville with the Vic-Wells Ballet, now known asthe Royal Ballet. In 1935, Franklin joined the Markova-Dolin Ballet, and it was through his dancing with this company that he was seen and asked byLéonide Massine to join the newBallet Russe de Monte-Carlo. Franklin signed a four-year contract with the company, which proved to be the most significant opportunity in his career. In 1952, he founded the Slavenska/Franklin Ballet withMia Slavenska.[5] After touringJapan and thePhilippines, the company folded due to management and financial problems. He returned to the Ballet Russe shortly afterwards and restaged the repertory that had been lost when Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo folded. Through his work with The George Balanchine Foundation, he became the artistic advisor of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
The award-winning balletGiselle was set in theRhineland of theMiddle Ages during the grape harvest. Giselle, a peasant girl, falls in love with her neighbor Loys, the man whom Count Albrecht disguises himself as. Aforester, Hilarion, loves Giselle, but she pays him no mind. During Giselle's celebration of the end of the grape harvest, Hilarion discovers Loy's real identity. The Duke of Courland and his daughter, Bathilde, Albrecht's future wife, arrive and are welcomed by the peasants. Hilarion tells Giselle the truth about Loys, just as she is being crowned Queen of the Village. In shock, Giselle tries to kill herself with Albrecht's sword, but dies from a weak heart. TheWilis are the ghosts of young girls who die before their wedding day, and who avenge themselves by making men who come to their graveyard dance themselves to death. One night, Hilarion visits Giselle's grave and the Wilis kill him. Albrecht brings lilies to Giselle's grave and she appears to him. As the Wilis attempt to kill Albrecht, Giselle asks Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, to save him. Albrecht is spared, but Giselle must return to her grave.
The adaptation by the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) of this traditional version ofGiselle is very similar to the original, except for a few changes in the storyline and variations in thechoreography. The narrative, the choreography, and the music by French composerAdolphe Charles Adam are kept the same as the originalGiselle.
The ballet is also set inLouisiana during the 1840s, and consists of an all-African American cast. The dancers wear costumes similar to the daily dress of African Americans in the 1840s. During this time social status among freed blacks was measured by how far removed one's family was fromslavery. Giselle's character is kept the same; her greatest joy is to dance. Albrecht is now Albert and the Wilis are the ghosts of young girls who adore dancing and die of a broken heart.
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