First performed in Paris, Giselle is one of the key works of the romantic ballet. The intellectual author was the Théophile Gautier, who had found the inspiration in Heinrich Heine’s book D’Allemagne and who conceived the libretto for Giselle ou Les Willis together with the playwright Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
In the two-act ballet on the music by Adolphe Adam, the human world faces the supernatural world of the Wilis. At the heart of the story there is the peasant girl Giselle, who falls in love with the Duke Albrecht disguised as a peasant. Giselle believes in his love for her until she realizes that Albrecht is already engaged and has betrayed her. Then she takes her own life. It will only be in the kingdom of the Wilis, those ghostly beings who comes out of their graves at the night, that Giselle and Albrecht will come together under the sign of death.
In his version Mauro de Candia concentrates on the four main figures of the piece, all of whom have (emotional) ties with one another: Hilarion falls in love with Giselle, however she does not love him. Giselle loves Albrecht and he has sworn his love for her. Hilarion takes his revenge on Albrecht by telling Bathilde, Albrechtìs fiancé, about the liaison. De Candia moves the interaction of the quartet into the present and transports the emotional conflicts of the four young people into a timeless scenic-choreographic relationship