Giselle (1999)
In 1999, Tomasson presented a new production of Giselle, choreographed after Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot, and Jean Coralli. This was the first time the full-length version of the ballet had been performed by SF Ballet since 1947. While the production features the original music and orchestrations by Adolphe Adam, written in 1841, it also incorporates additional music, including music by Friedrich Burgmüller for the Peasant Pas de Cinq in Act I; traditional music attributed to Ludwig Minkus for Giselle's Variation; and additional orchestrations and arrangements by then-Acting Music Director and Conductor Emil de Cou. Mikael Melbye, former opera singer turned stage director and designer, served as designer for the production. In an interview with The New York Times's Janice Berman, Tomasson spoke about the importance of performing in Giselle as part of a dancer's development and that the work "is something that will challenge and make dancers grow … in their very short dancing careers."
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Credits:
Choreography: Helgi Tomasson, after Perrot, Coralli, Petipa
Composer: Adolph Adam
Designs: Mikael Melbye
Helgi Tomasson leading a rehearsal, circa 1997-1998 // © Marty Sohl
Photograph of set for Act I of Tomasson's Giselle. Design by Mikael Melbye. (1999)
San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson's Giselle // © Erik Tomasson
Gennadi Nedvigin in Tomasson's Giselle, 1999 // © Marty Sohl
Tina LeBlanc as Giselle and Roman Rykine as Albrecht in Helgi Tomasson's "Giselle", 1999 // © Marty Sohl
File preparation for this exhibit by San Francisco Ballet Digital Asset Administrator, Rachel Bauer.
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