Texas Ballet Theater Debuts Tim O'Keefe's Reimagined GISELLE

This spring, Texas Ballet Theater (TBT) will present Artistic Director Tim O'Keefe's reimagined Giselle, a tragic ghost story filled with love, betrayal and redemption. It will be O'Keefe's first full-length ballet. Performances will be held in Fort Worth at Bass Performance Hall May 2-4 and in Dallas at Winspear Opera House May 16-18. Dallas performances will feature live orchestration from the Dallas Opera Orchestra ,which was made possible thanks to funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Considered one of the most iconic classical ballets of all time, Giselle premiered in 1841 at the Paris Opera Ballet with choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot and original music by Adolphe Adam. The ballet was created for Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi of the Romantic era. O'Keefe's Giselle will hold true to the classical choreography and storyline but with subtle changes in scene arrangement, particularly in the first act, and with more participation from some of the ensemble characters to highlight the theme of love.

"We have this beautiful choreography from Coralli and Perrot that has been handed down for centuries, and it's important to honor that tradition," O'Keefe said. "Giselle is about love and relationships. I want to incorporate more storytelling from the ensemble, like the peasant couple introduced at the very beginning, to support the central love story of Giselle and Albrecht."

TBT last performed Giselle in 2011. That production was choreographed by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., current Artistic Director Laureate and O'Keefe's predecessor and mentor for more than 40 years. O'Keefe credits Stevenson with teaching him about the importance of storytelling in ballet.

"It's not just about the steps; it's about what you're feeling and engaging with the audience, so they feel it too," O'Keefe said. "I want the audience to feel as if they are watching someone make real-time decisions about where to go next on the stage at that very moment, rather than choreographed steps. It's truth-telling in art. I learned that from Ben, and now we're passing it down to the next generation."

Giselle is told through delicate yet demanding choreography, featuring intricate pointe work and sweeping, ghost-like movements that evoke an otherworldly sense of beauty. Forsaken by her love, the beautiful-but-bereft Giselle succumbs to madness and a broken heart. Yet even in death, she offers forgiveness to her faithless suitor in an effort to save him from the vengeful Willis, the spirts of jilted unmarried young women.

Tickets for Giselle may be purchased online or by calling the TBT Box Office at 877-828-9200. To attend Giselle under press credentials, please contact PR@TexasBallet.org.

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