Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges

Acclaimed Canadian choreographer Anna-Marie Holmes’s exhilarating production, seen at the American Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet, invades the stage at La Scala with new sets and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli. Filled with action, passion and romance, this swashbuckling comedy, based on 'The Corsair' by Lord Byron, follows a dashing pirate, Conrad (Timofej Andrijashenko), as he journeys across the high seas to save his beautiful harem girl Medora (Nicoletta Manni). An exotic, breathtaking spectacle, and an adventure not to be missed.

The version of Le Corsaire by Manuel Legris arrives at La Scala, his first revival of a nineteenth century classic, fully highlighting the intent and innovativeness of his choreographic approach and his musical and dramaturgic quest. With its clear and accessible plot, notable attention to musicality and relations among characters, the sumptuous and evocative décor and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli, it will be an occasion recombining the energy virtuosity, the lyricism and romanticism of one of the 19th century’s most adventurous and thrilling ballets d’action with the talents of the La Scala dancers.

Madcap physical comedy and impeccable coloratura come together for Natalie Dessay’s indelible portrayal of the feisty tomboy raised by a regiment of French soldiers. Juan Diego Flórez is the young Swiss villager who conquers her heart—and a slew of high Cs. Also featuring uproarious performances by Felicity Palmer and Alessandro Corbelli, as well as a cameo by Tony Award winner Marian Seldes, this laugh-out-loud production was a runaway hit that left audiences exhilarated.

Tenor Javier Camarena and soprano Pretty Yende team up for a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks—including the show-stopping tenor aria “Ah! Mes amis,” with its nine high Cs. Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro trade off as the comic Sergeant Sulpice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield. Enrique Mazzola conducts.

Inspired by Lord Byron’s epic poem, this jewel of the repertoire boasts a lavish production complete with a shipwreck, pirates, and some of ballet’s most renowned scenes.

Traveling through Egypt in the 19th century, a Englishman falls asleep inside a pyramid and travels back in time to the days of the pharaohs, where he immediately falls in love with the daughter of the ruler.

Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell -- the first African-American principal in a major American dance company -- sets the classic ballet of "Giselle" in Louisiana circa 1841, a time when the social status of freed black Americans was determined by their family's distance from slavery. The poor Giselle (Virginia Johnson) falls in love with the secretly upper-class Albert, but tragedy occurs when she learns they have no future.

Giselle(s) revisits the classic Giselle through the lens of violence against women, giving the famous 1841 ballet a contemporary social and political dimension.

Acclaimed Ukranian dancer Svetlana Zakharova, who later became one of the youngest ballerinas in Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet, stars in the title role of the famed Romantic ballet "Giselle," recorded at the Teatro alla Scalla in Milan in April 2005. The production, with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, and music by Adolphe Adam, also features La Scala star Roberto Bolle as Albrecht.

The story of a hotel boss that, from time to time, observes the couples in the rooms and even films them.

The Kirov Ballet offers its unmatched interpretation of the finest of Parisian Romantic ballets, where undying love triumphs over betrayal and death. This production offers a choreographic text and dramatic understanding dating from the ballet's first Russian performance in 1842. It also offers the rare chance to see Soviet dancers performing live in the USSR.

The peasant girl Giselle discovers the true identity of her lover Albrecht – and that he is promised to another. This is one of The Royal Ballet’s most loved and admired productions, faithful to the spirit of the 1841 original yet always fresh at each revival. This performance features former Bolshoi star and now Royal Ballet Principal Natalia Osipova in a breath-taking interpretation of the title role.

A thrilling performance film featuring Cuba's greatest ballet dancer, Alicia Alonso in her acclaimed portrayal of Giselle, the ballet that made Alicia an international star. In this tale, Duke Albrecht disguises himself as a peasant to win the love of the beautiful Giselle.

Learning that Albrecht, her beloved, is in fact a nobleman engaged to be married to a princess, the naive peasant girl Giselle dies. The Queen of the Wilis—the spirits of deceased young virgins—decides that Albrecht should follow Giselle to the grave, and condemns him to dance until he dies of exhaustion. But Giselle’s spirit dances with him and saves him. With music by Adolphe Adam and a libretto by Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, the ballet touches on the great romantic themes: local colour, a pastoral love affair doomed to end in tragedy, a plunge into fantasy and redemption through the power of love.

GISELLE is acclaimed director Toa Fraser's inter­pretation of the Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of Giselle. The classic story of love, erotism and death has been reinterpreted by Fraser to include both the on stage performance of the ballet, and an off-stage romance – interwoven with the ballet – that tells of two itinerant dancers, separated by time, distance and their abiding love for each other.

Peasant girl Giselle dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. She is summoned from the grave by spirits who dance men to death. The spirits target her lover for death, but Giselle's great love frees him from their grasp.

A film version of the ballet Giselle. Filmed in a studio, using innovative editing and cinematography to go along with the choreography, this film stands out from filmed stage-performances.

1979 production of the ballet classic starring Rudolf Nureyev and featuring the Bavarian State Ballet

The Mariinsky Theater presents Le Corsaire, a ballet in three acts, with a libretto based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron.

Live performance from Kirov, now known as Mariinsky. Recorded in April 1989.

Three zany puppets bring to life our greatest opera treasures, as Joan Sutherland, the world’s most famous soprano, performs their highlights. The puppets make up the audience: Sir William, a wise old goat; Little Billy, his nephew; and Rudi, a rather boisterous lion. Sutherland first introduces them to the story of each opera. Then, backed by the London Symphony Orchestra and a first-rate cast, she moves onto the opera stage, complete with elaborate sets and elegant costumes. After each exquisite aria, the diva comes back to her inquisitive friends and unfolds the plot.