grace Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 thanks for the information, estelle and mel. yes, mel - i thought you seemed to be implying at least having met the ...umm ... err ... "lady?". glad she didn't have it in for *YOU*! enough said on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalMia Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 In adding to the topic of the "Wilis". I have a new Question, I understand that Myrtha is supposed to be the queen of all the Wilis, but why, I assume that she like the rest, died of a broken heart, but what makes her the queen?, why is she so extra bitter??? Why do all the other wilis do what she tells them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Johnson Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Originally, the Wilis were to reflect something of their former selves in terms of costumes and choreographic material, Moyna and Zulma were to have been a bayadére and a Gypsy/Hungarian, respectively, or was it the other way 'round? Myrtha, whose name is derived from "Martha" (Hebrew: "the lady of the house") was to have been royalty who had suffered death from a broken heart as a result of a fiancé's faithlessness. So, apparently, undeath does not level ranks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbro Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Moyna and Zulma were to have been a bayadére and a Gypsy/Hungarian, respectively, or was it the other way 'round? Wow! That is a most intriguing tidbit. Thanks, Mel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 mel, can you just clarify what you mean by "originally"- i.e. what source you are referring to? as carbro says, a fascinating tidbit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Johnson Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 This goes back, back, to the formation of the libretto, where Gautier thought it would be good to have the ballet begin in an enchanted ballroom where Giselle is doomed to die by dancing under a spell. After he talked it over a little with Vernoy de St. Georges and Nourrit, he thought it would be better to have it the Titled-bounder-toys-with-fragile-country-maiden story and things have worked better that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 thanks mel. i am not pressing you to head to your library, but i am just curious, if you remember where you read this - possibly beaumont's book 'the ballet called giselle' (which i could look up myself!!), or somewhere else? i have just always loved giselle, so all this poetic Romantic trivia is of some interest to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Johnson Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Actually, it's in Marian Smith's excellent Ballet and Opera in the Time of Giselle, quoted in toto there on pp. 172-5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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