Giselle is a great romantic ballet with music composed by Adolf Adam.  It was first performed in 1841 in Paris, France, yet most moderns versions today derive their choreography from the version created by Marius Petipa in the late 1800s.

Giselle is a young and beautiful peasant girl who falls in love with a farmer named Loys who is actually a nobleman in disguise named Albrecht.  Although Giselle agrees to marry Loys, little does she know that he is already engaged to the daughter of a prince named Bathilda.  When Giselle finds out, she dies of a broken heart.

Giselle is laid to rest in a grave in the forest where the Queen of the ghostly Wilis, who have all died of unrequited love, ask that they accept Giselle as one of their own.  Albrecht arrives and is made to dance all night by the wilis.  Giselle intervenes and saves his life, protecting him from the vengeance of the Wilis.  She returns to her grave forgiving him for his treachery, leaving Albrecht to live his life without her.