Ballet Giselle, composed by Adolphe Adam (1803 – 1856), was first performed at the Paris Opera on 28 June 1841, and it was a triumph. The public welcomed it with great enthusiasm and the ballet evokes the same emotions till this day.

Heinrich Heine, German Romantic poet in his novel “Florentine Nights” tells of Wilis – spirits of maidens - brides in Slavic folklore. Having died before their marriage, betrayed by their lovers, they fulfil their wedding dances in the realm of afterlife, full of passion that was denied to them in their real wedding. Duke Albrecht has abandoned a peasant girl Giselle, who has joined the Wilis after her death, and now he faces severe punishment, as Wilis take the revenge by dancing the unfaithful men to death. However, Giselle decides to save Albrecht.

French poet Theophile Gautier transformed this story into a libretto, and the choreography was created by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The ballet rightly acquired it's place in the “golden” repertoire of each theatre.

Lita Beiris's story about the role of Giselle also has its fascinating history. In 1987 she was excluded from the troupe and upcomming guest performances abroad. It is possible that in the previous foreign performances the ballerina had been too free. In any case, most likely there will be no answer to the questions about this past event. The artist used the time she had at home well and in collaboration with her partner Genady Gorbanov, who was not included in the guest performance troupe either, she prepared a new role – Giselle, that was afterwards referred to as Lita Beiris best role. The critic Eriks Tivums compared the ballerina's performance to the scale of the French tragedy actresses. The dancer's resilience, strength of character and ability to rise above resentment sublimed in a great work of art. Beiris partner in “Giselle”, dancer Aivars Leimanis tells in his memories that it was a duo with a strong personality. Meanwhile her partner Andrejs Rumjancevs recalls that when dancing with Lita, “the process of preparing the roles did not pose difficulties”.

Among the artworks in the exhibition that are devoted to “Giselle” there are works that concern both the theme of the story, some having even been created for the particular occasion, as Alvis Pizelis “Giselle”, and others that relay the contraversy of these two realms – light and dark, love and hate.

Guntars Gritāns, art historian