![\"Alberta](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/26-27_season_giselle_lunasasaki_photo_eluvieracosta_305214741.jpg\" "\\"Alberta")
As with most performers who have dedicated their lives to ballet, Francesco Ventriglia has a long history with the 1841 romantic classic, Giselle .
In fact, he has performed most of the male character roles in the ghost-filled story about love and betrayal. When he was 21, he travelled the globe with Milan’s La Scala as part of its production of Giselle. It was created by Sylvie Guillem, the star of the Paris Opera Ballet and Royal Ballet in London. She danced the title role, and he performed the role of Hilarion, the lovestruck and suspicious gamekeeper who exposes the true identity of the deceitful Albrecht after the nobleman disguises himself as the peasant Loys to woo Giselle.
“We toured in New York and Los Angeles; it was a huge tour with her on stage, and the version was magnificent,” says Ventriglia. “I’ve seen and shared the stage with incredible artists and big stars from around the world. It’s been a ballet that I grew up with. It’s one of the most iconic classical ballets. In Milan, in my years as a dancer, we did Giselle multiple times. I’ve been lucky enough to do almost every male role in the ballet. I’m very familiar with the music score and the story.”
So it was inevitable that Ventriglia would eventually want to put his stamp on the 19th-century romantic ballet, which focuses on a peasant girl who dies of a broken heart upon realizing her love’s true identity and then returns as a spirit. Since taking over as Alberta Ballet’s artistic director in early 2024, the company has offered a number of Ventriglia-choreographed interpretations of classics, including La Sylphide, The Wizard of Oz, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and Romeo & Juliet. Alberta Ballet toured to Dubai in 2025 to present his original creation, A Thousand Tales.
However, this is the first time since Ventriglia’s arrival that a new staging will be created with all hands on deck from different departments of Alberta Ballet. It will not only feature Ventriglia’s reimagining of the choreography and setting, but also new costume design and sets.
“Everything is new, and I’m so proud that everything is made by Alberta Ballet,” he says. “Since I’ve been here, this is the first production we are doing this way. The entire set is being produced in-house and (all) costumes are being produced in-house. My team has been phenomenal. I put this challenge on the table. I said, ‘I really want to do this; what do you think?’ They got excited and were so engaged. To see the people step up, have ideas and make your ideas even better is fantastic. What I wanted to do was a very unique version of Giselle to be identified as Giselle by the Alberta Ballet.”
The production will honour much of the original — it will still feature the iconic score by Adolphe Adam and be inspired by the original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot — but there will be some changes in the first act. The setting will be shifted to a wine-making village on the Mediterranean Sea.
“We see the water, the Mediterranean coast, and everything is white stone,” Ventriglia says.
“It’s really fresh and sunny and beautiful. Then I worked very much with the characters to emphasize the storyline and make sure all the connections between the characters are authentic. We worked a lot on interpretation, understanding what moves every character: Why are you doing that? What are you saying? Why are you reacting that way? It’s a very different approach for ballet. We usually have some codes, and we always use the same code. I pushed the dancers to be more cinematic and take a more theatrical approach in certain scenes. The emotions are very tangible. They are honest and there is an integrity in the storytelling.”
Giselle will debut in Edmonton at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Sept. 18 and 19 and move to Calgary’s Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium from Sept. 24 to 26. It will kick off Alberta Ballet’s 60th anniversary season.
Given that this will be a new interpretation of a classic specific to Alberta Ballet, Ventriglia says he hopes it has a long life as both a touring show and favourite that regularly returns to the company’s stage for years to come.
“With everything we are creating, my dream is to make sure we can see it around Canada and around the world,” he says. “There is a lot of work we are doing to place ourselves on national and international markets because we really want to pursue the mission to be ambassadorial. We want to represent Alberta art and culture. We are producing our work; we are not just replicating the work of other people.”
As for the classic themes of Giselle, they are both timely and timeless, Ventriglia says.
“It’s talking about love, of course, but equally it’s talking about betrayal,” he says.
“Everyone usually reacts with a sense of revenge. But what Giselle is telling us is that revenge is not important, and forgiveness is more powerful. The fact that she forgives him and saves his life in the second act (despite) the betrayal, I think, is one of the most powerful human emotions. We can be better people than to seek revenge when someone hurts us. We can elevate ourselves into better feelings, better emotions and be less toxic within ourselves in hating others. It’s love no matter what. Love is not just about two people in a relationship; it’s about how we approach life and the type of human being you want to be.”
Alberta Ballet’s Giselle will be performed at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 19 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. It will be performed at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 24 and Friday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 26, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Visit albertaballet.com .