Stephen AâCourt The Royal New Zealand Ballet in rehearsal for Giselle, performed by Kadow and Albrecht is Joseph Skelton, right. Debuting in 1841 in Paris, Giselle tells the romantic-tragic story of a peasant girl who falls for a disguised stranger. When his identity is revealed as Count Albrecht, betrothed to another, the heartbroken titular character descends into madness and dies. Its second act is dominated by the “Wilis”: ghosts of women who died after being betrayed by their lovers. Stiefel and Kobborg’s re-imagining maintains the story’s essence while reinventing aspects: the ghosts, for example, have a strength versus frailty, while Albrecht is untraditionally remorseful.