A ballerina must practice for hundreds of hours in order to perfect her movements, much as a geneticist must create hundreds of abominations before perfecting a clone of his childhood cat. Try, try again with this deal.

The Deal

• One ticket to see Metropolitan Ballet’s Giselle
• When: Saturday, October 26, at 7:30 p.m. or Sunday, October 27, at 3 p.m.
• Where: Auditorium at Hopkins High School
• Door time: one hour before showtime
• Ticket values include all fees.

Seating Options

• $19 for the rear of the main floor (up to a $43 value)
• $29 for VIP seating in the front center of the main floor or balcony (up to a $64 value)

Giselle

One of the defining pieces of the 19th century ballet blanc tradition, Giselle mixes the beauty of classical ballet with the early Romantic period’s motifs of folk mythology, high emotion, and undying love. After a doomed affair with a disguised nobleman, the eponymous heroine flies into frantic madness and dies. Rising from the grave, she must fight against the influence of the Wilis, a group of vengeful spirits bent on killing her contrite paramour as he returns to her tombstone to beg forgiveness for his betrayal and take an etching for his book on rural stonework.

One of the most demanding roles in ballet, Giselle requires impeccable form and control from the leading dancer as she transitions from a naïve villager to an ethereally benevolent spirit. Dazzling choreography includes the second act’s opening, with Giselle and the Wilis floating on their toes through graceful spins and arabesques as they haunt the woods. The delicate score, written by composer Adolphe Adam tickles ears while setting the scene with glittering Germanic waltzes in the first act’s village dances and sinister woodwind trills during the Wilis’ nefarious dances.<p>

Metropolitan Ballet

Founded in 2002 by Erik Sanborn, a Minnesota native whose art has taken him to stages across 25 countries, the Metropolitan Ballet curates a company of skilled dancers, some with ties to such prestigious companies as the Bolshoi Ballet. The curriculum is grounded in the Vaganova method of ballet, which emphasizes a strong core and full-body perfection of movement. The company also stays busy with a full season of performances, with lavishly costumed dancers moving through dramatic stories that have ranged from Dracula to The Nutcracker.<p>