Arthur Mitchell’s Creole Giselle performed by the Dance Theatre Of Harlem (DTH), and set the traditional story of Giselle in 1841 Louisiana broke barriers with this all African American adaptation.
In DTH’s version, the setting is updated from medieval Germany and a world of Brother’s Grimm-like supernatural imagery, to the bayous of Louisiana and its own rich history of storytelling.
Virginia Johnson in Creole Giselle
Giselle Lanaux faces the same social obstacles and rejection by Albert Monet- Cloutier. The social hierarchy of freed blacks was measured by how far removed one’s family was from slavery. The community’s “aristocrats” looked down on those whose immediate family had been enslaved.
Giselle’s Mad Scene- Virginia Johnson
Not only did they break barriers in the dance world, they also did so outside of the dance community.
Virginia Johnson & Eddie J. Shellman in Giselle Act II