MUSIC / DANCE : ‘Giselle’: The Essence of Romantic Ballet

Making its first United States tour in 14 years, the Australian Ballet is bringing a mix of classical and modern works to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa from Thursday, Aug. 9, through Sunday, Aug. 12.

First up are performances of the full-length ballet “Giselle,” along with a new work, “Catalyst,” by Australian choreographer Stephen Baynes, Thursday and Friday.

The engagement will conclude with a program of mixed repertory on Saturday and Sunday.

Different casts will be seen on each occasion.

Regarded as the essence of the Romantic ballet movement, “Giselle” tells the story of a young girl who dies of a broken heart after learning that the man courting her is engaged to someone else.

In the famous second (or “white”) act, in which the corps of women appears in white tutus, the spirit of Giselle saves the life of the man (Albrecht) who deceived her when he is threatened by an avenging band of Wilis, or spirits of women jilted by their lovers.

Music for the ballet is by French composer Adolphe Adam, known also for writing “Cantique de Noel” (O Holy Night).

Anna de Cardi will dance the title role of “Giselle” on Thursday at 8 p.m. David McAllister will be her Albrecht. Mark Brinkley will be Hilarion; Michele Goullet will dance Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis. The Peasant pas de deux in Act I will be danced by Linda Ridgway and Stephen Woodgate.

Miranda Coney and David Ashmole take over the roles of Giselle and Albrecht, respectively, at 8 p.m on Friday. Steven Heathcote will be Hilarion. The dancer for Myrtha will be announced. De Cardi and Andrew Obst will dance the Peasant pas de deux.

Baynes’ “Catalyst,” which is set to Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, also will be danced on both programs.

The company will turn to a mixed repertory program consisting of three works at 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The ballets will be:

* Serge Lifar’s “Suite en blanc,” a neoclassical showpiece created in 1943 for the Paris Opera Ballet and set to Lalo’s music for the ballet “Namouna.”

* Jiri Kylian’s “Return to the Strange Land,” an elegiac series of pas de deux and pas de trois set to Janacek piano pieces. (Kylian’s solemn and cathartic “Forgotten Land,” to music by Britten, was danced by the San Francisco Ballet at the Center in October, 1989.)

* David Lichine’s “Graduation Ball,” a comic one-act work in which the young girls of a Viennese boarding school hold a party to entertain the cadets of the nearby military academy. There are several divertissements and a secret romance, all to the music of Johann Strauss.

The conductor at all performances will be John Lanchbery, who was music director for American Ballet Theatre in the late 1970s.

What: The Australian Ballet

When: Thursday, Aug. 9, though Sunday, Aug. 12.

Where: The Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: One block east of South Coast Plaza shopping center.

Wherewithal: $14 to $47.

Where to Call: (714) 556-2787.