On Friday, the demanding roles of Giselle (the village girl) and Albert (the amorous duke) were danced with tremendous passion by Leslie Rauch and James Kirby Roberts. But since Giselle is one of the great classical works featuring the strength, grace, and precision of the corps de ballet, PNB's dancers were the collective stars of the show, and their performance on opening night was thrilling and unforgettable.

In the first act, the corps de ballet perform a delightful waltz: 12 couples dancing like an army of lovers whose cheerful skipping steps infuse the story with joy and foreshadow the tragedy to come. In the second act, the 16 wilis — phantoms of brides who died before their wedding day — enter the stage in arabesque pose, each one hopping on a single foot, forming a ghostly cloud that caused the audience to burst into applause. As the story progresses, the wilis use the sinuous, fluid movement of their arms to weave spells that cause men who enter the forest to dance until they die. Giselle manages to save Albert, her repentant lover, from the Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis (danced with relentless precision by Elle Macy).

This romantic ballet was created by Jean Corralli and Jules Perrot in 1841, adapted by the famed Marius Petipa in 1884, and first presented in this version by PNB's own Peter Boal in 2014. The music has been equally transformed from the original score by Adolphe Adam by adapters including Bergmüller, Drigo, and Minkus. Yet the music — wonderfully performed by the PNB orchestra and conductor Emil de Cou — seems to be as seamless as if it came from the mind of a single composer.

Another pleasant surprise on Friday night was the lobby window display in McCaw Hall, now sporting life-sized photographs of every member of the dance company in spectacular, airborne poses. A fascinated a stream of patrons, myself included, walked slowly from one amazing photo after the other, studying how these powerful, elegant artists move their bodies.

The evening's program also contained fascinating new information that included drawings that explain classical ballet mime gestures, and program notes featuring the characters, costumes, and history of the story of Giselle, with photographs of each character in costume. These enrichments, together with preshow presentations and postshow conversations, add up to an informed and enthusiastic audience.

This was a wonderful way to begin the celebration year of PNB's 50th anniversary! Give yourself a valentine and see Giselle, performed at McCaw Hall through February 12, 2023.