La Sylphide

The Czech National Ballet in Prague will stage an adaptation of the ballet La Sylphide by Johan Kobborg, a Bournonville connoisseur.

The ballet tells the story of James, a young Scotsman, whose mind is riven. Possessing a restless soul, although he adores Effie, his tender bride-to-be, he longs for a different world, with his visions transcending earthly life. Is it appropriate to dream of sylphs on one’s wedding day? James is duly approached by a sylph, an ungraspable symbol of his desires, who lures him to the forest. Yet a sylph cannot be caught – whenever James stretches out his arm to touch her, she escapes. And when he finally embraces her, she dies. Sylphs cannot live and love like humans …