5-9 Nov 2008. In Giselle, choreography by Nikita Dolgushin from Coralli/ Pierrot/Petipa. The historic Russian theatre is celebrating its 175th anniversary and to mark the occasion the recently revamped opera and ballet theatre is taking its ballet company on a European tour with a reworking of the ballet Giselle by Dolgushin, a renowned choreographer and former dance star who first danced the leading role in 1959. At a press conference Dolgushin explained that this is the oldest ballet for which the original choreographic text is preserved, adding that, although the version has undergone a number of changes, he has aimed to preserve the romantic structure of the original.