7 Ballets You Should See

There are so many ways to tell a story. Some of which, do not even involve talking. Performing and telling a story are two super awesome parts of dance, especially ballet. There may not be speaking and singing, but ballets are so graceful and their own ways of telling stories. Through ballet, you can watch these stories come to life. But with so many ballets out there, it can be hard to pick one to watch. We got you covered. We reached out to our incredible dance community and asked, what’s your favorite ballet? Here’s what they had to say:

1. Swan Lake

“Tchaikovsky’s magical ballet tells the story of the doomed love of Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette. Prince Siegfried goes out hunting one night and chases a group of swans – one of them transforms into a young woman, Odette, who explains that she and her companions were turned into swans by the evil Baron Von Rothbart. The spell can only be broken if someone who has never loved before swears an oath of undying love and promises to marry her.”(https://www.classicfm.com/composers/tchaikovsky/music/swan-lake/) 

2. Don Quixote 

“Don Quixote is in his study, engrossed in a book about ancient chivalry. He falls asleep and dreams that he is a knight defending his ideal woman, Dulcinea. While he sleeps, Sancho Panza bursts through the door. The gluttonous Sancho has stolen a ham, and a group of exasperated housewives is pursuing him. Startled by the commotion, Don Quixote turns the angry women out of the room. An idea then comes to him: He will make Sancho his squire, and together they will set out on an adventure to defend virtue and punish those who don’t uphold the code of chivalry.”(https://sfballet.blog/2018/the-story-of-don-quixote/) 

3. Sleeping Beauty

“Once upon a time in a faraway land, a princess named Aurora was born.... All the fairies of the kingdom are invited and...each bestow their gifts on the princess. [Before the last fairy can bestow her gift], the Fairy of Darkness appears….She had been forgotten but has something for the baby: a curse. One day Aurora will prick her finger on a spindle and die. The [last fairy] has yet to make her offering. The benevolent Fairy cannot remove the Fairy of Darkness’ curse, but she can soften it…. [Instead], Aurora...will fall into a deep sleep for one hundred years and be awakened by a prince’s kiss.”(https://sfballet.blog/2019/the-story-of-the-sleeping-beauty/) 

4. Giselle

“[This] ghost-filled ballet tells the tragic, romantic story of a beautiful young peasant girl who falls for the flirtations of the deceitful and disguised nobleman Albrecht. When the ruse is revealed, the fragile Giselle dies of heartbreak, and Albrecht must face the otherworldly consequences of his careless seduction.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giselle) 

5. La Esmeralda 

“The beautiful Romani girl Esmeralda marries the poet Pierre Gringoire, to save him from death in the hands of the Romani king. The groom is smitten with his new bride, but she makes it clear that the marriage is strictly one of convenience. Gringoire is not the only one infatuated with Esmeralda, the archdeacon of Notre Dame cathedral, Claude Frollo, is dangerously obsessed with the girl and orders his deformed henchman, Quasimodo, to abduct her.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Esmeralda_(ballet)) 

6. Flames of Paris

“The peasant Gaspard and his children, Jeanne and Pierre, are gathering firewood. When a Count and his hunting party arrive, the peasants disperse, but Jeanne attracts the attention of the Count, who attempts to embrace her. When her father intervenes, he is beaten up by the Count's servant and taken away. Next, in the city square in Marseilles, Jeanne tells the people what has happened to her father and the people's indignation over the injustices of the aristocracy grows. They storm the prison and free the prisoners of the Marquis de Beauregard. At the court of Versailles a performance of the court theatre is followed by a lush banquet. The officials of the court present a formal petition to the king, requesting permission to deal with the unruly revolutionaries.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flames_of_Paris) 

7. Coppélia 

“Dr. Coppélius is a doctor who has made a life-size dancing doll. It is so lifelike that Franz, a village youth, becomes infatuated with it and sets aside his heart's true desire, Swanhilda. She shows him his folly by dressing as the doll, pretending to make it come to life and ultimately saving him from an untimely end at the hands of the inventor.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copp%C3%A9lia) 

All of those ballets are truly amazing. There is such awesome storytelling and incredible dancers too. What other ballets would you recommend? Also, thank you to our stunning dance community for contributing to this article:

@dancer.roby

@haydendancer

@sienna_tinydancerslife

@lillerinaballerina

@balletkittylilyrose

@shianne.berger

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By: AJ (Intern)