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What makes a ballet a classic? The choreography, the music, the libretto, the design -- all these elements come together to make a work that is so perfect, so moving, or perhaps so provocative, that it lasts in performance or, because ballet is so dependent on the accidents of history, in legend.
In this section, you'll find information on the great ballets of the 19th and 20th century -- and soon, we hope of the 21st century! We'll give you the history of the ballet, how it came to be, details on its first production, and comments on how the work has changed over the years.
The great ballets of the Romantic era in early 19th century Paris: Giselle, Coppelia
The ballets of August Bournonville, mid- and late-19th century Copenhagen: La Sylphide, Napoli, A Folk Tale, The Kermesse in Bruges, The Kings Volunteers on Amager, Konservatoriet, and Far From Denmark
The grand ballets of Marius Petipa, the Frenchman who worked in St. Petersburg in the late 19th century: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Raymonda, La Bayadere, Corsaire. And another late 19th century ballet, originally by Lev Ivanov, The Nutcracker.
Ballets of Mikhail Fokine, Leonid Massine, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor
21st century ballets