What are the World-Famous Classic Ballets Performances?

Through the elegant movements and the complementing orchestra music, classical ballet communicates a deep, romantic and captivating story to the audience. Ballet is widely known for their unique styles like dances involving high extensions. It has been traced back to the 16^th century where the Italian Renaissance moved to France and where ballet performances were held at court. Moving on to the 17^th century, ballet gained momentum to be known as a professional art.

Below are a few classical ballets that have similarities in style, clothing and arrangements. They share the classical structure of choreography, music, and positions like dancers who dance en pointe.

Cinderella

Cinderella features a girl who through her compassionate acts eventually finds love. This story is written by Charles Perrault who was a French narrator. Many renditions of this story have been told; one famous renditions include the Russian ballet which was arranged by Sergei Prokofiev in 1940.

Coppélia

Coppélia features a Doctor Coppelius who invented a full-sized dancing figurine that the village eventually becomes obsessed with. This story is told through the dance choreography of Arthur Saint-Léon. The ballet was first done at the Paris Opera during 1870 to an appointed music score by Léo Délibes.

Don Quixote

Don Quixote is grounded on the grand masterwork of Miguel de Cervantes. This ballet tells a fiery tale story of a hero who loses his sanity from reading too many romantic stories. Consequently, he does not see the reality of the world, but sees it through the lens of a knight. He believes that every knight story is true and has the desire the revitalise that age of chivalry.

The ballet was first done in Moscow during 1869. Marius Petipa composed the dance with the music from Ludwig Minkus. Later, this story was transported from Russia to other countries by a Anna Pavlova’s company.

Giselle

Giselle was a ballet performed by Ballet du Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris. It tells the story of a woman who was known as the best dancer and most beautiful person in the village. She eventually dies after finding out that her lover was engaged to someone else. Later, a group of women with supernatural abilities, The Wilis, summoned her from the grave. Although they wanted to kill her lover, Giselle’s love for him eventually preserved his life.

The ballet consisted of both mime and dancing. It is also known for the dancing steps like turning, leaping, posing, gliding, hopping and more.

Romeo and Juliet

The most famous love story of all time – Romeo and Juliet, is written by Shakespeare. It involves a young woman – Juliet and her beloved – Romeo. Both of them are from opposing families who hated each other. Juliet promised to love Romeo despite her family’s hatred for his house. They then got married secretly. However, Juliet’s father intended for her to marry Paris in three days. Following which, Friar Lawrence, who conducted their marriage, gave her a potion that would make her dead temporarily. However, Friar Lawrence message that Juliet is temporarily dead never reaches Romeo, and Romeo then takes his own life. Tragically, Juliet eventually does the same upon realising that Romeo is dead.

The story was told through a choreography composed with a dramatic ballet. It was first performed in Czech Republic in 1938.

Interested in Ballet?

If these stories have sparked an interest in you to cultivate the skills required for ballet, you can always look for a ballet school in Singapore with professional teachers to help to learn the art of ballet. Here at Young Dancers Academy, we specialize in offering

Here at Young Dancers Academy, we specialize in offering ballet classes for children. We seek to create a safe environment for children to enjoy learning ballet and to excel in it.