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Classical Dance

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Classical Dance

This page is basically about ballet. For other forms of dance, see Popular Dance.

Ballets (etc.)

Ballet from which The Dying Swan comes Click to show or hide the answer

Ballet for Martha: subtitle of (ballet by Aaron Copland) Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet with music by Délibes, about a dancing doll that comes to life; sometimes subtitled The Girl with the Enamel Eyes Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Khachaturian: includes the Sabre Dance Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Adolphe Adam, inspired by a poem by Heinrich Heine: leading man Albrecht is forced to dance to death, but the eponymous heroine returns from the grave to save him (she goes mad and dies when she discovers that he was not a peasant like her, but a duke engaged to another …) Click to show or hide the answer
The toymaker Drosselmeyer is a central character in Click to show or hide the answer
Includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Dance of the Reed Flutes, and the Waltz of the Flowers, as well as Russian, Arabian and Chinese dances
Ballet by Stravinsky: title character is the Russian version or equivalent of Mr. Punch Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Stravinsky: in Part II, a young girl dances herself to death after being chosen as a sacrificial victim; caused a sensation when first performed, in Paris in 1913; the music is often performed as a concert piece Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Tchaikovsky in which Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella appear; opens with King Florestan declaring a grand christening ceremony for his daughter Princess Aurora Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Khatchaturian – Onedin Line theme came from Click to show or hide the answer
Tells the story of Odette, a princess who falls victim to the curse of an evil sorcerer Click to show or hide the answer
Has no plot, but is often described as the first ballet to be "simply about mood and dance"; based on piano music by Chopin, orchestrated by Glazunov, with original choreography by Michel Fokine; a short version was premiered in 1893, but the most famous version was premiered in Paris in 1909 by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Click to show or hide the answer
Ballet by Delibes (with a famous pizzicato piece) over which Diaghilev resigned from the Maryinski Theatre Click to show or hide the answer

Train about which Nijinska choreographed a ballet in 1924 Click to show or hide the answer

People

Composers

The Wooden Prince, The Miraculous Mandarin (pantomime ballet) Click to show or hide the answer
Checkmates (1937), Adam Zero (1946) Click to show or hide the answer
Les Sylphides (see above) is set to orchestral arrangements of the piano music of Click to show or hide the answer
Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944 – originally an orchestral score) Click to show or hide the answer
Jeux (1912) Click to show or hide the answer
Love the Musician (1915), The Three–Cornered Hat (1919) Click to show or hide the answer
Coppelia (1870), Sylvia (1876) Click to show or hide the answer
Panambi (1937) Click to show or hide the answer
The Red Poppy (Moscow 1927) Click to show or hide the answer
Terpsichore (1734) Click to show or hide the answer
Gayaneh (1942), Spartacus (1954) Click to show or hide the answer
Ocean's Kingdom (2011 – commissioned by the New York City Ballet) Click to show or hide the answer
Les Biches (1923) Click to show or hide the answer
Romeo and Juliet (1935) – the famous piece that later became known as Montagues and Capulets, the main part of which is known as the Dance of the Knights, opens Suite No. 2 Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Daphnis et Chloe (1912) Click to show or hide the answer
The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), The Rite of Spring (1913) Click to show or hide the answer
Swan Lake (1876), Sleeping Beauty (1889), The Nutcracker (1892) Click to show or hide the answer

Dancers and choreographers

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1973: the first Principal Dancer at the Royal Ballet to have African heritage (joined in 1998, left in 2015) Click to show or hide the answer
'Founder choreographer' of the Royal Ballet (1956) Click to show or hide the answer
Engaged in 1925 by Lilian Baylis, owner of the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres, to stage dance performances; founder of the Vic–Wells Ballet (1931), which was renamed Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1939 and later (1956) became the Royal Ballet; first recipient (1953) of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award (for outstanding services to the art of ballet) Click to show or hide the answer
Russian impresario, founder of the Ballets Russes (1909); commissioned The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring from Stravinsky Click to show or hide the answer
Dancer and choreographer, 1904–83, real name (Sydney Francis) Patrick (Chippendall Healey–)Kay: co–founder (with Alicia Markova) of the London Festival Ballet, 1950, which was renamed the English National Ballet in 1989 Click to show or hide the answer
Russian dancer, choreographed Les Sylphides, The Firebird and Petrushka (among others) for Diaghilev Click to show or hide the answer
Director of the Royal Ballet, 1970–77; died backstage at a performance of his Mayerling, at Covent Garden in 1992 Click to show or hide the answer
Born London 1910, died in 2004: the first English dancer to be termed Prima Ballerina Assoluta; co–founder (with Anton Dolin) of the London Festival Ballet, 1950, which was renamed the English National Ballet in 1989 Click to show or hide the answer
Soviet dancer, widely regarded as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation: defected to the West in Paris, in 1961, while on tour with the Mariinsky ballet; Principal Dancer at the Royal Ballet, 1962–70; formed a successful and long–lasting partnership with Margot Fonteyn; played the title role in Ken Russell's 1977 film Valentino; died in Paris in 1993, aged 54, of an AIDS–related condition Click to show or hide the answer
Russian dancer, 1881–1931: recognised as the creator of The Dying Swan (choreographed by Mikhail Fokine in 1905, to music from Saint–Saens's Carnival of the Animals); a dessert was created in her honour in Wellington, during a tour of New Zealand and Australia in the 1920s Click to show or hide the answer
Born Warsaw, 1888; collaborated with Diaghilev, 1912–3; founded Britain's first ballet company in 1926 – still "one of the world's most renowned dance companies" (Wikipedia) in 2022; died in 1982 Click to show or hide the answer

Other

Standing on one leg, with the other extended straight out behind the body Click to show or hide the answer
Standing on one leg, with the other extended in front, to the rear or to the side, but with the knee bent at 90° Click to show or hide the answer
Standing on one leg and moving the other (often rapidly) to the front, rear or side Click to show or hide the answer
Supporting the weight on the balls of the feet Click to show or hide the answer
Supporting the weight on the tips of the toes (usually while wearing specially reinforced shoes) Click to show or hide the answer
Jumping into the air, rapidly crossing the legs before and behind each other Click to show or hide the answer
Jumping from one foot to the other, throwing one leg in the direction of the movement Click to show or hide the answer
Duet, usually performed by one male dancer and one female Click to show or hide the answer
A smooth and continuous bending of the knees outward, with the upper body held upright Click to show or hide the answer
Hip–height rail used in ballet practice Click to show or hide the answer
Non–featured dancers in a ballet Click to show or hide the answer
Company founded in 1968 by Arthur Mitchell Click to show or hide the answer
Originated as a French folk dance; became popular at the court of Louis XIV Click to show or hide the answer
Maryinski School: better known as Click to show or hide the answer
Heroine of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Click to show or hide the answer
Petrushka (Stravinsky): title character is a Click to show or hide the answer
Former name of the Royal Ballet Click to show or hide the answer
Dancers in Stravinsky's Circus Polka, in Balanchine's circus ballet Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2017–22