The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet with music by Tchaikovsky. The original version of the ballet was created and staged by the great Russian choreographer Marius Pepita in December 1892, however The Nutcracker has been performed many times, choreographed by ballet greats such as Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The ballet is usually performed around Christmas according to the theme of the story. The story centers on a girl, Clara, whose godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, makes toys with magical qualities. Clara dreams that her toys come to life and ballet is an interpretation of her fantastic dream.
The ballet Swan Lake premiered in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater in February 1877. With the music of Tchaikovsky, the story tells the young Prince Franz who falls in love with Odette, a princess who is under the spell of an evil wizard . Odette can only take her human form at night, during the day she turns into a swan. This spell can only be broken with the love of a virgin prince. The ballet is a romantic tragedy, but the ending in which the couple is reunited in the afterlife is moving and uplifting. The version of Swan Lake represented in Saint Petersburg in 1895 by Marius Pepita and Lev Ivanov is considered the definitive version.
The Sleeping Beauty ballet is a classic ballet based on the beloved fairy tale of a princess who sleeps for 100 years after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Sleeping Beauty with music by Tchaikovsky premiered in Saint Petersburg on December 18, 1892. It was choreographed by Marius Pepita, famous for his contribution to 19th century ballet.
Sergei Prokofiev provided the music for the ballet adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story of young lovers born to families at war is a well-known classic. The ballet has been performed many times with definitive versions choreographed by John Cranko in 1962 for the Stuttgart Ballet and Kenneth MacMillan’s impressive performance of 1965 for the Royal Ballet in London.
Copplia is a quirky and comical ballet that premiered in Paris at the Teatro Imperial de l’Opera in May 1870. With music by Lo Delibes, the story revolves around a young wedding couple named Franz and Swanhilda. Franz falls in love with Copplia, a young beauty who spends the day sitting on her balcony reading but not speaking. Swanhilda discovers that Copplia is just a doll made by an eccentric toy maker and disguises herself as Copplia in order to win back her fiancé’s love.
The much-loved Cinderella fairy tale provides the plot for the ballet of the same name and is set to music by Sergei Prokofiev. Cinderella premiered in November 1945 at the Bolshoi Theater with the choreography by Rostislav Zakharov. A well-regarded rendition of Cinderella is Sir Frederick Ashton’s 1948 version.
