Giselle:
The ballet Giselle tells the story of Giselle, a young beautiful peasant girl. Her beauty enchants a nobleman named Count Albrecht. Albrecht, in love with Giselle, decides to disguise himself as a peasant in order to court Giselle. Giselle, unaware of his noble birth, falls in love with him. Her whole world is shattered when she finds out that Albrecht betrayed her. In her anger and heartbreak, Giselle tragically dies. After her death, Giselle and her minions (also known as the wilis) are resurrected from the grave where they seek to avenge Giselle’s death by killing Count Albrecht. The dancing is full of passion, technique, and varies from quick upbeat footwork to slow penches and Développé.
La Bayadère:
La Bayadère, which is set in India, is the story of two secret lovers, Nikiya and Solor, who promise to love each other for eternity. This proves to be more difficult than they thought, when an evil priest falls in love with Nikiya and Solor is betrothed to the Rajah’s daughter. As the ballet goes on, more obstacles face Nikiya and Solor as they slowly get pulled apart, being beautifully represented as the costumes fade in vibrancy.They start with bright oranges,pinks and reds, and end with everyone wearing white. La Bayadère contains some of the hardest female variations of any ballet. The complex jumping, turning and pointe work sequences on top of the story make the ballet even more compelling to watch.
Romeo and Juliet:
Romeo and Juliet is based on Shakespeare’s tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. It is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking ballets. Although Romeo and Juliet may be an overtold story in cinema, the ballet shows a new and interesting take on the story. Many of Romeo and Juliet’s scenes together are pau de deuxs, and contain super interesting and complex lifts including the candle stick lift. Alongside Romeo and Juliet’s scenes, much of the ballet features Romeo and Juliet’s families with interesting scenes of sword fighting, horses, and large galas. Romeo and Juliet is action packed, beautiful, and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Coppelia:
Coppelia is one of the stranger and more light hearted ballets on the list. Coppelia is the name of a life sized doll made by the odd and eccentric Dr. Coppelius. Franz, a local villager, falls in love with Coppelia the doll. Franz’s fiance, Swanhilda, sees Coppelia from the window of Dr. Coppelius’s house. Suspicious of what’s actually going on, she goes to investigate Dr. Coppelius’s house. After finding out the truth, Swanhida decides to teach the Dr. a lesson. The dancing is comedic, upbeat, and engaging throughout the ballet.
Don Quixote:
Don Quixote takes place in ancient Barcelona. Don Quixote, after a vivid dream, believes that he is a knight who must save the woman of his dreams. Kitri is forbidden from marrying the love of her life, Basilio the barber, by her father. Don Quixote, believing that Kitri is the woman of his dreams, decides to help Kitri and Bastilio escape from Kitri’s father and get married. The story is fast paced and contains many twists and turns. The dancing is big and high energy. Many of Kitri’s variations include big jumps, energetic music, and include fun and bright costumes.
