Ballet

Ballet Essentials

From Tchaikovsky to Stravinsky — ballet's defining works

6 selections · Stage Door Society Editorial

Swan Lake for the tradition. The Nutcracker for the joy. Giselle for the heartbreak. The Firebird for the revelation that ballet could be this modern, this savage, this new.

Ballet

Swan Lake

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1877

A cursed princess transformed into a white swan by an evil sorcerer can only regain her human form at night. When a noble prince falls passionately in love with her, he vows to break the enchantment—but the sorcerer's seductive daughter, disguised as the swan princess, threatens to destroy their love and seal the curse forever. This timeless tale of devotion, deception, and transcendent beauty remains ballet's most beloved masterpiece.

Ballet

Giselle

Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot · 1841

A peasant girl named Giselle falls passionately in love with a mysterious young man who is revealed to be a nobleman already betrothed to a princess. Devastated by this deception and her fragile heart giving way, Giselle dies of heartbreak. In Act II, her spirit joins the ethereal Wilis—vengeful ghosts of jilted maidens—who seek to destroy her faithless lover through an eternal dance of supernatural seduction and doom.

Ballet

The Nutcracker

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1892

On Christmas Eve, young Clara receives a mysterious wooden Nutcracker from her eccentric godfather Drosselmeyer. When the doll comes to life and battles the sinister Mouse King, Clara is transported into an enchanted realm of snow, flowers, and exotic delights. In the magical Land of Sweets, the Nutcracker is revealed as a handsome prince, and Clara is welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy in a celebration of wonder and transformation.

Ballet

Romeo and Juliet

Sergei Prokofiev · 1938

Prokofiev's sweeping dramatic ballet transforms Shakespeare's timeless tragedy into a visceral dance narrative of star-crossed love. Two young dancers from feuding families discover passion amid the violent rivalries of Verona, their romance flowering in stolen moments before fate's cruel intervention. The ballet captures both the lyrical tenderness of their devotion and the brutal spectacle of Renaissance vendetta, culminating in a devastating final tableau.

Ballet

The Sleeping Beauty

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1890

Ballet

The Firebird

Igor Stravinsky · 1910

A young prince encounters a magical firebird whose enchanted feather helps him rescue a princess from a sorcerer's curse.

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