Memorize these and you could recognize 34.2% of all Ballet clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swan Lake | 21 | The cast of this ballet includes 1 evil magician, several hunters & a gaggle of cygnets |
| 2 | The Sleeping Beauty | 17 | This ballet boasts giant rats, a lilac fairy & the dreaded spindle |
| 3 | The Nutcracker | 16 | Tchaikovsky's last ballet, it wasn't presented in U.S. until 1940, 48 years after its Russian premiere |
| 4 | Rodeo | 15 | Anges de Mille's 1942 ballet about a ranch full of rip-roarin' raucous ropers & wranglers |
| 5 | Nijinsky | 15 | The erotic ending of this great dancer's 1912 ballet "L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune" created a scandal |
| 6 | The Firebird | 14 | In Stravinsky's ballet this title bird has strange powers & magic feathers |
| 7 | Cinderella | 11 | In Nureyev's 1987 version of this ballet, Prince Charming is a movie star & the fairy godmother a producer |
| 8 | Billy the Kid | 9 | Even though guys who don't dance like this ballet in which Pat Garrett shoots the title character |
| 9 | Anna Pavlova | 9 | The only ballet this great Russian ballerina choreographed was "Autumn Leaves" in 1918 |
| 10 | Don Quixote | 8 | At the end of 1 version of this ballet, he sets off with Sancho, but in another he just dies |
| 11 | Mikhail Baryshnikov | 8 | Twyla Tharp's "Push Comes to Shove" was one of the first American works created for this Russian star |
| 12 | Jerome Robbins | 7 | In this "West Side Story" choreographer's first ballet, "Fancy Free", the women didn't wear toe shoes |
| 13 | Maria Tallchief | 7 | This ballerina who originated the role of the Coquette in "La Sonnambula" in 1946 is part Osage Indian |
| 14 | The Rite of Spring | 7 | The 1st performance of this Stravinsky ballet about human sacrifice caused a near riot in Paris |
| 15 | Petrushka | 6 | When this ballet set in Russia premiered in 1911, Nijinsky played the title puppet |
| 16 | Agnes de Mille | 6 | This niece of a film director choreographed "3 Virgins & a Devil" & played the priggish one herself |
| 17 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | 6 | Helena & Hermia are characters in "The Dream", a ballet based on this Shakespearean play |
| 18 | the Bolshoi | 6 | In the 1960s Maya Plisetskaya succeeded Galina Ulanova as prima ballerina of this company |
| 19 | Tchaikovsky | 6 | This Russian composer's favorite of his own ballets was "The Sleeping Beauty" |
| 20 | Romeo and Juliet | 6 | Antony Tudor choreographed a new version of this ballet in 1943 & danced the role of Tybalt himself |
| 21 | Sergei Diaghilev | 6 | Early 20th c. impresario who presented Russian art & opera before he stunned Europe with his ballets |
| 22 | George Balanchine | 6 | He was born Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze |
| 23 | Rudolf Nureyev | 6 | In 1989 this Soviet-born dancer resigned as dance director of the Paris Opera Ballet |
| 24 | Lizzie Borden | 5 | While this alleged axe wielder was acquitted in real life, she's hanged in "Fall River Legend" |
| 25 | Giselle | 5 | This immortal 19th c. ballet tells the story of Albrecht's beloved, who still dances after her death |
| 26 | the Royal Ballet | 4 | In the 1930s this company was known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet but now it's called this |
| 27 | The Beach Boys | 4 | "Deuce Coupe" by Twyla Tharp features the music of this band, including its "Little Deuce Coupe" |
| 28 | Carmen | 4 | Renee "Zizi" Jeanmaire danced the title role in Roland Petit's 1949 ballet version of this Bizet opera |
| 29 | Anastasia | 4 | In Kenneth MacMillan's ballet named for her, this grand duchess survives the Russian revolution |
| 30 | the New York City Ballet | 4 | Denmark's Peter Martins danced with this U.S. company & succeeded Geo. Balanchine as its director |
| 31 | Prokofiev | 4 | Eliot Feld's ballet "Harbinger" features music by this "Peter and the Wolf" composer |
| 32 | Picasso | 4 | This Cubist did set designs for 1917's "Parade" & had designs on its ballerina Olga Khoklova, later his wife |
| 33 | a doll | 4 | In "Coppelia", Swanilda pretends to be a mechanical one of these come to life |
| 34 | a pirouette | 4 | When I tried to do one of these turns of the body on one foot, I crashed into the choreographer |
| 35 | Margot Fonteyn | 4 | This British-born ballerina danced until 1979, when she was 60 years old |
| 36 | the corps de ballet | 3 | The group of dancers in a ballet troupe who perform as an ensemble |
| 37 | Quasimodo | 3 | In "La Esmeralda", this bell ringer saves the heroine from being murdered |
| 38 | Othello | 3 | Jose Limon played this Shakespearean role in his own modern ballet "The Moor's Pavane" |
| 39 | Moscow | 3 | Maya Plisetskaya of the Bolshoi Ballet was born in this city, the home of the Bolshoi |
| 40 | Louis XIV | 3 | This 17th century French "Sun King" confirmed his nickname by dancing as the sun in a ballet |
| 41 | Cleopatra | 3 | In a Michel Fokine ballet, this Egyptian queen enters swathed like a mummy, then is slowly unwrapped |
| 42 | Bizet | 3 | "Symphony in C" is performed to music written by this "Carmen" composer when he was just 17 |
| 43 | the Swan | 3 | First performed in 1905, this very short solo ballet depicts the last minutes in the life of a bird |
| 44 | the Kirov | 3 | Natalia Makarova was on tour with this Leningrad company when she defected to the West in 1970 |
| 45 | Ludwig van Beethoven | 3 | In 1999 Ballet Pacifica premiered "Moonlight", performed to a sonata by this composer |
| 46 | Chopin | 3 | The ballet "Les Sylphides" is danced to music by this Polish-French composer |
| 47 | an arabesque | 3 | The name of this ballet position is a French word derived from Italian for "in Arabian Fashion" |
| 48 | Afternoon of a Faun | 3 | Known for its prelude, this ballet features 1 faun & 7 optional nymphs |
| 49 | the pas de deux | 3 | In 1841 Fanny Cerrito & Arthur Saint-Léon performed a single one of these French-named dances for 2; in 1845 they married |
| 50 | Witness | 2 | Alexander Godunov made his acting debut as an Amish farmer in this Harrison Ford film |