Ballet Study Guide

General

92 answers | 402 clues

Must-Know (11)

Swan Lake 21x 14.3% stumper $719 avg J:4 DJ:17

DJ $5 DD 2017 In a ballet Odette's mother's tears produced this body of water

J $500 1989 Tchaikovsky wrote the music to 3 ballets: "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker" & this

J $1,200 DD 2011 Prince Siegfried finds romance is for the birds (like Odette) in this 19th century ballet

The Sleeping Beauty 17x 18.8% stumper $1,169 avg DJ:16 FJ:1

DJ $200 1996 Princess Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle in act one of this 1890 ballet

DJ $800 2016 One scene in this fairy tale ballet is called "The Awakening"

DJ $1,200 2007 Margot Fonteyn is seenhereresting her tootsies as Princess Aurora in this ballet

The Nutcracker 16x 20.0% stumper $513 avg J:4 DJ:11 FJ:1

J $200 2018 This ballet begins in Dr. Stahlbaum's house on Christmas Eve

J $500 DD 1987 Tchaikovsky's last ballet, it wasn't presented in U.S. until 1940, 48 years after its Russian premiere

DJ $2,000 2010 (Kelly of the Clue Crew reads from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.) The final pas de deux is one of the famous dances from this ballet; maybe it's fitting that its choreographer Lev Ivanov died on Christmas Eve when it's set

Rodeo 15x 35.7% stumper $1,350 avg J:1 DJ:13 FJ:1

DJ $400 1988 Anges de Mille's 1942 ballet about a ranch full of rip-roarin' raucous ropers & wranglers

J $600 2018 A cowgirl rides a bucking bronco in scene 1 of this Western ballet

DJ $1,000 1994 Scene 2 of this 1942 ballet features a pas de trois by a roper, a wrangler & a cowgirl

Nijinsky 15x 20.0% stumper $840 avg J:1 DJ:14

J $300 1989 Russian dancer who was the choreographer & star of the 1912 production of "The Afternoon of a Faun"

DJ $500 DD 1993 This great Russian dancer choreographed "Jeux" & "Le Sacre du Printemps" in the same year, 1913

DJ $1,000 1998 The erotic ending of this great dancer's 1912 ballet "L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune" created a scandal

The Firebird 14x 7.7% stumper $892 avg J:2 DJ:11 FJ:1

DJ $400 DD 2012 A young prince is saved by a magic feather in this 1910 Stravinsky ballet

J $600 2009 Facing the evil Kastchei, Prince Ivan summons this title creature with a red feather

J $1,000 2011 (Kelly of the Clue Crew is in a practice room at the Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York. A dancer is practicing in the background.) The Dance Theatre of Harlem has brought ballet around the world, including giving China's first performance of this 1...

Cinderella 11x 18.2% stumper $418 avg J:3 DJ:8

J $200 2003 One version of this ballet includes Crystal, the little glass slipper fairy

J $600 2009 It might be a drag, but I'll follow in the footsteps of Frederick Ashton & play one of the stepsisters in this classic

DJ $1,200 2014 A ball at the palace, after the ball &an enchanted garden

Anna Pavlova 10x 40.0% stumper $1,390 avg J:1 DJ:9

DJ $400 1990 The only ballet this great Russian ballerina choreographed was "Autumn Leaves" in 1918

J $500 1989 She starred in the silent film "The Dumb Girl of Portici" but was legendary as ballet's Dying Swan

DJ $1,000 1994 Born in 1881, this Russian ballerina was famous for her dragonfly solo as well as for "The Dying Swan"

Billy the Kid 9x 22.2% stumper $1,556 avg J:2 DJ:7

J $200 2009 This ballet concludes with Pat Garrett leading pioneers, marching west

J $600 2003 Pat Garrett is one of the roles in this ballet that features music by Aaron Copland

DJ $1,000 1998 The 1938 ballet named for this famous outlaw features a musical gun battle

Mikhail Baryshnikov 9x 11.1% stumper $678 avg J:2 DJ:7

DJ $400 2010 Nicknamed Misha, he was nominated for a 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a drama for "Metamorphosis"

DJ $800 1993 From 1980 until his resignation in 1989, he was artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre

J $1,000 2022 Not realizing he was fleeing from the KGB, autograph hounds chased this dancer as he ran out a Toronto stage door in 1974

Don Quixote 8x 12.5% stumper $550 avg J:1 DJ:7

DJ $200 1995 Part of Marius Pepita's ballet based on this novel is set at a gypsy camp near windmills

DJ $600 1988 At the end of 1 version of this ballet, he sets off with Sancho, but in another he just dies

DJ $1,000 DD 1998 In an 1869 Marius Petipa ballet he puts a metal basin on as a helmet & goes seeking adventure

Should-Know (24)

Jerome Robbins 7x 50.0% stumper $1,133 avg DJ:6 FJ:1

DJ $600 1993 In this "West Side Story" choreographer's first ballet, "Fancy Free", the women didn't wear toe shoes

DJ $1,000 2000 He choreographed "The Cage", a ballet about predatory female insects, 6 years before "West Side Story"

FJ 1999 Feeling the need for ballets about American life, this dancer choreographed his first ballet in 1944

Maria Tallchief 7x 14.3% stumper $1,257 avg DJ:7

DJ $800 2004 In 1980 Marjorie Tallchief helped this older sister found the Chicago City Ballet

DJ $1,000 1994 George Balanchine created many roles for this ballerina to whom he was married 1946-1952

DJ $800 1993 This ballerina who originated the role of the Coquette in "La Sonnambula" in 1946 is part Osage Indian

The Rite of Spring 7x $957 avg J:3 DJ:4

J $300 1989 Some critics hated this Nijinsky ballet so much they called it "Le Massacre du Printemps"

DJ $600 1996 The second part of this Stravinsky ballet is entitled "The Sacrifice"

J $1,000 2009 A maiden is chosen for a sacrifice, the title act of this 1913 ballet

George Balanchine 7x $843 avg J:2 DJ:5

DJ $200 1990 Diaghilev simplified this late choreographer's last name: originally, it was called Balanchivadze

J $800 2011 He left the USSR in 1924 & joined Diaghilev's co. in Paris, becoming its leading choreographer, by George

DJ $1,600 2010 (Jimmy of the Clue Crew reads from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.) The step battement tendu was highly valued by this legendary choreographer; he told his wife, Maria Tallchief, that if she'd do it properly she wouldn't have to learn anything else

Rudolf Nureyev 7x 14.3% stumper $771 avg DJ:7

DJ $400 1998 This late ballet star of Tartar ancestry was Margot Fonteyn's best-known partner

DJ $800 2004 His leaps earned comparisons with Nijinsky when he joined the Kirov Ballet in 1958

DJ $1,200 2010 Soon after defecting to the West on June 17, 1961, he began performing with the Ballet of Marquis de Cuevas

Petrushka 6x 66.7% stumper $1,433 avg DJ:6

DJ $800 1996 Margot Fonteyn danced the role of the ballerina in a 1957 revival of this Stravinsky ballet about a puppet

DJ $1,000 1993 In a famous Stravinsky ballet, this title character is in love with a ballerina puppet

DJ $800 1991 When this ballet set in Russia premiered in 1911, Nijinsky played the title puppet

Agnes de Mille 6x $667 avg DJ:6

DJ $200 1997 This niece of Cecil B. De Mille choreographed a ballet based on John Ford's classic film "The Informer"

DJ $600 1994 Mikhail Baryshnikov called her "the most American of all choreographers"

DJ $800 2012 Cecil B. De Mille's dancin' niece, she choreographed her last ballet, "The Other", in 1992 at age 86

A Midsummer Night's Dream 6x 16.7% stumper $633 avg J:2 DJ:4

DJ $400 2017 "The Dream" is a one-act ballet that uses Felix Mendelssohn's music & is based on this Shakespeare play

J $600 2024 George Balanchine choreographed this supernatural Shakespeare tale to the music of Felix Mendelssohn

DJ $1,200 2009 Balanchine's first original full-length ballet was an adaptation of this "dreamy" Shakespeare play

the Bolshoi 6x 16.7% stumper $400 avg J:1 DJ:5

J $400 2022 Choreographers like Alexander Gorsky have made this Moscow ballet co. that dates to 1776 one of the world's leading companies

DJ $400 2011 In the 1960s Galina Ulanova retired & Maya Plisetskaya became this company's prima ballerina

DJ $400 2005 In the 1940s & 1950s Galina Ulanova was the chief ballerina for this company formed almost 200 years earlier

Tchaikovsky 6x 16.7% stumper $933 avg DJ:6

DJ $200 1988 "Swan Lake" was originally such a failure that this composer planned to rewrite it, but he died 1st

DJ $800 2010 (Kelly of the Clue Crew reads from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.) A fouetté is a pirouette that lets the dancer regain momentum after each spin; the Black Swan does 32 in a row in a ballet by this composer

DJ $1,000 1997 This Russian composer's favorite of his own ballets was "The Sleeping Beauty"

Romeo and Juliet 6x $1,333 avg J:1 DJ:5

DJ $200 1994 The final scene of this ballet takes place in the Capulets' burial vault

DJ $600 1996 Originally, Prokofiev wanted this Shakespearean ballet to end with both lovers alive & dancing

DJ $5,000 DD 2022 M-m-m-my Verona! On February 9, 1965 Nureyev & Fonteyn danced this ever-doomed couple in London

Sergei Diaghilev 6x 33.3% stumper $967 avg DJ:6

DJ $800 1988 Early 20th c. impresario who presented Russian art & opera before he stunned Europe with his ballets

DJ $1,000 1999 The Ballets Russes was dissolved after the 1929 death of this great Russian impresario

DJ $1,000 1997 George Balanchine created 10 ballets for this impresario's Ballets Russes

Lizzie Borden 5x 20.0% stumper $640 avg J:2 DJ:3

J $400 2018 "Fall River Legend" is based on her real-life murder trial of the 1890s

J $1,000 2009 I'll watch out for the ax when I play the young pastor who comforts this accused heroine in "Fall River Legend"

DJ $400 2008 In the 1948 ballet "Fall River Legend", this character is hanged although in real life she was acquitted

Giselle 5x 40.0% stumper $1,600 avg DJ:5

DJ $800 1989 This immortal 19th c. ballet tells the story of Albrecht's beloved, who still dances after her death

DJ $1,200 2018 This title heroine isn't being courted by Tom Brady but by the incognito duke of Silesia

DJ $2,000 2022 Early in Act 2 in an Adolphe Adam classic ballet, Hilarion mourns at the grave of this title woman

Margot Fonteyn 5x 20.0% stumper $600 avg DJ:5

DJ $200 1995 Part of this British dame's stage name was an adaptation of her mother's maiden name, Fontes

DJ $600 1997 In 1958 this grande dame of British ballet was acclaimed for playing a water sprite in "Ondine"

DJ $800 1996 Michael Somes & this British ballerina starred in the 1951 version of "Daphnis and Chloe"

the Royal Ballet 4x 50.0% stumper $725 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 1988 In the 1930s this company was known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet but now it's called this

J $500 1984 Formerly England's Sadler's Wells Ballet

DJ $1,000 1992 Sir Frederick Ashton was principal choreographer of this British company 1935-70

The Beach Boys 4x $300 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $200 2000 "Deuce Coupe" is danced to "Little Deuce Coupe", "Catch A Wave" & other songs made famous by this group

DJ $200 1991 "Deuce Coupe" by Twyla Tharp features the music of this band, including its "Little Deuce Coupe"

J $400 2009 Twyla Tharp used the music of this group for the ballet "Deuce Coupe"

Carmen 4x $800 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2007 1949 saw the first ballet version of this operatic Bizet work that features Don Jose & a toreador

J $800 2022 Havana-born Alicia Alonsowas known for her sensual portrayal of the tragic title woman of the ballet based on this Bizet opera

DJ $1,200 2003 In a ballet based on Bizet's opera, this hussy of a heroine meets a violent end outside a bullring

Anastasia 4x 25.0% stumper $1,925 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1993 In a recent work 1 ballerina plays this Russian Grand Duchess & a woman who thinks she is the Grand Duchess

DJ $1,200 2025 The principal female role in the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" is his wife with this name, familiar in Russian history

DJ $1,500 DD 1991 In Kenneth MacMillan's ballet named for her, this grand duchess survives the Russian revolution

the New York City Ballet 4x 25.0% stumper $1,125 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $500 1994 Nilas Martins is a principal dancer with this ballet company; his father Peter is its ballet master-in-chief

DJ $1,000 1988 Denmark's Peter Martins danced with this U.S. company & succeeded Geo. Balanchine as its director

DJ $2,000 2004 This company's first season opened in 1948 with 3 Balanchine ballets

Prokofiev 4x 25.0% stumper $1,200 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1992 The ballet "A Tale of the Stone Flower" was this Peter & the Wolf composer's last major dance work

DJ $1,000 1996 "The Buffoon" was the first ballet by this "Peter and the Wolf" composer to be produced

DJ $2,000 2025 Scottish ballet's staging of this Russian's tale sometimes had a Princess Charming dancing off with a Cinderfella

Picasso 4x $425 avg J:3 DJ:1

J $200 2003 This Cubist did set designs for 1917's "Parade" & had designs on its ballerina Olga Khoklova, later his wife

DJ $800 2013 In 1919 this Spanish Cubist designed the scenery & costumes for the London premiere of "The Three-Cornered Hat"

J $300 1996 This Cubist designed the scenery for the 1919 ballet "The Three-Cornered Hat"

a doll 4x 25.0% stumper $850 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $400 1989 In "Coppelia", Swanilda pretends to be a mechanical one of these come to life

DJ $1,000 1991 In "Coppelia", Franz falls in love with Coppelia, not knowing she's a mechanical one of these

DJ $1,600 2021 In "Coppélia", a magical doctor creates a life-size one of these that young Franz becomes obsessed with

a pirouette 4x $800 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2012 When I tried to do one of these turns of the body on one foot, I crashed into the choreographer

DJ $600 1985 French for "spinning top", it's full turn executed on one foot

DJ $1,600 2008 The name of this ballet move is from the Old French for "spinning top"

Worth Knowing (57)

the corps de ballet 3 Quasimodo 3 Othello 3 Moscow 3 Louis XIV 3 Cleopatra 3 Bizet 3 the Swan 3 the Kirov 3 Ludwig van Beethoven 3 Chopin 3 an arabesque 3 Afternoon of a Faun 3 the pas de deux 3 John Philip Sousa 3 Witness 2 the Sugarplum Fairy 2 The Red Shoes 2 The Prodigal Son 2 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 the Bolshoi Ballet 2 the Ballets Russes 2 Terpsichore 2 Tenth Avenue 2 Spartacus 2 sailors 2 Russia 2 Ray Charles 2 piano 2 Odette 2 Mozart 2 London 2 Leonard Bernstein 2 Jewels 2 Hans Christian Andersen 2 Germany 2 Fancy Free 2 Eurydice 2 Emeralds 2 Copenhagen 2 Clara 2 Charlie Parker 2 American Ballet Theatre 2 Aaron Copland 2 a tutu 2 A Streetcar Named Desire 2 a cat 2 5 2 2 2 (Richard) Rodgers 2 "A Streetcar Named Desire" 2 Giuseppe Verdi 2 Natalia Makarova 2 Ludwig 2 J.S. Bach 2 George Gershwin 2 a marionette (or a puppet) 2

Ballet Study Guide

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