Le Corsaire
The story The pirate Conrad and Medora pursue a life together through a succession of adventures. Their relationship provides the thread connecting the ballet’s confrontations and escapes. For a first viewing, keeping track of this pair is more useful than trying to memorise every character before the curtain rises. Musical background Adolphe Adam’s score was […]
The Sleeping Beauty
The story At Princess Aurora’s christening, Carabosse places a curse on the child. The Lilac Fairy softens its outcome: instead of death, Aurora will fall into a hundred-year sleep. The celebrations of her sixteenth birthday bring the threat into focus, before the story travels towards an awakening and a wedding. Origins and musical world The […]
Cinderella
The story Cinderella is left at home while her stepsisters prepare for a palace ball. Her kindness to a stranger brings unexpected help: the Fairy Godmother makes the visit possible, with one condition—the enchantment ends at midnight. A lost slipper turns a fleeting encounter into a search for the young woman behind the magical appearance. […]
Manon
The dramatic question What happens when love and material security point in different directions? Manon’s choices sit at the centre of a ballet concerned with desire and survival. For a first viewing, it helps to follow the relationships rather than search for a simple division between heroes and villains: who has money, who has influence, […]
The Nutcracker
The story A Christmas gift opens the door to an extraordinary night. In the familiar narrative, Clara’s nutcracker becomes part of a battle with the Mouse King, followed by a journey to a magical kingdom. The Sugar Plum Fairy and a sequence of celebratory dances lead the story towards its conclusion. The exact framing depends […]
Swan Lake
The story Prince Siegfried encounters Odette, trapped by an enchantment. Rothbart and Odile threaten the promise of love that might release her. The contrast between Odette and Odile gives the central ballerina a double role: the same performer must make two identities legible through movement and dramatic intention. Why the credits matter Tchaikovsky’s ballet first […]
Giselle
The story Giselle loves Albrecht without knowing that he is a nobleman already promised to someone else. When his deception is exposed, her world collapses. After her death, the action passes into the domain of the Wilis: spirits of betrayed women who force men to dance to their deaths. Giselle must confront the difference between […]