There many different narrative ballets that have been created over the last centuries. Ballet companies perform different ballets every year with The Nutcracker at the end of every year. Although most people only know The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, there are over hundreds of different ballets. I want to discuss some of my favorite narrative ballets.
GISELLE
One of my favorite ballets is Giselle. It's a story about a village girl falling in love with a boy only to find out that he is engaged to someone else. She ends dying from heartbreak because of this. In Act II of the ballet, she comes back as a ghost and joins the Wilis; a group of women who were betrayed by men in their past life. Her lover finds her and the Wilis try to kill him for what they did to her. But instead, Giselle chooses to forgive him and let him go.
This is one of my favorite ballets mainly because of Act II. As most ballet dancers know, Giselle is famous for the use of the romantic tutus. All of the dancers in Act II wear romantic tutus which are ankle-length, flowy skirts, unlike the flat, platter tutu. The coordination of the dancers in this ballet is very beautiful.
DON QUIXOTE
Another one of my favorite ballets is Don Quixote. The Don Quixote ballet is based off of the book by Miguel de Cervantes. The ballet is split into 3 acts and takes place in Spain. Unlike most ballets that are sad and slow, Don Quixote is more fun and upbeat. The music is quite energetic and the dancers are very lively. I just really like how exciting this ballet is compared to other ballet stories.
SLEEPING BEAUTY
Lastly, my all-time favorite ballet is Sleeping Beauty. The ballet version is very different from the Disney movie. It's a lot longer and there's more plot compared to the movie. Just like Don Quixote, this ballet is separated into 3 acts and has many more characters. While it still follows the same plot as the Disney version, there are a lot more parts included in this ballet.
What I like the most about this is the music. I think that Sleeping Beauty has one of the best pieces of classical music. I also like that there are so many variations in this ballet. Most ballets don't have many variations and are usually reserved for the two main leads. I like that lots of dancers are involved in the ballet because it makes it more exciting.
With there being hundreds of different ballets, I haven't seen all of them. I've only seen the most popular ballets which is probably why they are my favorites. I hope that in the future I will be able to see more ballets when covid is over.
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