Ballet Stories Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Sleeping Beauty

"The Sleeping Beauty" was composed by a Russian man named Tchaikovsky and was first performed in Moscow in 1890. It retells a fairy tale that is hundreds of years old. One of the really beautiful scenes in this ballet is in Act I. Aurora has her sixteenth birthday party and dances with four princes just before falling asleep for a hundred years.

Answer: Cinderella

The ballet music for "Cinderella" was written by a Russian composer named Prokofiev. The first Cinderella was a beautiful and famous Russian ballerina named Galina Ulanova, who was also the first Juliet in the ballet of "Romeo and Juliet". Wasn't she lucky?

Answer: The Nutcracker

"The Nutcracker" is one of the most famous ballets of all time. It was written by Tchaikovsky. Did you know that sometimes ballets are changed over the years and performed differently? Tchaikovsky called the heroine of "The Nutcracker" Clara, but other versions of the ballet call her Marie. Sometimes the Sugar Plum Fairy is in the ballet, and sometimes she is left out. Each version is beautiful in its own way, though.

Answer: Spanish

Although many ballets were written by Russians, they are set in locations all over the world. "Don Quixote" is set in Spain. Its composer was Ludwig Minkus, and its original choreographer was perhaps the greatest the world of ballet has ever known, Marius Petipa.

Answer: Billy the Kid

Aaron Copland liked to write about American themes. In addition to "Billy the Kid", he also wrote a ballet called "Rodeo" and another called "Appalachian Spring".

Answer: William Shakespeare

The original form of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a play by Shakespeare. The idea for the story of a ballet can come from many sources: Fairy tales, like those of Andersen and the Grimm brothers, plays, short stories, or even novels. For example, Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" has been turned into a ballet.

Answer: Russia

Have you noticed how many of the classic ballets are Russian? "Firebird" was composed by Igor Stravinsky and the original choreography (dance movements) was by Mikhail Fokine. It was first performed in Paris in 1910.

Answer: Puppets

Coppélia was a life-size puppet that a lonely toymaker created and pretended was his daughter. Unfortunately, a village man falls in love with her! Everything gets sorted out by the end of the ballet, though. "Petrouchka" is about a clown puppet who wants to be alive. It was composed by Igor Stravinsky. "Coppélia", which is a much more lighthearted ballet, was composed by a French man named Leo Delibes.

Answer: No

Unfortunately, both Romeo and Juliet kill themselves when their families won't let them get married. When Prokofiev first wrote this ballet, he thought that the ending would be very difficult to show on stage because "living people can dance, the dying cannot". He figured out a way around that, though!

(You can read about Prokofiev and his troubles with "Romeo and Juliet" at http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1891/op64.html)

Answer: Swan Lake

Again we must mention the brilliant Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, because he composed the music for "Swan Lake" too! At the end of the ballet, Odette and Prince Siegfried both die and are carried away across the lake in a swan boat together. "Swan Lake" was first performed in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. "Bolshoi" means "Big", and to this day "Swan Lake" is one of the most popular ballets ever.

I hope you have enjoyed this quiz. If you would like to learn more about the stories of the great ballets, I recommend you read the wonderful books "Dance Me a Story" by Jane Rosenberg and/or "The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories" by Jane Yolen, both of which are for kids. For adults, "101 Stories of the Great Ballets" by the great George Balanchine is a must for anyone who has ever been enthralled by the magic of ballet.