Enter into the world that lives inside my heart every day, whether I can make it to an actual performance or not. Right now my beloved National Ballet of Canada is having its spring season in Toronto. Because I can't be there, here are my 13 favorite ballets that I can see over and over again!
Take a program, find your seat. Listen to the chatter of the crowd. The houselights dim. The orchestra tunes. Stepping onto the podium, the conductor acknowledges the applause from an expectant crowd. The lights go to black. The music starts and we're off to my favorite place: the curtain going up and the show beginning.
1 - Swan Lake
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
My favorite choreography is the previous National Ballet of Canada version, done by Erik Bruhn after Marius Petipas
2 - Romeo and Juliet
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography by John Cranko
You know I love sword fights!
3 - The Nutcracker
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Choreography by James Kudelka
Choreography by James Kudelka
4 - Giselle
Music by Adolphe Adam
Choreography by Peter Wright after Coralli/Perrot/Petipas
5 - The Sleeping Beauty
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Rudolph Nureyev after Marius Petipas
6 - Manon
Music by Jules Massenet
Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan
7 - The Taming of the Shrew
Music by Domenico Scarlatti
Choreography by John Cranko
8 - Don Quixote
Music by Ludwig Minkus
Choreography by Nicholas Beriozoff after Marius Petipas and Alexander Gorsky
9 - Elite Syncopations
Music by Scott Joplin and other ragtime artists
Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan
10 - Apollo
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Choreography by George Ballanchine
11 - Revelations
Music - Traditional spirituals
Choreography by Alvin Ailey
12 - Company B
Music by The Andrews Sisters
Choreography by Paul Taylor
13 - The Concert
Music by Frederic Chopin
Choreography by Jerome Robbins
Don't forget to throw flowers and shout "Bravo! Brava!"
Those pictures rocked!! I've never seen live ballet, but I'd love to go sometime. You'll have to let me know when something hits locally.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, babe! #2's dance recital is next week; I know I won't see a four-year-old dancing like this, but man, I can dream!
ReplyDeleteI do like dance. The Tour Manager and I had subscriptions to a few series up until #1 was born.
I've never seen a live ballet performance, but it's on my 'to do' list. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteI was only telling a friend last night, that years ago, when I worked in a hotel, I was given 2 tickets to see The Nutcracker Suite after I upgraded the principal dancer's room, as he was next to the lift and it was too noisy. Took my Mum to the matinee and loved the ballet, and loved watching all the precious little girls in the audience...
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures I love Ballet so much and some of them I have seen too of course not in Canada but here in Belgium.
ReplyDeleteMiss Frou, one of the joys of working the "Nutcracker" was seeing all the little girls in the audience in their beautiful dresses - and gorgeous coats, too! - twirling around at the intermission. And sometimes the boys did, too!
ReplyDeleteI saw Swan Lake performed by the Russian Ballet a few years ago and fell in love with ballet. I saw Giselle recently and it made me cry, such a beautiful story
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a ballet fan, but I do like the Nutcracker and Swan Lake too. My husband drags me to the ballet about once a decade!
ReplyDeleteSome of those photos wer absolutely breathtaking. Awesome job.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
~Toni~
How beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWow, such gorgeous pictures! Wonderful ballets, and beautiful music, too. :-D
ReplyDeleteHappy TT, and thanks for visiting my blog!
Wow, that is a fantastic list. Especially since I have never been to a ballet as far as I can remember (maybe as a child?). But the pictures look beautiful. It's always interesting to learn something new. Maybe I should go and see one of those sometime.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. ;o)
Wow,Bravo, Bravo...hehee! i have never been to a live ballet as yet! but the pictures are beautiful
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I've ever watched a full ballet performance!
ReplyDeleteI love ballet, esp. the ones by Tchaikovsky. Wonderful list!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my TT.
Wow thats a lot of pics!
ReplyDeleteI love Tchaikovsky, hear it a lot over here, even if you dont. Not a big fan of ballet, but love most of those composers.