Ballet

Ballet

Whether you're a Nutcracker newcomer or a Swan Lake lover, we've got the answers to help you get the best out of the beautiful dance genre.

The history of ballet starts in the Italian courts, around the 15th century. It's no surprise the genre quickly spread, and was discovered by king Louis XIV, who took it upon himself to found the Royal Dance Academy - and basically defined classical ballet as we know it.

Many classical ballet works are performed with a classical music accompaniment. Tchaikovsky's famous ballet, The Nutcracker, refers to the music itself, as well as the dance moves, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.

Introduction to ballet

Ballet dancers

Ballet Music: Where To Start

best 20th century ballet dancers

The 10 greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century

Discover the Royal Ballet

Discover the Bolshoi Ballet

Life lessons from the great ballets

Ballet pictures

Swan Lake

Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake: A beginner's guide

Tchaikovsky

Christmas ballets

The most beautiful Christmas ballets

sleeping beauty

Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty: a beginner’s guide in pictures

Tchaikovsky

English National Ballet at Glastonbury 2014

English National Ballet

Features

The most iconic ballets of all time. Pictured: Austrian Ballet’s Swan Lake

10 greatest ballets of all time

353 ballerinas have set a new world record for most dancers en pointe simultaneously.

Hundreds of ballerinas set ‘en pointe’ world record in spectacular display

Northern Ballet will perform without a live orchestra in several of its upcoming productions, due to rising costs and inflation.

Northern Ballet replaces live orchestra with recorded music in upcoming shows

Prokofiev’s ‘Dance of the Knights’ from Romeo and Juliet is the theme music to The Apprentice.

What’s the classical music in ‘The Apprentice’ and who wrote the now famous TV theme?

Prokofiev

Romeo proposes to Juliet, after stunning ballet duet on-stage at Verona Arena

Romeo proposes to Juliet, after stunning ballet duet on stage at Verona Arena

Videos

Mira Nadon is the first woman of Asian descent to be appointed principal dancer at the New York City Ballet.

First female principal dancer of Asian descent at New York City Ballet is ‘important milestone’

Download Classic FM's ballet music

Ballet Classics

50 Ballet Classics

Classic FM Ballet

Classic FM Ballet

More Genres

See more More Genres

Opera

Film & TV

Video Game Music

Light Music

National Anthems