Ballet

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#	Answer	Count	Sample Clue
1	Swan Lake	21	( I'm Misty Copeland.) In Act 2 of this classic ballet, Odette performs with her many companions, all under the same magic spell
2	The Sleeping Beauty	17	Princess Aurora dances the "Rose Adagio" with 4 of her suitors in this Tchaikovsky ballet
3	The Nutcracker	16	Tchaikovsky had a double premiere on Dec. 18, 1892: his opera "Iolanta" & this ballet
4	Rodeo	16	Characters in this 1942 ballet include the head wrangler & the champion roper
5	Nijinsky	16	The erotic ending of this great dancer's 1912 ballet "L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune" created a scandal
6	The Firebird	15	"L'Oiseau de feu" is the French name of this high-flying Stravinsky ballet
7	Cinderella	11	In one version of this fairy tale ballet, the prince summons cobblers throughout the kingdom, but to no avail
8	Anna Pavlova	11	Among the few filmed sequences of this Russian ballerina are clips of her "dying swan" from 1907
9	Mikhail Baryshnikov	10	In 1967 this dancer was just 19 when he became a soloist at the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad
10	Billy the Kid	9	The same ballerina plays both the mother & Mexican sweetheart of this young outlaw in the 1938 ballet named for him
11	Jerome Robbins	8	The creators of 1943's "Fancy Free" called each other Lenny & Jerry—Leonard Bernstein & this choreographer
12	Don Quixote	8	Nureyev helped the Boston Ballet stage a version of this classic story featuring imaginary dragons in the Spanish countryside
13	Maria Tallchief	8	When the ballet "Prodigal Son" was revived in 1950, this woman who was then Balanchine's wife played the siren
14	The Rite of Spring	8	The second part of this Stravinsky ballet is entitled "The Sacrifice"
15	George Balanchine	8	Suzanne Farrell has been called the "muse" of this late choreographer known as "Mr. B."
16	Rudolf Nureyev	8	"Marguerite and Armand" was choreographed for Margot Fonteyn & this handsome partner
17	Dame Margot Fonteyn	8	Famous for partnering Rudolf Nureyev, this dancer was born Margaret Hookham in 1919
18	Petrushka	7	With music by Stravinsky, this ballet tells of a clown puppet who gets his heart broken, dies & becomes a ghost
19	A Midsummer Night's Dream	7	Balanchine wrote that he played an elf in this Shakespeare play long before creating a 1962 ballet based on it
20	the Bolshoi	7	Highest-ranked Soviet ballerina is Maya Plisetskaya, the prima ballerina of this company
21	Sergei Diaghilev	7	The Ballets Russes was dissolved after the 1929 death of this great Russian impresario
22	Agnes de Mille	6	Cecil B. De Mille's dancin' niece, she choreographed her last ballet, "The Other", in 1992 at age 86
23	Tchaikovsky	6	This Russian composer's favorite of his own ballets was "The Sleeping Beauty"
24	Romeo and Juliet	6	( I'm James Whiteside.) In 1985 ABT staged the first American production of this tragic Shakespearean love story choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan
25	Lizzie Borden	5	"Fall River Legend" is based on her real-life murder trial of the 1890s
26	Giselle	5	Adolphe Adam's masterpiece is the music for this 1841 ballet in which the title girl emerges from her grave to dance
27	the New York City Ballet	5	S. Farrell made a triumphant 1988 return to this Manhattan ballet company after having a hip replaced
28	the Royal Ballet	4	Formerly England's Sadler's Wells Ballet
29	The Beach Boys	4	Twyla Tharp used the music of this group for the ballet "Deuce Coupe"
30	Carmen	4	Havana-born Alicia Alonso was known for her sensual portrayal of the tragic title woman of the ballet based on this Bizet opera
31	Anastasia	4	The principal female role in the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" is his wife with this name, familiar in Russian history
32	Prokofiev	4	Eliot Feld's ballet "Harbinger" features music by this "Peter and the Wolf" composer
33	Picasso	4	This Cubist did set designs for 1917's "Parade" & had designs on its ballerina Olga Khoklova, later his wife
34	a doll	4	In "Coppélia", a magical doctor creates a life-size one of these that young Franz becomes obsessed with
35	the Swan	4	First performed in 1905, this very short solo ballet depicts the last minutes in the life of a bird
36	a pirouette	4	French for "spinning top", it's full turn executed on one foot
37	the Sugarplum Fairy	3	Antoinetta Dell'era was the 1st ballerina to play the role of this fairy in "The Nutcracker", in 1892
38	the corps de ballet	3	Soloists are backed up by the ensemble known by this 3-word French term
39	Terpsichore	3	In "Apollon Musagete", Apollo gives a gift representing poetry to Calliope & one representing dance to this Muse
40	Ray Charles	3	The 1988 ballet "A Fool for You" is danced to his songs, including "I Got A Woman" & "Hit The Road Jack"
41	Quasimodo	3	We have a "hunch" you'll know Antoine Coulon was the first to dance this role in "La Esmeralda"
42	Othello	3	This Shakespeare play inspired Jose Limon to create "The Moor's Pavane", & he danced the lead role himself
43	Moscow	3	In 1877 "Swan Lake" premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in this city with choreography by Julius Reisinger
44	Martha Graham	3	Before she was First Lady, Betty Ford danced in a ballet company founded by this modern dancer now in her 90s
45	Louis XIV	3	This king, an accomplished dancer, founded the Académie Royale de la Danse in 1661
46	Cleopatra	3	I'da love to have seen Ida Rubinstein play this queen swathed like a mummy who was then unwrapped
47	Bizet	3	A male drifter lusts after a garage owner's wife in "The Car Man", inspired by this composer's opera "Carmen"
48	the Kirov	3	"Leningrad Symphony" was first performed in Leningrad by this company in 1961
49	Natalia Makarova	3	In her native Leningrad she was nicknamed "The Giraffe"; maybe that's why she defected
50	Ludwig van Beethoven	3	In 1999 Ballet Pacifica premiered "Moonlight", performed to a sonata by this composer

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Must-Know Answers

These appear 8+ times. Memorize these first.

Swan Lake 21 The Sleeping Beauty 17 The Nutcracker 16 Rodeo 16 Nijinsky 16 The Firebird 15 Anna Pavlova 12 Cinderella 11 Mikhail Baryshnikov 11 Billy the Kid 9 George Balanchine 9 Rudolf Nureyev 9 Jerome Robbins 8 Don Quixote 8 Maria Tallchief 8 The Rite of Spring 8 Dame Margot Fonteyn 8

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General

96 answers | 439 clues

Must-Know (17)

Swan Lake 21x 14.3% stumper $719 avg J:4 DJ:17

DJ $5 DD 2017 In a ballet Odette's mother's tears produced this body of water

J $500 1989 Tchaikovsky wrote the music to 3 ballets: "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker" & this

J $1,200 DD 2011 Prince Siegfried finds romance is for the birds (like Odette) in this 19th century ballet

The Sleeping Beauty 17x 18.8% stumper $1,169 avg DJ:16 FJ:1

DJ $200 1993 Act I of this Tchaikovsky ballet is called "The Spell"

DJ $600 1988 This ballet boasts giant rats, a lilac fairy & the dreaded spindle

DJ $5,000 DD 1992 When this ballet premiered in 1890, Carlotta Brianza danced the role of Princess Aurora

The Nutcracker 16x 20.0% stumper $513 avg J:4 DJ:11 FJ:1

J $200 2018 This ballet begins in Dr. Stahlbaum's house on Christmas Eve

J $500 DD 1987 Tchaikovsky's last ballet, it wasn't presented in U.S. until 1940, 48 years after its Russian premiere

DJ $2,000 2010 ( Kelly of the Clue Crew reads from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.) The final pas de deux is one of the famous dances from this ballet; maybe it's fitting that its choreographer Lev Ivanov died on Christmas Eve when it's set

Rodeo 16x 33.3% stumper $1,313 avg J:1 DJ:14 FJ:1

DJ $400 1988 Anges de Mille's 1942 ballet about a ranch full of rip-roarin' raucous ropers & wranglers

J $600 2018 A cowgirl rides a bucking bronco in scene 1 of this Western ballet

DJ $1,000 1994 Scene 2 of this 1942 ballet features a pas de trois by a roper, a wrangler & a cowgirl

Nijinsky 16x 18.8% stumper $888 avg J:1 DJ:15

J $300 1989 Russian dancer who was the choreographer & star of the 1912 production of "The Afternoon of a Faun"

DJ $500 DD 1993 This great Russian dancer choreographed "Jeux" & "Le Sacre du Printemps" in the same year, 1913

DJ $1,000 DD 2010 He was born in Kiev around 1889 to parents who were celebrated dancers from Poland

The Firebird 15x 7.1% stumper $857 avg J:3 DJ:11 FJ:1

DJ $400 DD 2012 A young prince is saved by a magic feather in this 1910 Stravinsky ballet

DJ $800 2009 A review of this 1910 ballet said ornithologists should take note of Tamara Karsavina dancing the title role

DJ $1,000 1995 A large egg contains an evil sorcerer's soul in this ballet whose French title is "L'Oiseau de Feu"

Anna Pavlova 12x 41.7% stumper $1,458 avg J:1 DJ:11

DJ $400 1990 The only ballet this great Russian ballerina choreographed was "Autumn Leaves" in 1918

J $500 1989 She starred in the silent film "The Dumb Girl of Portici" but was legendary as ballet's Dying Swan

DJ $1,000 1994 Born in 1881, this Russian ballerina was famous for her dragonfly solo as well as for "The Dying Swan"

Cinderella 11x 18.2% stumper $418 avg J:3 DJ:8

J $200 2003 One version of this ballet includes Crystal, the little glass slipper fairy

J $600 2009 It might be a drag, but I'll follow in the footsteps of Frederick Ashton & play one of the stepsisters in this classic

DJ $1,200 2014 A ball at the palace, after the ball & an enchanted garden

Mikhail Baryshnikov 11x 9.1% stumper $700 avg J:2 DJ:9

DJ $400 2010 Nicknamed Misha, he was nominated for a 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a drama for "Metamorphosis"

DJ $800 1993 From 1980 until his resignation in 1989, he was artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre

DJ $1,200 2007 In 1990 he & choreographer Mark Morris founded a touring company called the White Oak Dance Project

Billy the Kid 9x 22.2% stumper $1,556 avg J:2 DJ:7

J $200 2009 This ballet concludes with Pat Garrett leading pioneers, marching west

J $600 2003 Pat Garrett is one of the roles in this ballet that features music by Aaron Copland

DJ $1,000 1998 The 1938 ballet named for this famous outlaw features a musical gun battle

George Balanchine 9x 11.1% stumper $800 avg J:3 DJ:6

J $300 1984 New York City Ballet's "Mr. B."

J $500 1991 Suzanne Farrell has been called the "muse" of this late choreographer known as "Mr. B."

DJ $1,600 2008 He was married to Maria Tallchief when he choreographed her in his 1948 ballet "Orpheus"

Rudolf Nureyev 9x 11.1% stumper $733 avg DJ:9

DJ $400 1998 This late ballet star of Tartar ancestry was Margot Fonteyn's best-known partner

DJ $600 1999 "Marguerite and Armand" was choreographed for Margot Fonteyn & this handsome partner

DJ $1,200 2010 Soon after defecting to the West on June 17, 1961, he began performing with the Ballet of Marquis de Cuevas

Jerome Robbins 8x 42.9% stumper $1,086 avg DJ:7 FJ:1

DJ $600 1993 In this "West Side Story" choreographer's first ballet, "Fancy Free", the women didn't wear toe shoes

DJ $1,000 2000 He choreographed "The Cage", a ballet about predatory female insects, 6 years before "West Side Story"

FJ 1999 Feeling the need for ballets about American life, this dancer choreographed his first ballet in 1944

Don Quixote 8x 12.5% stumper $550 avg J:1 DJ:7

DJ $200 1995 Part of Marius Pepita's ballet based on this novel is set at a gypsy camp near windmills

DJ $600 1988 At the end of 1 version of this ballet, he sets off with Sancho, but in another he just dies

DJ $1,000 DD 1998 In an 1869 Marius Petipa ballet he puts a metal basin on as a helmet & goes seeking adventure

Maria Tallchief 8x 12.5% stumper $1,112 avg J:1 DJ:7

J $100 1991 Her sister Marjorie Tallchief is a ballerina, too

DJ $800 2004 In 1980 Marjorie Tallchief helped this older sister found the Chicago City Ballet

DJ $1,000 1994 George Balanchine created many roles for this ballerina to whom he was married 1946-1952

The Rite of Spring 8x $912 avg J:3 DJ:5

J $300 1989 Some critics hated this Nijinsky ballet so much they called it "Le Massacre du Printemps"

DJ $600 2001 Nijinsky, Massine & Wigman all jumped at the chance to choreograph this 1913 Stravinsky work

J $1,000 2009 A maiden is chosen for a sacrifice, the title act of this 1913 ballet

Dame Margot Fonteyn 8x 25.0% stumper $625 avg DJ:8

DJ $200 1995 Part of this British dame's stage name was an adaptation of her mother's maiden name, Fontes

DJ $600 2000 Born Margaret Hookham, she was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956

DJ $800 2010 This British-born ballerina danced until 1979, when she was 60 years old

Should-Know (19)

Petrushka 7x 71.4% stumper $1,457 avg DJ:7

DJ $800 1996 Margot Fonteyn danced the role of the ballerina in a 1957 revival of this Stravinsky ballet about a puppet

DJ $1,000 1993 In a famous Stravinsky ballet, this title character is in love with a ballerina puppet

DJ $800 1991 When this ballet set in Russia premiered in 1911, Nijinsky played the title puppet

A Midsummer Night's Dream 7x 14.3% stumper $657 avg J:2 DJ:5

DJ $400 2017 "The Dream" is a one-act ballet that uses Felix Mendelssohn's music & is based on this Shakespeare play

J $600 2024 George Balanchine choreographed this supernatural Shakespeare tale to the music of Felix Mendelssohn

DJ $1,200 2009 Balanchine's first original full-length ballet was an adaptation of this "dreamy" Shakespeare play

the Bolshoi 7x 14.3% stumper $400 avg J:1 DJ:6

DJ $400 1988 Alexander Godunov was the 1st dancer from this ballet company to defect to the west

J $400 2022 Choreographers like Alexander Gorsky have made this Moscow ballet co. that dates to 1776 one of the world's leading companies

DJ $400 2011 In the 1960s Galina Ulanova retired & Maya Plisetskaya became this company's prima ballerina

Sergei Diaghilev 7x 42.9% stumper $1,114 avg DJ:7

DJ $800 1988 Early 20th c. impresario who presented Russian art & opera before he stunned Europe with his ballets

DJ $1,000 1993 This Russian impresario is one of the leading characters in the ballet "Nijinsky, Clown of God"

DJ $1,000 1990 The Ballets Russes disbanded after this impresario died in 1929

Agnes de Mille 6x $667 avg DJ:6

DJ $200 1997 This niece of Cecil B. De Mille choreographed a ballet based on John Ford's classic film "The Informer"

DJ $600 1994 Mikhail Baryshnikov called her "the most American of all choreographers"

DJ $800 2012 Cecil B. De Mille's dancin' niece, she choreographed her last ballet, "The Other", in 1992 at age 86

Tchaikovsky 6x 16.7% stumper $933 avg DJ:6

DJ $200 1988 "Swan Lake" was originally such a failure that this composer planned to rewrite it, but he died 1st

DJ $800 2010 ( Kelly of the Clue Crew reads from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.) A fouetté is a pirouette that lets the dancer regain momentum after each spin; the Black Swan does 32 in a row in a ballet by this composer

DJ $1,000 1997 This Russian composer's favorite of his own ballets was "The Sleeping Beauty"

Romeo and Juliet 6x $1,267 avg J:1 DJ:5

DJ $200 1994 The final scene of this ballet takes place in the Capulets' burial vault

DJ $600 1993 J. Robbins played Benvolio when Antony Tudor's version of this Shakespearean love story premiered in 1943

DJ $5,000 DD 2022 M-m-m-my Verona! On February 9, 1965 Nureyev & Fonteyn danced this ever-doomed couple in London

Lizzie Borden 5x 20.0% stumper $640 avg J:2 DJ:3

J $400 2018 "Fall River Legend" is based on her real-life murder trial of the 1890s

J $1,000 2009 I'll watch out for the ax when I play the young pastor who comforts this accused heroine in "Fall River Legend"

DJ $400 2008 In the 1948 ballet "Fall River Legend", this character is hanged although in real life she was acquitted

Giselle 5x 40.0% stumper $1,600 avg DJ:5

DJ $800 1989 This immortal 19th c. ballet tells the story of Albrecht's beloved, who still dances after her death

DJ $1,200 2018 This title heroine isn't being courted by Tom Brady but by the incognito duke of Silesia

DJ $2,000 2022 Early in Act 2 in an Adolphe Adam classic ballet, Hilarion mourns at the grave of this title woman

the New York City Ballet 5x 20.0% stumper $940 avg J:1 DJ:4

DJ $200 1988 S. Farrell made a triumphant 1988 return to this Manhattan ballet company after having a hip replaced

J $500 1994 Nilas Martins is a principal dancer with this ballet company; his father Peter is its ballet master-in-chief

DJ $1,000 1988 Denmark's Peter Martins danced with this U.S. company & succeeded Geo. Balanchine as its director

the Royal Ballet 4x 50.0% stumper $725 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 1988 In the 1930s this company was known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet but now it's called this

J $500 1984 Formerly England's Sadler's Wells Ballet

DJ $1,000 1992 Sir Frederick Ashton was principal choreographer of this British company 1935-70

The Beach Boys 4x $300 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $200 2000 "Deuce Coupe" is danced to "Little Deuce Coupe", "Catch A Wave" & other songs made famous by this group

DJ $200 1991 "Deuce Coupe" by Twyla Tharp features the music of this band, including its "Little Deuce Coupe"

J $400 2009 Twyla Tharp used the music of this group for the ballet "Deuce Coupe"

Carmen 4x $800 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2007 1949 saw the first ballet version of this operatic Bizet work that features Don Jose & a toreador

J $800 2022 Havana-born Alicia Alonso was known for her sensual portrayal of the tragic title woman of the ballet based on this Bizet opera

DJ $1,200 2003 In a ballet based on Bizet's opera, this hussy of a heroine meets a violent end outside a bullring

Anastasia 4x 25.0% stumper $1,925 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1993 In a recent work 1 ballerina plays this Russian Grand Duchess & a woman who thinks she is the Grand Duchess

DJ $1,200 2025 The principal female role in the ballet "Ivan the Terrible" is his wife with this name, familiar in Russian history

DJ $1,500 DD 1991 In Kenneth MacMillan's ballet named for her, this grand duchess survives the Russian revolution

Prokofiev 4x 25.0% stumper $1,200 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1992 The ballet "A Tale of the Stone Flower" was this Peter & the Wolf composer's last major dance work

DJ $1,000 1996 "The Buffoon" was the first ballet by this "Peter and the Wolf" composer to be produced

DJ $2,000 2025 Scottish ballet's staging of this Russian's tale sometimes had a Princess Charming dancing off with a Cinderfella

Picasso 4x $425 avg J:3 DJ:1

J $200 2003 This Cubist did set designs for 1917's "Parade" & had designs on its ballerina Olga Khoklova, later his wife

DJ $800 2013 In 1919 this Spanish Cubist designed the scenery & costumes for the London premiere of "The Three-Cornered Hat"

J $300 1996 This Cubist designed the scenery for the 1919 ballet "The Three-Cornered Hat"

a doll 4x 25.0% stumper $850 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $400 1989 In "Coppelia", Swanilda pretends to be a mechanical one of these come to life

DJ $1,000 1991 In "Coppelia", Franz falls in love with Coppelia, not knowing she's a mechanical one of these

DJ $1,600 2021 In "Coppélia", a magical doctor creates a life-size one of these that young Franz becomes obsessed with

the Swan 4x $750 avg DJ:4

DJ $400 2021 In 1905 Russian choreographer Michel Fokine created "The Dying" this bird for Anna Pavlova

DJ $1,000 1993 First performed in 1905, this very short solo ballet depicts the last minutes in the life of a bird

DJ $400 2006 Since 1905 it's been dying, dying—still fluttering—dead!

a pirouette 4x $800 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2012 When I tried to do one of these turns of the body on one foot, I crashed into the choreographer

DJ $600 1985 French for "spinning top", it's full turn executed on one foot

DJ $1,600 2008 The name of this ballet move is from the Old French for "spinning top"

Worth Knowing (60)

the Sugarplum Fairy 3 the corps de ballet 3 Terpsichore 3 Ray Charles 3 Quasimodo 3 Othello 3 Moscow 3 Martha Graham 3 Louis XIV 3 Cleopatra 3 Bizet 3 the Kirov 3 Natalia Makarova 3 Ludwig van Beethoven 3 Chopin 3 an arabesque 3 Afternoon of a Faun 3 the pas de deux 3 John Philip Sousa 3 Busby Berkeley 3 Witness 2 The Turning Point 2 The Red Shoes 2 The Prodigal Son 2 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 the Bolshoi Ballet 2 the Ballets Russes 2 Tenth Avenue 2 Spartacus 2 sailors 2 Russia 2 piano 2 Odette 2 Mozart 2 London 2 Leonard Bernstein 2 Jewels 2 Hans Christian Andersen 2 Germany 2 Fancy Free 2 Eurydice 2 Emeralds 2 Copenhagen 2 Clara 2 Chicago 2 Charlie Parker 2 American Ballet Theatre 2 Aaron Copland 2 a tutu 2 A Streetcar Named Desire 2 a cat 2 5 2 2 2 (Richard) Rodgers 2 "A Streetcar Named Desire" 2 Giuseppe Verdi 2 Ludwig 2 J.S. Bach 2 George Gershwin 2 a marionette (or a puppet) 2