Référence · Top 10
🩰 Top 10 Choreographers to Know
The people who invent the steps. Ranked with total objectivity (lie) by me.
1. Marius Petipa
Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Paquita — wait, are there even any left? This man built the classical repertoire pretty much single-handedly.
Favourite ballets ·The Sleeping Beauty · La Bayadère · Don Quixote · The Pharaoh's Daughter (his first hit!) · Swan Lake (with Ivanov) · The Nutcracker (with Ivanov)
2. George Balanchine
“See the music, hear the dance.” No story, no prince, no costumes, no scenery, not even a tiny piglet in sight. Just dance. Sounds boring, right? But somehow, it is not. I do not know why. The choreography becomes the story — it’s so dynamic, and surprising, and full of humour somehow. Also, when people say “the American style of ballet”, ironically enough it means Balanchine style.
Favourite ballets ·Jewels · Serenade · Agon · Symphony in C · The Nutcracker (his own!)
3. Rudolf Nureyev
A full place for a man who technically mostly re-choreographed other people's ballets — because his versions are what Paris actually dances. He defected with one suitcase, took Petipa's classics, and gave the prince REAL steps (before him, the man mostly stood there pointing at things). If you see Swan Lake at the Paris Opera, you're watching Nureyev. All the drama, all the time.
Favourite ballets ·La Bayadère (the 1992 farewell) · Don Quixote · The Nutcracker (the Paris one) · Romeo and Juliet
4. Frederick Ashton (Sir)
La Fille mal gardée: sunshine, ribbons, a pony, a mum in clogs. The most English choreographer ever — wit, tenderness, and steps so musical they look like the score grew legs. British and perfect. And we need to talk about The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971, a Royal Ballet film, later brought to the stage): he choreographed the whole thing, and danced Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, the washerwoman hedgehog, himself — in full costume. And wait for the best part: this ballet contains a pig pas de deux — Pigling Bland and Pig-wig, two Royal Ballet dancers in pig masks dancing an entirely serious love duet. It is literally the most Princess-Piglet-compatible ballet in the history of the repertoire 🐷🩰
Favourite ballets ·La Fille mal gardée · The Dream · The Tales of Beatrix Potter (DANCING PIGS. A pig pas de deux. Thank you, Sir Frederick.)
5. Yuri Grigorovich
Spartacus, The Legend of Love, THE Moscow Nutcracker. Boss of the Bolshoi for THIRTY years. If you like ballets that make the stage shake, he’s your man.
Favourite ballets ·Spartacus · The Legend of Love · The Nutcracker (the Moscow one)
6. Pierre Lacotte
The man without whom La Fille du Pharaon would have stayed in the oubliettes. IMAGINE. One of the best competition variations ever? Forgotten. The dances of the Rivers? Forgotten. His specialty: dance archaeologist. He dug, dusted, and put the forgotten classics back on the biggest stages — the original Coppélia at the Paris Opera, The Pharaoh’s Daughter at the Bolshoi, Ondine at the Mariinsky, La Fille du Danube in Tokyo. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Favourite ballets ·La Sylphide (the 1972 resurrection) · The Pharaoh's Daughter (Bolshoi, 2000) · Marco Spada
7. Vaslav Nijinsky
As a dancer, he wowed the crowds. As a choreographer, he traumatized them. Basically, the guy mastered every rule of ballet as a dancer, and decided it would be fun to completely DESTROY them as a choreographer (learn them to break them). And by DESTROY I mean PULVERIZE: turned-in legs, flexed feet, bent knees, stamping and angular poses. The horror. He created 4 ballets (quality over quantity, babes), and 4 controversies. 4 out of 4. Outstanding.
Favourite ballets ·The Afternoon of a Faun · The Rite of Spring · Jeux
8. John Cranko
Ever wondered why one of the top European ballet schools is in — of all places — a city called STUTTGART? I repeat. STUTTGART. Well, it’s because of this dude. And the city was so grateful it built one of the most famous ballet schools on Earth and named it after him. His talent? Storytelling — you understand the characters a bit like if you were at the theatre, but through dance. And he could do humour.
Favourite ballets ·Onegin · Romeo and Juliet · The Taming of the Shrew
9. Kenneth MacMillan
PG13. Mommy says we’ll see later. I still dug up a spooky bio detail for you: he died at the Royal Opera House, during one of his own shows. That’s COMMITMENT. The real Phantom of the Opera is him (tutututu).
Favourite ballets ·Romeo and Juliet · Manon · Mayerling
10. Maurice Béjart
The rock star of ballet 🎸 He literally choreographed to Queen (okay, that’s a classic) and presented his ballets in STADIUMS, like he was BLACKPINK. He loved DRAMA. Why else would he pick the BOLERO? Or the FIREBIRD? His ballets aren’t really about a story: it’s rhythm, repetition, energy. And he decided the boys deserved the spotlight — entire ballets with barely a tutu in sight. A risky move when you’re aiming for posterity (imagine having to find BOYS. In bulk. Who jump. With straight legs).
Favourite ballets ·Boléro · The Rite of Spring (1959) · The Ninth Symphony (Beethoven, in an arena)