There really isn’t a guide to classical ballets, in fact, that term can be thrown so loosely around… This is not a ballet history lesson, if I need to do that… I will but… by a crap definition classical ballet is the traditional formal style of ballet technique. If that was the case… then the only type of classical ballet that should exist is Paris Opera. So, let us shoot the idea of “classical ballet” out. So here is the breakdown of how I classify the ballets:

Is it a part of various major company repertory and has it been established in ballet history. A ballet is only a ballet if it can be passed down from one generation to the next and be restaged. It is hard to say if a piece can be restaged or not, because the audience has to appreciate it, understand it, and go see it time and time again. This is how I classify the classics. Then in edition to the classics, they are either a story ballet, or just a ballet (this isn’t just Balanchine works, Pas De Quatre, and Grand Pas Classique… Not attached to any ballet in particular but, still classics). Sooo, in terms of  “classical” ballets… Here is the major list:

Tchaikovsky’s Major Three: Nutracker, Swan Lake and the Sleeping Beauty. 

The Show Stopper Ballets: Diana & Acteon, Don Quixote, La Esmeralda, The Flames of Paris, Le Corsaire, Grand Pas Classique, Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux, Rubies, Stars and Stripes

The Overlooked Ballets: La Fille Mal Gardee, The Talisman, Raymonda, The Fairy Doll, Harlequinade, the Pharaoh’s Daughter, Sylvia

The Romantic Ballets: Romeo and Juliet, La Sylphide, Les Sylphide, Giselle, Manon, A Month in the Country, Emeralds , Pas De Quatre, Eugene Onegin

The Corps Intensive Ballets: Paquita, La Bayadere, Etudes, Symphony in C, Serenade, Diamonds