List of historical ballet characters
This is a list of historical figures who have been characters in ballets.
List of historical figures edit
A edit
Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author
- Lera Auerbach: The Little Mermaid (as the Poet)
Anna Anderson, impostor of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
- Ballet to music by Bohuslav Martinů, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Anastasia
Andrew II of Hungary, King of Hungary
B edit
Bahram V, King of Persia
Giovanni Boldini, Italian genre and portrait painter
William H. Bonney (Billy the Kid), frontier outlaw in the American Old West
Lizzie Borden, American woman who was acquitted for murder
C edit
Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo, French/Belgian dancer
Caravaggio, Italian Baroque painter
- Ballet to music by Bruno Moretti based on Claudio Monteverdi: Caravaggio
Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway, the wife of Christian VII of Denmark
Fanny Cerrito, Italian ballet dancer and choreographer
- Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
Cleopatra, last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt
- Anton Arensky et al.: Cleopatra
Marcus Licinius Crassus, Roman general and politician
Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist
- Marius Constant: Cyrano de Bergerac
D edit
Hugh Despenser the Younger, royal chamberlain and a favourite of Edward II of England
Sergei Diaghilev, Russian art critic, ballet impresario, and founder of the Ballets Russes
- Ballet to music by Chopin, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakow and Shostakovich: Nijinsky
- Ballet to a collage of existing music arranged by Bob Zimmerman: Nijinsky – Dancer, Clown, God
Charles Didelot, French dancer and choreographer
- Ballet to music by William Boyce, arranged by Constant Lambert: The Prospect Before Us
Isadora Duncan, American dancer
E edit
Edward II of England, King of England
Edward III of England, King of England
Caroline Alice Elgar, English author
- Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Edward Elgar, English composer
- Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Empress consort of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Elizabeth I of England, Queen of England and Ireland
- Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
F edit
Franca Florio, Italian noblewoman, socialite and a prominent protagonist of the Belle Époque
Ignazio Florio Jr., Italian entrepreneur
Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscans
Franz Joseph I of Austria, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
G edit
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English nobleman
Archduchess Gisela of Austria, second daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Lucile Grahn, Danish ballerina
- Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
Alfred Grünfeld, court pianist of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
H edit
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, Lord High Admiral of Scotland and 3rd husband of Mary, Queen of Scotland
- Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
Herodias, a princess of the Herodian Dynasty
E. T. A. Hoffmann, German Romantic author
- Ballet to music by Jacques Offenbach: Tales of Hoffmann
I edit
Isabella of France, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II
Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
- Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible
J edit
August Jaeger, Anglo-German music publisher
- Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Jiang Qing, Chinese figure, 4th wife of Mao Zedong
- John Adams: The Chairman Dances (as Chiang Ch'ing)
K edit
Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter
- Peter Salem: Broken Wings
Mathilde Kschessinska, Russian prima ballerina
- Ballet to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Bohuslav Martinů: Anastasia
Andrey Kurbsky, Russian figure, political opponent of Ivan the Terrible
- Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible
L edit
Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich, niece of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Louis XVI of France, King of France
Princess Louise of Belgium, wife of Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
M edit
La Malinche, Aztec mistress of Hernán Cortés
- Norman Lloyd: La Malinche
Mao Zedong, Chinese leader
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre
Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, third daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen of Scotland
- Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
Léonide Massine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer
- Ballet to music by Chopin, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakow and Shostakovich: Nijinsky
George "Bay" Middleton, English horseman
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English nobleman
N edit
Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer
- Ballet to music by Pierre Henry and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Nijinsky, clown de Dieu
- Ballet to music by Johann Sebastian Bach: Vaslav
- Ballet to music by Chopin, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakow and Shostakovich: Nijinsky
- Ballet to a collage of existing music arranged by Bob Zimmerman: Nijinsky – Dancer, Clown, God
Jean-Georges Noverre, French dancer and ballet master
- Ballet to music by William Boyce, arranged by Constant Lambert: The Prospect Before Us
O edit
P edit
Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer
- Ballet to music by Sergei Rachmaninoff: Paganini
Denis Papin, French physicist, mathematician and inventor
- Romualdo Marenco: Excelsior
Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England as the wife of King Edward III
Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Q edit
R edit
Jacques Renaudin (Valentin le désossé), French can-can dancer
- Ballet to music by Emmanuel Chabrier: Bar aux Folies-Bergère
Arthur Rimbaud, French poet
- Ballet to music by Benjamin Britten: Illuminations
Diego Rivera, Mexican painter
- Peter Salem: Broken Wings
Anastasia Romanovna, Tsaritsa consort, first wife of Ivan the Terrible
- Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible
Salvator Rosa, Italian Baroque painter, poet, and printmaker
Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Crown Prince of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
S edit
Arthur Saint-Léon, French dancer and choreographer
- Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
Katharina Schratt, Austrian actress
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Clara Schumann, German musician
- Ballet to music by Robert Schumann: Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
Robert Schumann, German composer
- Ballet to music by Robert Schumann: Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
George Robertson Sinclair, English cathedral organist
- Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Spartacus, Thracian gladiator
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, King consort of Scotland
- Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
T edit
Eduard Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe, Austrian statesman
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
Marie Taglioni, Italian/Swedish ballet dancer
- Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
Tancred, Prince of Galilee, Norman Crusade leader
- Ballet to music by Raffaello de Banfield: Le combat
U edit
V edit
Baroness Mary Vetsera, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistress
- Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
François Villon, French poet
- Robert Starer: Villon
Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist
- Romualdo Marenco: Excelsior
W edit
Louise Weber (La Goulue), French can-can dancer
- Ballet to music by Emmanuel Chabrier: Bar aux Folies-Bergère
X edit
Y edit
Z edit
George Zorbas , Greek miner
- Ballet to music by Mikis Theodorakis: Zorba the Greek (ballet)