5 of the Greatest Ballets You’ve Never Heard of

Premiere: 30 January 1862, Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre St. Petersburg

The once hugely popular The Pharaoh's Daughter by Marius Petipa has waned over the 162 years since its premiere. Inspired by Théophile Gautier’s 1858 novel, Le Roman de La Momie (The Romance of a Mummy) Petipa’s ballet tells the story of Lord Wilson, an Englishman travelling through Egypt who discovers the sarcophagus of Princess Aspicia during a sandstorm. Under the influence of opium, Lord Wilson hallucinates that he has travelled back in time to Ancient Egypt to become the Ancient Egyptian Ta-Hor and falls in love with Princess Aspicia.

The Pharaoh's Daughter was Petipa’s first multi-act grand ballet staged with the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres and enjoyed huge success, partly due to the public's increased fascination with Ancient Egypt from recent archaeological discoveries in the area.

There have been several adaptations of The Pharaoh's Daughter since its 1862 premiere, including the 1905 production by Alexander Gorsky, which Petipa famously despised.

The Pharaoh's Daughter was one of the many ballets that did not survive a post-revolutionary Russia, due in part to its overt theatrical excess that exemplified the Imperial Russian Court and therefore was in direct contrast to the new regime.

The only version of The Pharaoh's Daughter still performed is by French choreographer, Pierre Lacotte for the Bolshoi Ballet and deviates heavily from Petipa’s original production.

Premiere: 27 October 1958, The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London

One of Sir Frederick Ashton’s “gifts” to his muse, Margot Fonteyn, he choregraphed Ondine specifically for The Royal Ballet’s prima ballerina. Fonteyn would go on to perform the lead role in almost every single performance of Ondine, from its premiere in 1958 until 1966 when it was removed from the repertoire.

Adapted from Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s novella, Undine, the 1811 German fairytale about a water spirit named Undine who must marry a human to obtain a mortal soul. Ashton’s ballet deviates from the original narrative but retains popular 19th-century plot devices including elements of the supernatural and unrequited love. Ashton’s ballet is unique in its unconventional ending where the heroine survives, and the male protagonist dies.

The production received mixed reviews; Margot Fonteyn’s performance was so acclaimed that it was difficult to imagine the ballet without her in the leading role. Revived in 1990 and again for the 2008/2009 season at the Royal Opera House, Ashton’s full production of Ondine has only been performed outside of The Royal Ballet by one company, La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan in 2000.

Premiere: 13 June 1923, Ballets Russes, Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris

Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score Les Noces (The Wedding) was first performed in Paris in 1923, staged by Bronislava Nijinska for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Stravinsky’s work depicted a Russian wedding over four scenes: The Blessing of the Bride, The Blessing of the Bridegroom, The Bride’s Departure from Her Parent’s House, and The Wedding Feast and included traditional Russian wedding customs.

Dedicated to Ballet Russes founder Sergei Diaghilev, Stravinsky described the work as “choreographed Russian scenes with singing and music.”

In 1965, Jerome Robbins staged Les Noces for American Ballet Theatre in an epic production that included four pianists (and their accompanying grand piano’s), six percussionists and a complete choir of vocalists sharing the stage with the dancers.

In 1998, Robbins restaged Les Noces for New York City Ballet in what would be his final work before his death. New York City Ballet returned to the original 1965 staging by Robbins complete with live onstage musicians for the 2008 Jerome Robbins Celebration.

Premiere: 1984 Frankfurt Ballet

William Forsythe’s abstract masterpiece, Artifact, is considered by many to be his greatest work, and yet, it wasn’t until 2017 that the full-length production was staged in North America. Created in 1984, during Forsythe’s “free time” the new director of Frankfurt Ballet conceived his first full length ballet for the company in just three weeks, and, he says, "… I've been fixing it ever since."

Forsythe’s more well-known adaption of Artifact is Artifact Suite, a shorter version that retains several of the ensemble dances and two pas de deux from the original. The Australian Ballet performed Artifact Suite for the first time in 2021.

The original Artifact is heavily influenced by Forsythe’s experiences working alongside master choreographers including George Balanchine and is both an ode to classical ballet and a contemporary production that transcends traditional boundaries.

The two-hour piece is a theatrical spectacle that includes a cast of 68 dancers and two speaking roles, rare for the famously “wordless” art form.

As part of The Australian Ballet’s 2025 season, William Forsythe will present the world-premiere of Blake Works VI (The Barre Project) in the triple-bill Prism.

Premiere: 25 June 1910, Ballet Russes, Palais Garnier, Paris

Despite being staged by the world’s most renowned choreographers for over 100 years, The Firebird is one of ballet’s more underrated productions. Overshadowed by the monumental popularity of 19th-century ballets, this 20th-century gem is an extraordinary work of art by composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine.

Conceived for Ballet Russes in 1910, Fokine drew from Russian fairy tales and Slavic folklore to explore supernatural elements and the symbolic meaning of the Firebird character. Both Fokine and Stravinsky received high praise for the work and The Firebird has remained a strong presence in ballet since. Subsequent stagings and revivals include Adolph Bolm’s 1945 production for American Ballet Theatre and Sergei Lifar’s 1954 revival for Paris Opera Ballet.

The Firebird rose to public attention once more in 1949 when George Balanchine choreographed the work with Maria Tallchief in the leading role. In Balanchine’s production, the choreography is the star rather than Stravinsky’s score and solidified Tallchief’s celebrity-ballet status as well as being the New York City’s Ballet’s first commercial success after the company’s founding the year before.

Since then, there have been many notable productions of The Firebird staged by ballet’s best and brightest including Maurice Béjart, John Neumeier, John Cranko, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky to name but a few.

Just like it’s subject, The Firebird appears to continue to rise from the proverbial ashes of ballet’s lesser-known masterpieces to delight new generations of audiences looking for something beyond the mainstream.