The 15 Most Influential Ballets
Ballets become influential by developing new techniques and dance styles, creating choreography grounded in athleticism, embracing the avant-garde and adapting to shifting cultural trends. Throughout history, specific productions have shaped the path of ballet by revolutionizing technique, music and style.
Below are some of the most influential ballets since the art form became popular nearly 200 years ago. These ballets include all ballet styles, from classical and romantic to neoclassical and contemporary. The information included is for the original productions, many of which have been recreated multiple times. PBT will perform three of these ballets – Giselle, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty – during our upcoming 2026-27 season.
Apollo 
Premiere: 1928
PBT Performances: 1991, 1998
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Ballet Era: Neoclassical
Storyline: The ballet tells the story of the Greek god Apollo and his journey from a boy to a man and, eventually, to a god.
Why it’s influential: This minimalist production was the start of Neoclassical Ballet, spearheaded by George Balanchine. This style stripped away elaborate sets and costumes, emphasizing clean lines, speed and athletic choreography that remain foundational in modern ballet training. It was the first of Balanchine’s many collaborations with composer Igor Stravinsky.
Coppélia
Premiere: 1870
PBT Performances: 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2012
Choreographer: Arthur Saint-Léon
Music: Léo Delibes
Ballet Era: Romantic
Storyline: This comedy of errors follows the love story of a young man named Franz who falls in love with a doll that has just come to life.
Why it’s influential: This lighthearted, comedic work bridges the gap between the Romantic era and the classical technique that would follow. Its focus on love and magic is indicative of the Romantic ballet period’s storytelling priorities.
Don Quixote 
Premiere: 1869
PBT Performances: 1985, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2014
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Ballet Era: Classical
Storyline: This ballet is an adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha. The story revolves around two young lovers, Kitri and Basilio, whose love story is in peril. Don Quixote, a romantic self-appointed knight, enters the story when he becomes involved with the young lovers’ journey.
Why it’s influential: The ballet is influential because it successfully merged the elegance of classical French ballet with the fiery, rhythmic folk dances of Spain. It revolutionized the art form by focusing on the athletic, virtuosic skills of the lead dancers rather than relying solely on the plot or the title character. It also established the standard for the Grand Pas de Deux, showcasing some of the most physically demanding, explosive and technically challenging sequences in classical repertoire.
The Firebird 
Premiere: 1910
PBT Performances: 1979, 1980, 1994
Choreographers: Michel Fokine
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Ballet Era: Neoclassical/Modern
Storyline: The Firebird is the story of a powerful, ogre-like figure of evil, Kastchei the Deathless, whose downfall is brought about through the intervention of a beautiful, rare bird
Why it’s influential: The first version bridged late Romantic ballet with modern ballet. It broke away from the rigid 19th-century classical ballet in favor of fluid, naturalistic expression and avant-garde Russian style. George Balanchine choreographed the most famous version of the ballet in 1949 in his traditional neoclassical style.
Giselle 
Premiere: 1841
PBT Performances: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2019
Choreographer: Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot
Music: Adolphe Adam
Ballet Era: Romantic
Storyline: This ballet is the story of a peasant girl who finds herself among the ghosts of jilted lovers after she is cast aside by a suitor herself and dies of a broken heart.
Why it’s influential: This ballet is the quintessential Romantic tragedy. Its new techniques influenced generations of choreography. It cemented the two-act structure (a realistic first act, and a ghostly, supernatural second act) and remains one of the most physically and emotionally demanding roles in a ballerina’s repertoire.
Jewels 
Premiere: 1967
PBT Performances: 1997, 2000
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Ballet Era: Neoclassical
Storyline: Jewels is a ballet that is structured to have three acts, with each act representing different themes, colors and evoking emotions. There are the Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds, with each act featuring different music and costume colors.
Why it’s influential: Jewels is a unique plotless ballet that illustrates dance diversity. Each section represents a different style of ballet dancing. It showcases Balanchine’s amazing choreographic talents.
L’Après-Midi d’un Faune 
Premiere: 1912
Choreographer: Vaslav Nijinsky
Music: Claude Debussy
Ballet Era: Contemporary/Modern
Storyline: Based on Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem, the ballet explores themes of sexual discovery and temptation through the story of a faun who experiences awakening desires after being disturbed by nymphs.
Why it’s influential: This groundbreaking ballet created controversy upon its premiere in Paris. The innovative choreography featured a distinctive style that prioritized dehumanization and unconventional movement, presenting a significant departure from classical ballet traditions. As a precursor to modern dance, “L’Après-midi d’un faune” established Nijinsky as a pivotal figure in ballet history, influencing future choreographers and shaping the evolution of dance as an art form.
La Sylphide 
Premiere: 1832
PBT Performances: 1976, 1977, 1980, 2006
Choreographer: Filippo Taglioni
Music: Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer
Ballet Era: Romantic
Storyline: This ballet follows the tragic love story of a sylph (an air spirit) and a Scotsman, who leaves his fiancée for his new love.
Why it’s influential: This Romantic-era piece is one of the oldest surviving ballets. It introduced the concept of the ethereal sylph and was the first ballet to use dancing en pointe as an artistic tool to convey weightlessness. It was also the first ballet to feature the iconic Romantic tutu – the elegant calf-length ballet skirt that would become a distinguishing feature of Romantic ballets.
Les Sylphides 
Premiere: 1938
PBT Performances: 1969, 1971, 1980
Choreographer: Michel Fokine
Music: Frederic Chopin
Ballet Era: Neoclassical
Storyline: The main theme in Les Sylphides is the relationship between the male protagonist and the forest’s floating spirits.
Why it’s influential: Les Sylphides is considered the first plotless ballet. It moved away from rigid storylines to focus purely on mood, musicality and atmospheric movement. This greatly influenced 20th-century ballet and laid the groundwork for neoclassical ballet created in the early-mid 1900s.
The Nutcracker 
Premiere: 1938
PBT Performances: Annually since 1970, with different choreography
Choreographer: Marius Petipa (original)
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballet Era: Classical
Storyline: The Nutcracker, set at Christmastime, follows a young girl and a Nutcracker who turns into a Prince on a magical, dreamlike adventure.
Why it’s influential: The Nutcracker is influential because it established an evergreen holiday tradition, revolutionized classical ballet as an accessible art form for all audiences and introduced groundbreaking musical orchestration that became the sound of the holidays. Today, The Nutcracker endures as the most-performed ballet all over the world.
The Rite of Spring 
Premiere: 1913
PBT Performances: 1972, 1974, 2001, 2025
Choreographer: Vaslav Nijinsky
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Ballet Era: Contemporary/Modern
Storyline: The Rite of Spring follows the story of a young girl who is made to dance until she dies. Her death was a sacrifice that would usher in the spring season.
Why it’s influential: The revolutionary approach of this ballet caused a riot at its Paris premiere in 1913. Its jarring musical rhythms and unconventional, earthy and sexualized movements shattered all conventions of traditional ballet, marking the birth of modern dance.
Romeo and Juliet 
Premiere: 1938
PBT Performances: 1971, 1975, 1977, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2017, 2025
Choreographer: Ivo Váňa-Psota (original)
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Ballet Era: Classical
Storyline: This ballet is based on William Shakespeare’s famous drama about the young star-crossed lovers.
Why it’s influential: Sergei Prokofiev’s complex, cinematic score and the varied choreographic interpretations elevated dramatic acting and character development to the same level as the technical, challenging choreography. Today, multiple variations exist across different ballet styles.
Serenade
Premiere: 1934
PBT Performances: 1984, 1986, 1987, 1993, 2001, 2004, 2013
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballet Era: Neoclassical
Storyline: Set to Tchaikovsky’s sweeping Serenade for Strings in C Major, it is a plotless, visually stunning masterwork in which dancers in pale blue and yellow tulle perform kaleidoscopic, dreamlike movements that blend technique with profound emotion.
Why it’s influential: Serenade is a milestone in the history of dance. It is the first original ballet George Balanchine created in America, and is one of his signature works. Balanchine began the ballet as a lesson in stage technique and improvised by including unexpected rehearsal events into the choreography. The choreography also includes expansive, unexpected formations.
The Sleeping Beauty
Premiere: 1890
PBT Performances: 1978, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballet Era: Classical
Storyline: The Sleeping Beauty follows the story of Princess Aurora, who is cursed to fall asleep for a century and can only be awakened from her deep sleep by a handsome prince.
Why it’s influential: This is considered one of the greatest ballets and an important part of the classical ballet canon due to its challenging choreography. The lead role of Princess Aurora is widely regarded as one of ballet’s most technically demanding roles; it is notoriously difficult, requiring flawless technique and tremendous stamina. Often considered the peak of classical grandeur, it established the structural blueprint for 19th-century story ballets.
Swan Lake
Premiere: 1877
PBT Performances: 1971, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Choreographers: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ballet Era: Classical
Storyline: A blend of Russian and German fairy tales, Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a princess cursed to become a swan.
Why it’s influential: Tchaikovsky’s first ballet is the ultimate archetype of classical ballet. The challenging dual dance role of Odette/Odile, the iconic “Dance of the Little Swans” and the brilliant choreography set the gold standard for technique and drama. Today, it is considered a seminal piece of classical ballet.
Past and Present Artists of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre | Photography: Aviana Adams, Jean Loup Dumortier, David Farmarie, Michael Henninger, Justin Merriman, Rosalie O’Connor, Rich Sofranco