List of historical ballet characters



This is a list of historical figures who have been characters in ballets.

A
Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author Anna Anderson, impostor of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Andrew II of Hungary, King of Hungary
 * Lera Auerbach: The Little Mermaid (as the Poet)
 * Ballet to music by Bohuslav Martinů, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Anastasia
 * Alexander Glazunov: Raymonda

B
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
 * Gara Garayev: Seven Beauties
 * Lorenzo Ferrero: Franca Florio, regina di Palermo
 * Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid
 * Morton Gould: Fall River Legend

C
Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo, French/Belgian dancer Caravaggio, Italian Baroque painter Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway, the wife of Christian VII of Denmark Fanny Cerrito, Italian ballet dancer and choreographer Cleopatra, last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt Marcus Licinius Crassus, Roman general and politician Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist
 * Ludwig Minkus: Camargo
 * Ballet to music by Bruno Moretti based on Claudio Monteverdi: Caravaggio
 * Peter Maxwell Davies: Caroline Mathilde
 * Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
 * Anton Arensky et al.: Cleopatra
 * Aram Khachaturian: Spartacus
 * Marius Constant: Cyrano de Bergerac

D
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 Charles Didelot, French dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan, American dancer
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * 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
 * Ballet to music by William Boyce, arranged by Constant Lambert: The Prospect Before Us
 * Richard Rodney Bennett: Isadora

E
Edward II of England, King of England Edward III of England, King of England Caroline Alice Elgar, English author Edward Elgar, English composer Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Empress consort of Austria Elizabeth I of England, Queen of England and Ireland
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
 * Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes

F
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
 * Lorenzo Ferrero: Franca Florio, regina di Palermo
 * Lorenzo Ferrero: Franca Florio, regina di Palermo
 * Paul Hindemith: Nobilissima Visione
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling

G
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English nobleman Archduchess Gisela of Austria, second daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Lucile Grahn, Danish ballerina Alfred Grünfeld, court pianist of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling

H
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, Lord High Admiral of Scotland and 3rd husband of Mary, Queen of Scotland Herodias, a princess of the Herodian Dynasty E. T. A. Hoffmann, German Romantic author
 * Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
 * Paul Hindemith: Hérodiade
 * Ballet to music by Jacques Offenbach: Tales of Hoffmann

I
Isabella of France, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible

J
August Jaeger, Anglo-German music publisher Jiang Qing, Chinese figure, 4th wife of Mao Zedong
 * Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
 * John Adams: The Chairman Dances (as Chiang Ch'ing)

K
Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter Mathilde Kschessinska, Russian prima ballerina Andrey Kurbsky, Russian figure, political opponent of Ivan the Terrible
 * Peter Salem: Broken Wings
 * Ballet to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Bohuslav Martinů: Anastasia
 * Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible

L
Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich, niece of Empress Elisabeth of Austria 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
 * Boris Asafyev: Flames of Paris
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling

M
La Malinche, Aztec mistress of Hernán Cortés 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 Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen of Scotland Léonide Massine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer George "Bay" Middleton, English horseman Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English nobleman
 * Norman Lloyd: La Malinche
 * John Adams: The Chairman Dances
 * Boris Asafyev: Flames of Paris
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes
 * Ballet to music by Chopin, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakow and Shostakovich: Nijinsky
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * John McCabe: Edward II

N
Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre, French dancer and ballet master
 * 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
 * Ballet to music by William Boyce, arranged by Constant Lambert: The Prospect Before Us

P
Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Denis Papin, French physicist, mathematician and inventor 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 Sergei Rachmaninoff: Paganini
 * Romualdo Marenco: Excelsior
 * John McCabe: Edward II
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling

R
Jacques Renaudin (Valentin le désossé), French can-can dancer Arthur Rimbaud, French poet Diego Rivera, Mexican painter Anastasia Romanovna, Tsaritsa consort, first wife of Ivan the Terrible Salvator Rosa, Italian Baroque painter, poet, and printmaker Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Crown Prince of Austria
 * Ballet to music by Emmanuel Chabrier: Bar aux Folies-Bergère
 * Ballet to music by Benjamin Britten: Illuminations
 * Peter Salem: Broken Wings
 * Ballet to music by Sergei Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible
 * Cesare Pugni: Catarina or La Fille du Bandit
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling

S
Arthur Saint-Léon, French dancer and choreographer Katharina Schratt, Austrian actress Clara Schumann, German musician Robert Schumann, German composer George Robertson Sinclair, English cathedral organist Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria Spartacus, Thracian gladiator Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, King consort of Scotland
 * Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by Robert Schumann: Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
 * Ballet to music by Robert Schumann: Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
 * Ballet to music by Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Aram Khachaturian: Spartacus
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by Anton Webern: Episodes

T
Eduard Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe, Austrian statesman Marie Taglioni, Italian/Swedish ballet dancer Tancred, Prince of Galilee, Norman Crusade leader
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Ballet to music by John Field: Pas des Déesses
 * Ballet to music by Raffaello de Banfield: Le combat

V
Baroness Mary Vetsera, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistress François Villon, French poet Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist
 * Ballet to music by Franz Liszt: Mayerling
 * Robert Starer: Villon
 * Romualdo Marenco: Excelsior

W
Louise Weber (La Goulue), French can-can dancer
 * Ballet to music by Emmanuel Chabrier: Bar aux Folies-Bergère

Z
George Zorbas, Greek miner
 * Ballet to music by Mikis Theodorakis: Zorba the Greek (ballet)