1. Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky & Alexandre Benois (c. 1911)

Petrushka is a ballet story inspired by the well-known mischievous puppet character also known as Punch. However, rather than sticking to the puppet’s traditional character traits, such as being a braggart and a bully, it was decided that in this tale, Petrushka would be given a more human sensitivity.

When he was being made, a piece of soul was sewn into him, allowing him to feel emotions far beyond that of the other two puppets in the story- The Ballerina and The Moor. Petrushka falls in love with The Ballerina, but she is too vain and vapid to understand nor return the same level of devotion, instead preferring the ‘strong and handsome’ Moor. In a fight to win her affection, Petrushka dies at the hands of the Moor, and his soul floats up to heaven.

I have absolutely loved this story ever since I saw the ballet performed on stage many years ago. It is a very simple story, but incredibly heartfelt, and you can’t help but cry for the poor heartbroken Petrushka and his tragic fate.

2. The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Anderson (1845)

A terribly dark story that warns against the perils of vanity. A young girl asks her new rich adoptive mother to buy her some red shoes fit for a princess. She wears them to church, but is criticised by the congregation or them being too inappropriate. She meets a red-bearded soldier who comments on how perfect her shoes are for dancing. He taps each shoe with his hand, telling them to ‘never come off when she dances.’ When her adoptive mother becomes ill and passes away, instead of attending the funeral, Karen decides to go dancing instead. An angel appears before her, condemning her to continue to dance even after she dies as a punishment for her vanity. And then, the red shoes really can’t stop dancing. She begs an executioner to chop off her feet in the shoes to make it stop. He does so and provides her with wooden feet and crutches. However, her amputated feet continue to dance within the shoes. She tries to return to church, but the red shoes bar her way. She prays to God and the angel reappears full of forgiveness, taking Karen up to heaven where she can rest in peace.

The Red Shoes has primarily been immortalised by the 1948 film by the same name, starring Moira Shearer. The film doesn’t follow the exact same story, instead it focusses on a ballerina’s indecision between her love of dancing and romantic love, with the red shoes leading her to an unfortunate end. I love both versions of the story and would recommend the film to anyone!

3. The Twelve Dancing Princesses collected by The Brother’s Grimm (1857)

This tale tells the story of twelve princesses who are locked in their bedroom at night, only to emerge in the morning with their dancing shoes completely worn through, without any explanation. The King decided to promise the kingdom and the choice of his daughters to any man who can figure out their secret, within three days and three nights. However, if they fail, they will be sentenced to death. Many men try and fail, until one day and old soldier tries his luck. Whilst travelling through a forest, he had come across an old lady who had gifted him an enchanted cloak of invisibility and warned him not to eat or drink anything that the princesses provide him. He follows the ladies advice, and on the first night in the palace he manages to follow the princesses, through a trap door in their floor, into a magical forest and across a lake to a castle, ferried in twelve boats manned by twelve princes, to dance the night away. The soldier makes sure to surreptitiously obtain a token from each night as proof of his discoveries. When the three nights are up, he goes before the King with his evidence and reveals what he has seen. The princesses confess, and the soldier chooses the eldest to be his bride, and is made the King’s heir. The princes are placed under a curse for as many nights as they danced with the princesses.

I have always felt that this is an underrated fairytale that deserves much more attention than it gets. To me, it is such a beautiful story that could be so wonderfully transformed into a charming film, or ballet.

4. The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Anderson (1838)

In a set of 25 tin soldiers, one soldier has only one leg. While standing on the table with all the other soldiers, the tin soldier spies a paper ballerina across the room. She has a spangle on her sash and is also sanding on one leg, causing him to fall in love with her. At night the soldier is warned by a goblin-come-’jack in the box’, who also loves the ballerina, to take his eyes off of her, but the soldier ignores him. The next morning, the soldier falls from the windowsill and into the street, where two boys make him a paper boat and send him on a journey into the gutter. He is washed into the canal and then swallowed by a fish. However, by some miracle the fish is caught and served in the same house in which he had left, and he finds himself once again in front of the paper ballerina. Unusually, the boy who owns the soldier decides to throw him into the fire, likely controlled by the goblin. A wind blows the paper ballerina into the fire as well, and they both burn together. The next day while the made is cleaning the hearth, she finds that the tin soldier has melted into the shape of a heart and the ballerina’s spangle has been burnt black as coal.

This story is certainly one from my childhood. It is such an innocent story about the love between two characters who find comfort in their similarities, and although are torn apart by a jealous rival, are united again in death, which seems to be a theme in many fairytales!

5. Swan Lake by Vladamir Begichev, Vasily Geltser, & Modeste Tchaikovsky (1877/1895)

A beautiful princess, named Odette, has been enchanted by an evil genie in a spell that leaves her a woman by night and a swan by day. Prince Siegfried discovers the lake while hunting and falls in love with Odette, giving hope that at last the spell can be broken. But all hope vanishes when Siegfried is tricked into pledging his love to the demon Von Rothbart’s daughter, Odile, disguised by magic as Odette. With no other option, Siegfried and Odette throw themselves into the lake and are united for eternity in the afterlife. This subsequently breaks Von Rothbart’s spell, leading to his death, whilst simultaneously setting all the other swan maidens free.”

Such a beautiful story that, although was inspired by many folktales from the past, in this version was very much written for the ballet. An incredibly elegant tale that illustrates the stark contrasts between good and evil, this will certainly always hold a special place in my heart.