Curtain up in twenty minutes — and you've no idea what's about to happen on stage. Eighty ballets. One entry each. Everything you need before the lights go down. Ballet tells its stories without words. That is the glory of it, and also the reason so many people spend the whole of Act I quietly wondering who the man in the feathered hat is supposed to be, or why everyone has suddenly gone mad. The programme tells you the cast. This tells you the story. The Ballet Pre-Theatre Guide covers eighty of the world's most performed ballets — from Swan Lake, Giselle and The Nutcracker to Mayerling, Manon, La Bayadère and Le Corsaire — with one self-contained entry for each. Read it in ten minutes on the train, in the interval, or in the last few seconds before the house lights dim. What's inside 80 world-famous ballets, arranged alphabetically, one entry each The story told act by act — so you always know where you are and what just happened Composer, choreographer, premiere date and venue, and running time at a glance Why It Matters — a short note on each work's place in the repertoire, and what to watch for Alphabetical ballet contents list, so you can find tonight's ballet in seconds in the foyer Written to be read before the performance, not studied afterwards Who it's for Theatregoers who want to follow the story instead of guessing at it Newcomers to ballet — no technical vocabulary, no assumed knowledge, nothing to look up Dancers and drama students preparing or learning a role Dance students and teachers needing a quick, reliable reference across the standard repertoire Anyone buying tickets as a gift who wants the recipient to enjoy the evening properly Eighty ballets, eighty entries, and never again that sinking feeling in the second interval. Companion to the Ballet Stories series on YouTube. Part of The Arts Edge Pre-Theatre Series. Also in The Arts Edge Pre-Theatre Series The Opera Pre-Theatre Guide — 60 operas and 11 operettas The Shakespeare Pre-Theatre Guide — all 40 plays, act by act The Musicals Pre-Theatre Guide — 60 musicals from the West End and Broadway Time is knowledge.
