Trivia Thursday Quiz
challenge
Test your ballet knowledge with 15 of our most difficult previous quiz questions!
1. A tutu worn by Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake was auctioned off and sold to a collector. How much did it sell for? (source- dancemagazine.com)
a) $1,200
b) $3,100
c) $26,700
d) $94,800
2. What year did the original Swan Lake ballet premiere? (source- liveabout.com)
a) 1813
b) 1902
c) 1835
d) 1877
3. Coppélia was based on a story by the author E.T.A. Hoffman. What other famous ballet was inspired by an E.T.A. Hoffman tale? (source- Brittanica)
a) The Nutcracker
b) The Sleeping Beauty
c) Giselle
d) La Sylphide
4. There are various ballet versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, all based on a famous play by William Shakespeare. What city is the original play set in?
(source- shakespearesglobe.com)
a) Athens
b) Rome
c) Copenhagen
d) Seville
5. Who composed the music for Don Quixote?
a) Leo Delibes
b) Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
c) Ludwig Minkus
d) Georges Bizet
6. When was the first performance of The Sleeping Beauty ballet? (source- classicfm.com)
a) 1805
b) 1890
c) 1899
d) 1904
7. There are many different Cinderella adaptations all around the world. Who is the French author that wrote the story of Cinderella most commonly known by western audiences? (source- obt.org)
a) Oscar Wilde
b) Charles Perrault
c) Madame d'Aulnoy
d) Jules Verne
8. Who originally designed the costumes for Jewels, along with designing costumes for numerous other Balanchine Ballets?
a) Chanel
b) Valentino
c) Karinska
d) Saint Laurent
9. What is the inspiration for the story of Raymonda? (source- balletandopera.com)
a) A true story from the Italian Renaissance
b) A Grimm’s fairytale
c) A Medieval legend
d) A famous poem by Lord Byron
10. How many acts did the first known ballet version of Romeo and Juliet have? (source- balletmanilaarchives.com)
a) Two
b) Three
c) Four
d) Five
11. What year did Serenade premiere? (source- theballetspot.com)
a) 1925
b) 1934
c) 1944
d) 1951
12. Which of these famous ballerinas originated the role of Giselle?
a) Marie Taglioni
b) Margot Fonteyn
c) Carlotta Grisi
d) Anna Pavlova
13. Which of these characters is NOT a character in La Sylphide? (source- myballet.co.uk)
a) Freya- a village baker
b) Madge- a witch
c) The Sylph- a mythological, winged spirit of the air
d) James- a Scottish farmer
14. In 1910, Anna Pavlova visited the United States for the first time with her company. Who did she work with to outfit her dancers with shoes- a company which then became the first international pointe shoe brand? (source- pointemagazine.com)
a) Salvatore Capezio
b) Jacob Bloch
c) Nikolay Grishko
d) Frederick Freed
3. Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake isn’t the only swan-themed music used for a ballet. The Swan written by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns is the well recognized song danced to for the Dying Swan, and comes from a larger musical suite. What is the title of the musical suite which The Swan appears in? (source- classicfm.com)
a) Peter and the Wolf
b) Carnival of the Animals
c) Grand Canyon Suite
d) Water Music
Answers
1. Answer- D
2. Answer- D
3. Answer- A
4. Answer- A
5. Answer- C
6. Answer- B
7. Answer- B
8. Answer- C
9. Answer- C
10. Answer- D
11. Answer- B
12. Answer- C
13. Answer- A
14. Answer- A
15. Answer- B