What Ballet Is Diana and Actaeon From? (Plus Essential Artistry Tips for Diana's Variation)

Painted plate depicting Diana and Actaeon, artist unknown. Image courtesy of Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

My ballet geek had the BEST time researching this post because I always thought that the answer was a ballet called Diana and Actaeon. And I was very wrong. It's actually from La Esmeralda!

La Esmeralda, choreographed by Jules Perrot, debuted in 1844. In 1886, Marius Petipa restaged it and added a new pas de deux, set to music by Riccardo Drigo, built around the Greek myth of Diana and Actaeon: a hunter who accidentally stumbles on the goddess bathing, and pays for it when she turns him into a stag to be killed by his own hunting dogs.

It has nothing to do with La Esmeralda's actual plot. It's a divertissement, a self-contained showpiece, the kind of interlude Petipa often inserted purely to give featured dancers a chance to shine.

Plus, the version danced today isn't even that 1886 original. In 1935, Agrippina Vaganova reworked La Esmeralda for the Kirov and rebuilt this divertissement as a virtuoso vehicle for two of her dancers, Galina Ulanova and Vakhtang Chabukiani. That 1935 version is what's performed now, almost always lifted entirely out of La Esmeralda and danced on its own.

Now that we know the history and lack of context for this variation, we can talk more about bringing it to life through artistry.

Diana Is Not a Wounded Heroine

Ballet has no shortage of women in white: doomed romantic heroines, betrayed brides, ethereal spirits caught between worlds. Diana is none of that and she shouldn't be danced with the same delicacy. She's the goddess of the hunt and chastity. So when Actaeon stumbles into her bath uninvited, her response is rage and embarrassment followed by swift consequences. Diana does not hunt down Actaeon herself; by turning him into a stag he is hunted down by his own dogs, thus satisfying her high standard for protecting her modesty.

You've probably noticed that the variation is usually danced in a costume using flesh-toned mesh on one side of the torso. This is meant to show her state of undress when Actaeon accidentally saw her.

Three(ish) Artistry Tips for Diana's Variation

The musicality carries her swift consequences. Diana's variation is often performed in a happy, almost cutesy way. The music with its lively tempo and major key supports this, but the story does not. Diana is very much not happy to have been discovered and she is not flirting or trying to be cute with Actaeon. But the upbeat tempo does describe the swiftness of her decisive consequence to Actaeon---he was given no time to plead his case before being turned into a stag. And the major key represents the lack of remorse Greek gods felt in their interactions with humans. Diana is not sad, nor does she doubt her actions. She is a goddess living in alignment with her own divine rules. This is a happy action for her.

Acting and eye-line have key moments almost everyone misses. Those impressive penchés at the beginning of the variation? That's not just to show off the dancer's skill (although it definitely does!), it's a potential acting moment. While the choreography has very little miming in it, these penchés are ripe with potential meaning. Diana turns Actaeon into a stag by splashing water on him---is she reaching into the water with her arm? Or did she turn him into a stag before the variation started and is now directing the hunting dogs towards their new prey?

The eye-line in this variation moves around quite a bit; even the pirouettes spot different places throughout. Is that because Diana is tracking Actaeon herself or is she enjoying watching the hunt? Choose intentionally because that will also dictate how the interaction with the bow prop after the tour jetés is done.

Body carriage is commanding but not regal. Remember how Diana is NOT a queen or princess? Her body carriage is not prescribed by the same rules as Aurora's, but she also has more authority to go with her freedom than Kitri does. Diana's body carriage is unique to a goddess. Nowhere in the classical rep is the combination of strong intraspinal muscles and a relaxed shoulder girdle more important than in this role. The deep intraspinal muscles give you the command while the relaxed shoulder girdle give you the freedom.

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Musicality, Acting, Eye-line, and Body Carriage are four of the nine artistry elements taught intentionally across every level in the Ballet Artistry Course, with guidance on how to integrate each one at every age, not just inside a single variation. Explore the Ballet Artistry Course →