What Ballet Is Harlequinade From? (Plus Essential Artistry Tips)

Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Fokine as Columbine and Harlequin c.1900 - 1902, photographer unknown

If you've had a student perform Harlequinade, or spotted it on a competition list, you may have wondered where it comes from. The answer involves one of ballet's greatest choreographers at the very end of his career, a private performance for the Russian Imperial Court, and a comedic tradition that's been making audiences laugh for centuries.

The Original Harlequinade

Harlequinade began as Les Millions d'Arlequin (Harlequin's Millions), created by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. It premiered February 23, 1900, at the private Hermitage Theatre for an audience that included Tsar Nicholas II and the Imperial Court. Empress Alexandra enjoyed it so much she commanded two more performances on the full stage of the Mariinsky.

Commedia Dell'Arte Meets Classical Ballet

The plot is pure commedia dell'arte, the Italian theatrical tradition popular from the 16th through 18th centuries built on stock characters, slapstick, and love beating greed. Harlequin is penniless but quick-witted and in love with Columbine. Her father, Cassandre, wants nothing to do with him and plans to marry her off to a wealthy suitor. Pierrot is Cassandre's bumbling accomplice. Pierrette, Pierrot's wife, helps the lovers. A Good Fairy tips the balance, and the second act celebrates the wedding.

The ballet was popular enough that a young Balanchine danced in it as a student at the Imperial Ballet School. In 1965 he created his own version for New York City Ballet, calling Petipa's original "the model for comedy narrative." He didn't reconstruct Petipa's steps, he built new choreography in the same spirit, and that production, which premiered with Patricia McBride and Edward Villella, is still in NYCB's repertory today. In 2018, Alexei Ratmansky created a more faithful reconstruction for American Ballet Theatre, working from Stepanov notation held at Harvard.

Why This Ballet Is a Goldmine

Character is inseparable from movement in Harlequinade. Correct steps aren't enough. Harlequin performed without mischief is just allegro. Columbine without pluck is the same steps, no story. That's what makes this one of the most useful teaching tools in the repertory.

Each character has a physical identity beyond the choreography. Harlequin skitters and darts, perpetually light-footed. Columbine is full of spirit. Those two variations show up constantly in competitions.

If you're building your own version of the ballet, remember that Cassandre is pompous and heavy, and Pierrot is clumsy and earnest. Before a single mime gesture happens, the audience already reads character through movement quality alone. That's Acting doing its job.

Three Ways to Teach It

Start with character, not steps. Before your students learn a phrase, give them the character. Who is Harlequin? What does he want? What does he find funny, what does he dislike? A student who understands the character moves differently than one who's just executing choreography. A few minutes of conversation before the first step changes everything.

Use the comedy to teach timing. Comedy in ballet demands split-second musical precision. A joke landing one count late isn't funny anymore. Use this ballet to make timing concrete: the laugh lands exactly when the music does, not approximately. That's musicality taught through play, which sticks far better than musicality taught through correction.

Let the supporting characters shine. Pierrot and Pierrette usually go to younger or less experienced students. Don't treat those roles as lesser. Pierrot's clumsy earnestness and Pierrette's resourcefulness demand just as much artistry as the leads, and performing them well builds a range that serious dramatic repertoire alone can't. A student who can do comedy can do anything.

Knowing which ballet a variation comes from is the first question worth asking before you dance it. There are eight more in my free guide, Before You Compete.