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 encountered a student performing Harlequinade or seen it listed 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 Russian imperial court performance, and a theatrical 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 on February 23, 1900, at the private Hermitage Theatre for an audience that included Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian Imperial Court. The Empress Alexandra enjoyed the performance so much that she commanded two additional performances, this time on the full stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The Story: Commedia Dell'Arte Meets Classical Ballet

The plot is pure commedia dell'arte — the Italian theatrical tradition popular across Europe from the 16th through 18th centuries, built on stock characters, slapstick, and love triumphing over greed.

Harlequin is penniless but quick-witted and deeply in love with Columbine. Her father, Cassandre, wants nothing to do with him and plans to marry her off to a wealthy suitor. Pierrot serves as Cassandre's bumbling accomplice while Pierrette — Pierrot's wife — helps the lovers. A Good Fairy tips the balance in their favor, and the second act celebrates the wedding with divertissements.

The ballet was popular enough that 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 created new choreography in the same spirit. That production, which premiered with Patricia McBride and Edward Villella, remains in NYCB's repertory today. In 2018, Alexei Ratmansky created a more faithful reconstruction for American Ballet Theatre, working from Stepanov notation housed at Harvard University.

Why This Ballet Is an Artistry Goldmine

Here's the thing about Harlequinade: character is inseparable from movement. This isn't a ballet where correct steps are enough. Harlequin performed without mischief is just allegro. Columbine without pluck is the same. The story requires artistry — and that makes it one of the most useful teaching tools in the repertory.

Each character has a distinct physical identity that goes beyond steps. Harlequin skitters and darts, perpetually light-footed and in motion. Columbine is full of spirit. These are the two characters you see in competitions but if you're looking to create you're own version, Cassandre is pompous and heavy while Pierrot is clumsy and earnest. Knowing these details helps your dancers perform. Before a single mime gesture is made, the audience reads character through movement quality. That's acting — one of nine artistry elements — doing its job.

Three Artistry Tips for Teaching Harlequinade

1. Start with character, not steps. Before your students learn a movement phrase, give them the character. Who is Harlequin? What does he want? What does he find funny? What does he fear? Students who understand their character move differently than students who are executing choreography. A few minutes of character conversation before the first steps are learned changes everything.

2. Use the comedy to teach timing. Comedy in ballet is technically demanding in part because it requires split-second musical timing. A joke that lands one count late somehow isn't as funny. Use Harlequinade to make timing concrete — the laugh comes exactly when the music does, not approximately. Bonus: this is musicality taught through play, which is far more memorable than musicality taught through correction.

3. Let the supporting characters shine. Pierrot and Pierrette are often assigned to younger or less experienced students. Resist the temptation to treat these roles as lesser. Pierrot's clumsy earnestness and Pierrette's resourcefulness are character studies that require just as much artistry as the leads — and performing them well develops range that serious dramatic repertoire alone cannot build. A student who can do comedy can do anything!

Acting is one of nine artistry elements I teach — and it's one of the most transformative for students who have strong technique but still feel like they disappear onstage. The Ballet Artistry Course breaks down all nine elements with concrete teaching strategies for every level.

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