111 Fun Ballet Trivia Questions to Challenge You - Trivia Bliss (2025)

If you’re a diehard balletomane, we’ve got the trivia collection for you. Below are a whopping 111 ballet trivia questions for your next trivia night!

As a professional ballet dancer, I know what’s what when it comes to ballet trivia. Some of these questions can be easily answered by anyone who’s ever taken a ballet class, and others are going to prove a challenge to anyone who isn’t immersed in the industry’s culture 24/7. Regardless of your experience with ballet, you’re sure to learn something new as you peruse these fun clues.

We’ve sorted these questions into four categories for you: the basics of ballet and pointe, ballet history, life in a ballet company, and famous ballets. Altogether, these questions and their answers will give you a clearer picture of what the ballet world is all about. Buckle up and get ready to test your knowledge of this beautiful, historical art form.

Basics of Ballet and Pointe

Question: What structure, often made from sturdy metal or wood, is held onto during the beginning portion of a ballet class?

Question: From which language are ballet terms derived?

Question: What do you call each set of steps and exercises performed during a ballet class?

Question: Which instrument traditionally accompanies a ballet class?

Question: Which ballet step often comprises the first combination of class? (Hint: it means “to bend” in French).

Question: Which ballet barre step that can come from a flexed or sur le coup de pied position means “to strike” in French?

Question: In which class combination would you find the steps saut de chat, temps de fleche, and tour jeté?

Question: What is the different between an en dehors and en dedons pirouette?

Question: What consecutive turn on one leg do male dancers often perform in the place of the fouettés performed by female dancers?

Question: Which numerical ballet position (i.e. first through sixth) is the least likely to be practiced in an advanced ballet class?

Question: Which numerical ballet position is most often used in ballet? (Hint: most combinations both begin and end in this position.)

Question: Which exercise, along with adagio or developpé, is often one of the last combinations performed at the barre during a class?

Question: What is the difference between a tendu and a degage?

Question: What term described the outward hip rotation ballet dancers use to achieve their positions?

Question: What term describes the zigzag-like arrangement that dancers often arrange themselves in for combinations in center during ballet class?

Question: Piqué turns, traveling waltz combinations, and grand allegros often are danced coming from what specific area of the ballet studio?

Question: Why mustn’t a dancer stand in front of the piano during a ballet class?

Question: What special flooring material is often laid above a sprung wooden floor in a ballet studio to provide the proper texture for dancing en pointe?

Question: True or false: there is wood in the shank of a pointe shoe.

Question: Which controversial pointe shoe brand manufactures their shoes by machine, as opposed to by hand?

Question: Some ballerinas sew a ring of thick thread around the box of their pointe shoe to help them balance for longer and to delay the breakdown of the shoe. What is this sewing method called?

Question: True or false: ballerinas have to sew their own ribbons and elastics onto each pointe shoe they wear.

Question: Do professional dancers tend to prefer thicker or thinner pointe shoe padding?

Question: Name five ailments that are common with pointe shoe use.

Question: What clothing items comprise the standard class uniforms for dancers?

Question: Do male dancers traditionally train on pointe?

Question: At what age is it appropriate for a young dancer to begin wearing pointe shoes?

Question: Which side do dancers traditionally begin class combinations on: the right side or the left side?

Question: Is it more common to begin center combinations in croisé devant or éfacé devant?

Question: What is the difference between écarté and en face?

Question: What does it mean to add batterie to your petit allegro?

Question: True or false: Russian-trained dancers spot their head to the front while perfomring turns.

Question: In the Balanchine teaching method, is the back leg straightened or bent in a pirouette preparation? (Bonus: is the front arm straightened or bent?)

Question: Does a dancer bend their knees before an élevé?

Question: What do you call the small, half-socks that many dancers wear in their pointe shoes?

Question: Which hand holds onto the barre during the first side of a barre combination?

Question: What ritual is often performed after the final combination of class?

Question: What are two common household materials often wrapped around the toes for protection in a pointe shoe?

Question: What does the small, illustrated icon stamp (i.e. a castle, an animal, a squiggle, or a letter) on the back of many pointe shoes signify?

Question: What do you call a short solo dance performed by a soloist or principal role in a ballet?

Question: What is the name for a partnered dance performed by two dancers?

Ballet History

Question: Which French king popularized ballet (as well as his signature step, the royale)?

Question: Who founded the iconic Ballet Russes?

Question: Who composed the music for Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps, and when did the ballet premiere?

Question: Who is often referred to as “the father of American ballet”? (Hint: he founded the New York City Ballet.)

Question: Though the ballet industry is primarily made up of female dancers, the industry is still a male-dominated one. Why is that?

Question: Who was the first ballet dancer to perform a full-length ballet en pointe in 1832? (Bonus: what was the ballet?)

Question: What was George Balanchine’s given name? (Bonus: who advised him to change his name?)

Question: What controversy plagued Balanchine’s personal life? (Hint: while this behavior might be alarming to those working in other industries, it is not uncommon in the ballet world.)

Question: What is the name of London’s top ballet company?

Question: Which French choreographer created the original ballets The Sleeping Beauty, Paquita, La Bayadère, and Coppélia, along with many others?

Question: For which of these ballets did Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky not compose the score: Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Firebird, or The Sleeping Beauty?

Question: Who originated the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine’s version of The Nutcracker?

Question: Which famous American Ballet Theater ballerina (and, later, Washington Ballet artistic director) took her stage surname from a New York City Ballet star, at the urging of Mikhail Baryshnikov? (Bonus: what was the name of the New York City Ballet star?)

Question: By what name is New York City Ballet affectionately known as?

Question: How do New York City Ballet dancers affectionately refer to George Balanchine?

Question: When was former artistic director Peter Martins dismissed from the New York City Ballet for sexual misconduct?

Question: When was San Francisco Ballet founded?

Question: Who was the first Black principal dancer of a major ballet company? (Bonus: which company did this person dance at, and when were they promoted?)

Question: Which notable American ballet critic retired from the New York Times in 2018?

Question: Where did renowned ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev train? (Bonus: what ballet company is this school associated with?)

Question: Which famous contemporary ballet choreographer headed Ballet Frankfurt for two decades?

Question: Which current American Ballet Theater principal goes by their middle name? (Bonus: what is their real first name?)

Ballet Company Life

Question: Which American ballet company recently changed its name after appointing a new director, Angel Corella?

Question: What are the common dancer rankers in an American company from lowest to highest?

Question: What does “corps de ballet” mean?

Question: What is the name of the highest rank in the Paris Opera Ballet company?

Question: What is a second company?

Question: True or false: for rehearsals, professional ballet dancers stereotypically dress more professionally than ballet students.

Question: What is a nickname for the nylon, ripstop warm-up shorts worn by professional dancers?

Question: Which of the following is not a real American ballet company: American Ballet Theater, Grand Rapids Ballet, Seattle Ballet, or BalletMet?

Question: True or false: in general, ballet dancers are paid less in America than they are in Europe.

Question: True or false: most American ballet companies employ their dancers year-round.

Question: What is it called when a ballet company takes a break from contract for a period of weeks or months before resuming the season?

Question: What metal object do many professional dancers opt to remove from their pointe shoes before wearing them?

Question: What essential dancer item is often prohibited from entering the dance studio, lest it spill and create a permanent slick spot on the Marley flooring?

Question: What household object can be used to revitalize pointe shoes that have gone limp?

Question: Many companies employ what type of specialist to help adjust dancers’ bodies and help them with injury prevention strategies?

Question: The New York City Ballet traditionally only accepts dancers who have trained at their affiliate school. What is the name of this school?

Question: True or false: most ballet dancers get a college degree before becoming a professional.

Question: What type of program would a ballet student attend before joining a second company?

Question: What is the title of a choregrapher’s associate who visits a company to “set” the choreographer’s work on the dancers?

Question: When a company dancer is performing a role that requires a lot of stamina, what is an adjective that they may use to describe the role? (Hint: it has to do with the breath work required to dance the role.)

Question: Generally, what is the dancer age range in an average company?

Famous Ballets

Question: Which famous ballet traditionally features one single female dancer playing two different principal roles? (Bonus: what are the roles?)

Question: What do you call a ballet with more than one act?

Question: Which ballet, based on an epic novel, features the characters Kitri, Mercedes, and the Queen of the Dryads?

Question: Which iconic Balanchine ballet incorporated mistakes from the rehearsal process into the choreography (i.e. a dancer falling, light getting in the dancers’ eyes, hair falling out of a bun)?

Question: Which two historic full-length ballets have extremely similar names, but slightly different plots?

Question: What pas de deux (or, rather, pas de cinq) is performed by Aurora and her suitors during Act I of The Sleeping Beauty?

Question: Many ballets feature a large corps of female ballet dancers dressed in white tutus. In Giselle, what is the corps dressed in white portraying?

Question: In La Bayadère, who are the women in white portraying?

Question: Is La Fille Mal Gardée a comic or dramatic ballet?

Question: What are the names of the two most notable fairies in The Sleeping Beauty? (Hint: they are different from the Disney movie!)

Question: Which comic ballet features a young peasant woman impersonating a life sized doll?

Question: Who composed the music for the classical ballet, Romeo and Juliet?

Question: Which two dancers originated the role of the Rubies pas de deux in George Balanchine’s plotless full length ballet, Jewels?

Question: Generally, where should a dancer’s ballet bun be placed on the head in a romantic era ballet?

Question: Which role dances with an enormous bow in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Question: Which two accessories are often worn with a classical or romantic tutu?

Question: In The Nutcracker, how does Clara help to defeat the Mouse King?

Question: Other than the Fairy Godmother, who are the four main fairies in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella?

Question: How many couples are featured in Jerome Robbins’s In The Night? (Bonus: what are the situations and temperaments of each of the couples?)

Question: What is the main plot point of The Rite of Spring?

Question: How many women and men are in George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet?

Question: Which contemporary ballet choreographer has an ongoing collaborative relationship with musician Sufjan Stevens?

Question: George Balanchine’s epic plotless ballet Jewels features three acts: Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. Which countries do each of these jewels represent?

Question: What is the difference between Raymonda and Raymonda Variations?

Question: Which classical ballet, known for its numerous female variations, has a murky plotline that has been debatably lost over the years?

Question: What are the names of the 10 characters in Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering? (Hint: they are named after the colors of their costumes.)

Question: In Balanchine’s Who Cares, what pas de deux does the “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” soloist also perform?

Final Words

Thanks so much for reading through our epic collection of ballet trivia. We hope these questions feed you hours of much-needed ballet-related entertainment.

Got a favorite piece of ballet trivia that we missed? Let us know about it in the comments below.