Our Top 5 Ballet Villains
By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor
The clouds are getting darker, the leaves are turning orange, and there’s a chill that’s been lingering in the air. You know what that means: it’s spooky season. For most of us dancers, dressing up in dazzling costumes is just another day in the office. Nevertheless, when Halloween time comes around, I can hardly contain my excitement. So what better way to celebrate the Halloween spirit than to count down some of our favorite ballet villains! From sorcerers and fairies to rats and royalty, this list is chock full of ballet’s best scoundrels. Read on to find out my evil top picks from some ballet classics.
5. Rat King
Photo of the Rat King in The Nutcracker by Liza Voll, from the Boston Ballet
This list would be incomplete without one of the most iconic ballet villains of all time: the Rat King. The Rat King is a part of the beloved holiday classic The Nutcracker and stirs up havoc by battling The Nutcracker with his evil troupe of rats and mice. With so many variations of The Nutcracker, have come many different interpretations of the villain. In some productions, there’s a Rat Queen, or in the Balanchine version, a multi-headed Rat King. Considering that the Rat King isn’t present throughout the entire production, he’s relegated to the bottom of the list. Nonetheless, The Nutcracker wouldn’t be the same without him!
Photo of Amy Harris as the Stepmother in Cinderella, photo by Lynette Wills. From The Australian Ballet
4. Stepmother
From the pages of storybooks to the stages of theatres, the stepmother from Cinderella is a ruthless villain through and through. Much like in the literary and film versions of the story, in the ballet Cinderella, the stepmother forces her stepdaughter Cinderella to be her family’s servant. Something a bit different about the ballet version of the fairy tale is that the stepmother tries to fit into Cinderella’s slipper at the end of the ballet herself. The stepmother may not have any flashy powers or flamboyance to her personality, but her demeanor towards Cinderella is utterly heartless, making her a true villain.
Photo of Gillian Revie as Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty, photo by Jeff Busby. From The Australian Ballet
3. Carabosse
Coming in at number three is Carabosse, the evil fairy from The Sleeping Beauty. Carabosse ranks high on this list as her source of villainy comes from out of sheer pettiness, which makes her character quite amusing. When Carabosse isn’t invited to Princess Aurora’s christening by King Florestan XXIV and the Queen, she is fiercely upset and puts a curse on Aurora to prick her finger on a spindle and die on her sixteenth birthday. How bitter! Fortunately, the Lilac Fairy changes the curse from death to a 100-year slumber, but regardless, Carabosse certainly puts a damper on things with her wickedness.
Photo of Thomas Whitehead as Rothbart in Swan Lake, photo by Bill Cooper. From The Royal Ballet
2. Rothbart
Second place goes to Rothbart from Swan Lake, a cunning owl-like sorcerer who curses the maiden Odette to be a swan by day until she can find a man who’s never loved before to love her forever. A complicated and wicked curse indeed. The villain is portrayed in different forms in different productions, including a human form and a reptilian form, but in most, he remains an owl-like creature. Rothbart’s eccentric costume and flair make him one of the more exciting villains to watch on stage.
Ako Kondo as Myrtha in Giselle, photo by Jeff Busby. From The Australian Ballet
1. Myrtha
And finally, first place goes to the one and only Myrtha from Giselle. Maybe it’s because Giselle is my favorite ballet (or because it’s one of the spookiest ballets) but regardless Myrtha is one of the most fierce ballet villains of all time. She is the leader of The Wilis, the ghostly spirits of maidens who have been betrayed by their lovers. Considering Myrtha is literally a ghost, she reigns supreme in terms of ballet villains.
Antagonizing as they may be, ballets would be nothing without their villains. They stir up trouble, serve some menacing looks, and allow the heroes to prevail at the end (most of the time). Whether you’re watching some YouTube videos of these favorite villains, or channeling them in your Halloween costumes, we hope you have a hauntingly good spooky season!
