Les Sylphides
Vera Fokina, 1918. Her ethereal costume and wistful pose capture the moonlit Romantic spirit that inspired Les Sylphides.
QUICK F A C T S
- ✦ Les Sylphides premiered in 1909 and was one of the first ballets to abandon a traditional plot in favor of mood, atmosphere, and pure dance.
✦ Choreographed by Michel Fokine, the ballet is set to orchestrated piano music by Frédéric Chopin.
✦ The ballet depicts a poet dancing among ethereal sylphs, creating a dreamlike vision of the Romantic era rather than telling a specific story.
✦ Originally staged by the Ballets Russes, Les Sylphides helped redefine ballet in the early twentieth century through its emphasis on artistic unity and expressive movement.
✦ The ballet pays tribute to the great Romantic ballets of the nineteenth century, particularly works such as La Sylphide and Giselle.
✦ Today, Les Sylphides remains one of the most beloved examples of a "plotless" ballet, celebrated for its poetry, elegance, and atmospheric beauty.
A performance of Chopiniana (Les Sylphides) in Baku. Fokine's celebrated ballet transforms Chopin's music into a vision of ethereal sylphs, graceful movement, and Romantic reverie. Photo: M gulchik, commons.
S U M M A R Y
Les Sylphides (originally titled Chopiniana) is a one-act ballet created by Mikhail Fokine for the Ballets Russes in 1909. Set to orchestrated music by Frédéric Chopin, the ballet broke with the tradition of story-driven ballet. Instead of following a plot, it presents a dreamlike vision of a poet surrounded by ethereal sylphs—spirits of the air inspired by the Romantic ballet tradition. The result is a work that feels more like a living poem than a conventional narrative.
Dagmara Dryl and Dawid Trzensimiech in Chopiniana (Les Sylphides) by Mikhail Fokine. Inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin, the ballet evokes a moonlit vision of Romantic beauty]. Photo: Ewa Krasucka , commons.
The sylphs of Les Sylphides drift across the stage in one of ballet's most celebrated "white acts," a vision of grace, music, and Romantic imagination.
Fokine created Les Sylphides as a tribute to the Romantic era of ballet, drawing inspiration from works such as La Sylphide and Giselle. Dancers drift across the stage in flowing white tutus, creating the illusion of floating through a moonlit landscape. The ballet's graceful choreography mirrors the moods and emotions found in Chopin's music, transforming waltzes, mazurkas, and nocturnes into movement. Its atmosphere of longing, beauty, and gentle melancholy helped establish a new direction for twentieth-century ballet.
Today, Les Sylphides remains one of the most beloved examples of the ballet blanc, or "white ballet," tradition. Although it contains no dramatic conflict or story, its poetic imagery and musical sensitivity continue to captivate audiences around the world. More than a century after its premiere, the ballet stands as a landmark work that demonstrated ballet could be built around mood, atmosphere, and pure artistic expression rather than narrative alone.
Historical 1910 Ballets Russes program poster for Les Sylphides, depicting Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina.
E N C O R E
✦ On Today's Stage
Les Sylphides remains a cherished part of the international repertory and is frequently performed by major ballet companies as a showcase of Romantic style, musicality, and classical elegance.
✦ Iconic Interpreters
The original Ballets Russes cast included legendary artists such as Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, and Vaslav Nijinsky. Generations of dancers have since embraced its lyrical roles and poetic atmosphere.
✦ Legacy
One of the first major plotless ballets, Les Sylphides helped transform ideas about what ballet could be. By placing mood, music, and atmosphere at the center of the experience, it paved the way for countless twentieth-century ballets that moved beyond traditional storytelling.