Estelle, newly-wedded herself, suggested this as a topic for a thread, and it seems a good one. The first wedding that comes to mind is the triple one at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Others?

Well, there's the last act of Sleeping Beauty, of course, and Raymonda, where there's a tournament going on (some reception!) and speaking of receptions, A Wedding Bouquet....

Also there's Tudor "Lilac Garden", which takes place before a wedding (probably not a very happy one...) And the secret wedding of Romeo and Juliet. If I remember correctly, there's a wedding in the last act of "Napoli"?

La Fille has a wedding too

And the last scene of The Firebird, although that could arguably be just the Coronation, not a wedding, and speaking of Stravinsky, Les Noces....

And Coppelia, as well, I believe, as Laurencia! (only after the bride to be has been kidnapped and then returned to her fiancee!)

And then there's the wonderfully weird Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel and its composite score....

Quick! Name an extant 19th century ballet that is NOT about a wedding or a betrothal?

In addition to those mentioned, "La Sylphide" (but the groom runs off, of course, the utlimate wedding jitters ballet). "Napoli" and "Folk Tale" both have weddings.

Err, I don't think that there is a wedding in "The Nutcracker"... But it's true that it's quite difficult to find wedding-less 19th-century ballets.

There isn't one in "Kermesse in Bruges" either

I think the theory is not that people were so obsessed with weddings, but that weddings provided a natural opportunity for dancing.

Haha! I can't believe I've thought of a wedding in a ballet that has not been mentioned: Romeo and Juliet! Of course, there is no grand wedding pas in this one and the couple certainly does not live happily ever after, nor do they get the traditional grand finale of the entire cast celebrating their big day. In actuality, I suppose it is not a wedding but an elopement (is that a word) so do you consider that to be the same? (Of course, I don't believe that this is a 19th century one either, but someone else will have to clue me in on that as I don't know the history)

Estelle already got that one. And yes, for the purposes of this thread elopement entails marriage, but actually it just means running off.

so sorry... I seem to have a reading problem... :rolleyes:

As usual, ronny is going to ask the question WHY? Why are weddings are so popular in great ballets. Alexandra mentioned one... that weddings provide an opportunity to dance. But isn't there something more to it than that? Perhaps something deeper?

I know wedding is a metaphore for spiritual union in many parts of the world. Wedding has a deeply spiritual inference to it. The reason I mention it, is this idea of "happily ever after". They got married and "lived happily ever after". "Happily ever after" is a reference to immortality. And I think that we all know that weddings on the material plane are not always happily ever after!!!! So for that reason I feel that weddings in ballet have to have a deeper significance... it has to be deeper to be "happily ever after" because "happily ever after" can only truely exist in the realm of immortality.

Oh, I don't know that there's anything that deep about "happily ever after". I've known some pretty happy couples who didn't have to wait for immortality to take over in order to be happy!;)

I guess you could say that Swan Lake doesn't have a wedding, though certainly marriage is important to the story! I think a lot of ballets end in weddings for the same reason that novels do--the ultimate cap to the story. Fairytales tend to end that way too. Funny, I don't think operas often end in weddings. Marriage of Figaro is the only one I can think of. And Lucia has a wedding of course, but it certainly doesn't end happily.

The Bolshoi's Don Quixote has Kitri and Basil being allowed to hold their wedding at the Duke's castle. Some versions of La Bayadère have the wedding of Gamzatti and Solor during which the temple is destroyed.