# Ballet at the Edinburgh International Festival: history and repertoire, 1947–1956

Ballet was an important part of the Edinburgh International Festival from its earliest days, with performances taking place at the Empire Theatre, later to be refurbished to become the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
The first company to appear was the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company who returned many times later, together with a series of visiting companies from abroad.

## List

| Date | Company | Ballet | Venue | Choreographer(s) | Principal dancers |
| 1947 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | The Sleeping Beauty | Empire Theatre | Frederick Ashton | Margot Fonteyn |
| 1948 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | La Boutique fantasque, Miracle in the Gorbals, Symphonic Variations, Coppélia, Checkmate, Clock Symphony, Scènes de ballet, Mam'zelle Angot, Les Sylphides, Job, The Three-Cornered Hat | Empire Theatre | Frederick Ashton | Margot Fonteyn |
| 1949 | Ballets des Champs-Élysées | 13 danses, Jeu de cartes, The Nutcracker, Les forains, Mascarade, Le rendez-vous, Swan Lake, Le rencontre, Fêtes galantes, Le création, Don Quichotte, Valse caprice, La Sylphide, Le Cygne noir, Le jeune homme et la mort, La fiancée du diable, Orphéus, L'oiseau bleu, Le bal des blanchisseuses, Coppélia, L'amour et son amour, Pas de quatre, Les amours de Jupiter | Empire Theatre | Victor Gsovsky | Jean Babilée, Leslie Caron, Tutte Enderle, Christiani Franki, Helene Sadovska, Irene Skorik, Helene Varanova |
| 1950 | American National Ballet Theatre | Theme and Variations, Fall River Legend, Fancy Free | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1950 | Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (Le Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo) | Swan Lake (Act II), Giselle (two acts), and others | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1951 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | Swan Lake, Les patineurs, Tiresias, Wedding Bouquet, Checkmate, Symphonic Variations, Don Quixote, The Rake’s Progress, Ballet Imperial, Job | Empire Theatre | | Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer |
| 1951 | Yugoslav Ballet | The Legend of Ohrid, The Ballad of a Medieval Love, Gingerbread Heart | Empire Theatre | Margarita Froman Pina and Pio Mlakar Dimitriye Parlitch | |
| 1952 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | Coppélia, Les Rendezvous, Reflection, Pineapple Poll | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1952 | Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (Le Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo) | Concerto Barocco, Scaramouche, Pas-de-trois, Prisoner in the Caucasus, Night Shadow, Ines de Castro, Tarasiana, Del amor y de muerte | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1953 | American National Ballet Theatre | Constantia, Circo de Espana, Black Swan (pas de deux), Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Schumann Concerto, Graduation Ball | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1953 | The Spanish Ballet of Pilar López | Spanish dances and music | Empire Theatre | Pilar López | |
| 1953 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | Pastorale, The Rake's Progress, Blood Wedding, Fête étrange, Harlequin in April, Carte blanche | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1954 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | Homage to Diaghilev: Le tricorne, L'Oiseau de feu, La Boutique fantasque | Empire Theatre | Michel Fokine, Léonide Massine | |
| 1955 | Royal Danish Ballet | La Sylphide, Capricious Lucinda, Romeo and Juliet, Napoli, Graduation Ball, The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master | Empire Theatre | | |
| 1956 | Sadler's Wells Ballet Company | Noctambules, Birthday offering, The Lady and the Fool, Coppélia, Les Sylphides, The Miraculous Mandarin, Homage to the Queen, Le lac des cygnes, | Empire Theatre | | Margot Fonteyn, Beryl Grey, Nadia Nerina, Rowena Jackson, Svetlana Berisova, Michael Somes |
| 1956 | The Ram Gopal Indian Ballet | The Legend of the Taj Mahal | Empire Theatre | Ram Gopal | Ram Gopal, Kumudini Devi, Shevanti Devi |