Ballet in Popular Culture - Dance of the Hours from La Gioconda

The Dance of the Hours is a ballet from the opera La Gioconda written by Amilcare Ponchielli and first performed in 1876.  It was common in the 17th through 19th centuries for operas to include ballet, although there were notable exceptions.   For example, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II supported both ballet and opera, but banned the inclusion of any dance (including ballet) in operas.

Like many pieces of "classical" music, the Dance of the Hours has been incorporated into many elements of popular culture.  Walt Disney included an animated version of the ballet in the 1940 feature film Fantasia:

Fantasia 1982 - Dance of the Hours - Deems Taylor Replaced from W W on Vimeo.

Of course, many choreographers have worked with the music from Dance of the Hours.  Here is beautiful version by choreographer Gheorghe Iancu performed at the Arena di Verona in 1992:

And of course, here is the non-ballet Allan Sherman version of Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah from 1963: