The overall impression of the performance depends on the skill and coherence of the corps de ballet dancers. No matter how brilliant the performers of the main roles are, you cannot put on a performance without a good corps de ballet.
What is a corps de ballet?
This is a part of the troupe whose artists do not dance solo roles, they perform dances in groups. In the imperial theater, there was a strict hierarchy in ballet: children, pupils, luminaries, figures, extras, six soloists, a ballerina, a prima.
Today there are no figurants and extras, but the rest of the artists dance strictly according to the hierarchy.
There is a second corps de ballet, a first corps de ballet, luminaries.
The ballet uses French terminology, although in France itself, terms in Italian were initially used.
But now almost all swings and kicks, turns, jumps have a name in French. And the word corps de ballet means, translated from it, the composition of the ballet, which dances group dances.
Does everyone want to be soloists?
The more famous the theater, the higher the requirements for artists. For example, not just skillful dancers are recruited into the corps de ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. They take into account height, external data, the length of arms, legs, so that everythingTogether they looked beautiful, and not just each separately. In the best ballets "La Bayadère", "Giselle", "Swan Lake" the corps de ballet performs magnificent compositions that for hundreds of years have thrilled the audience with their beauty.
To break into the soloists of the corps de ballet, in addition to rehearsals and performances, you need to learn solo parts in your free time. If good results are achieved, the artist will be able to get a role in the play.
Chorus de ballets perform in opera, operettas, music halls. Not everyone is destined to become soloists, not everyone dreams about it. What is the corps de ballet for many of its artists? They enjoy life by dancing. They can practice their favorite art and perform on the best stages in the world. It is a great honor to be a corps de ballet dancer in a famous world-class theater.
