“Corps de Ballet” – the “body of ballet.” The corps de ballet is an essential and crucial part of a ballet performance. No grand, and often not even small, genuine ballet performance can exist without the corps de ballet. A good corps de ballet is the pride of any company. And it is precisely these traditions – the traditions of a strong corps de ballet – that companies must preserve.

“Corps”… What an ugly word! Almost an insult. Where did it come from? I often hear this from the directors of various theaters. And I always correct them!

The corps de ballet is not just participants in a crowd scene. They are highly trained professionals.These are people who have spent most of their childhood and youth, practicing in ballet schools all day long, striving for the perfect body, developing dance technique, the beauty of movement, and acting skills. These are performers who practice and rehearse daily for 6-8 hours to maintain their professional form, achieve synchronization in group dance scenes, attain unified breathing, and find the imagery and character of their roles. And in the evening, they go on stage to become the “body of ballet.”

Unified arm height, perfect alignment in poses, unified breathing… And all this within the laws of classical dance. Or in the style set by the choreographer. How is this achieved? To achieve unity in the corps de ballet, it takes years of nurturing and growth. Yes, years! And to be proud, proud of your performers! Proud of your company. I always say with pride: “We have a unified corps de ballet in our troupe.”

So, there is no “corps” in the theater. There are ballet artists. Unfortunately, we often fail to uphold the standard – the standard of the Russian ballet theater, its level of corps de ballet. This is often related to tours, especially abroad. As if it will pass as is. The fame of Russian ballet is great; they will accept it anyway.

Without the corps de ballet, no matter how magnificent the soloists are, there will be no true performance. What you’ll get is just a show. The soloists may receive applause and shouts of “bravo,” but the essence of the production will be missing.

© Konstantin Uralsky