Character Dance

Character Dance
Character Dance is a specific subdivision of classical ballet.  It is the stylized representation of a traditional folk or national dance, mostly from European countries, and uses movements and music which have been adapted for the theater.  Character dance is integral to much of the classical ballet repertoire. A good example of character dance within ballet is the series of national dances which take place at the beginning of Act III of Swan Lake. The ballets Don Quixote, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Raymonda, and Nutcracker also feature many character variations. Popular character dance adaptations for ballet also include the national dances of Hungary, Russia, Poland, Italy and Spain:czardas, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco, etc. One of the best known schools that incorporate character dance to teaching syllabus is the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Outside of Russia and the former republics of the late Soviet Union, there is little training in the art of character dance. However, it is still widely taught in the United Kingdom and Australia and in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary) and it is integral to the training of students at the Royal Ballet School and the Australian Ballet School. It is also taught as a separate skill within the graded examinations syllabus of the Royal Academy of Dance.