What Is Character Dance?
Character dance is a specific subdivision of classical dance. 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. Character dance classes are much like a ballet class in that they begin with a complete barre before going to the center, except everything will be in a specific cultural style. This teaches students diversity in movement and frees the body for ultimate expression.
You will not find this level of character dance training anywhere else. Artistic Director, Svetlana Waisman, trained under Ludmila Mihalina in Voronezh, Russia.
Character Today
One of the best known schools that incorporate character dance to teaching syllabus is 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) where 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, Statni Konzervator Praha. Most performing companies or schools elsewhere are not familiar with the history or technique of this style. Therefore, the term “Character Dance” is often used in misleading ways that have no bearing to the original definition in ballet terminology. Temecula Ballet is passionate about sharing this rarely seen art form with American culture. Come join us for a free trial class and see what is to love about about character dance!
Syllabus
Students at Temecula Ballet will train in styles such as Spanish (flamenco), Russian, Hungarian (czardas), Polish (mazurka), Ukrainian, Italian (tarantella), German Polka, Jewish, Gypsy, and many more.
Students will not only train in character dance, but they will also have the opportunity to perform character dance numbers as well. You will find character dance incorporated into all of Temecula Ballet’s productions.
Attire
Character dances are usually performed in shoes or boots, with a suede sole and a small heel. Men typically wear black character boots and women typically wear a flesh colored shoe with a larger, more feminine heel, but sometimes black shoes too.
Students at Temecula Ballet may order character shoes from Russia through the studio. These are different than American “character shoes.” They are made with a flexible sole and shorter wide set heel. Dancers are discouraged from purchasing American “character shoes” as they are very uncomfortable for traditional character dance.