Character dance 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. 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 ballet Don Quixote as well as La sylphide also features many character variations based on traditional Spanish dances. Popular character dance adaptations for
Pirates of Penzance – The Ballet! sometimes using new lyrics, as the dancers act out the story. In character as audience members, the singers interact with the pirates and police at times. The work, originally titled "Pirates! The Ballet", was created for the Queensland Ballet. The choreographer was Daryl Gray, with orchestration by Henry Aronson and design by Christopher Smith. The world première took place at the Suncorp Theatre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on 12 April 1991. Between 1991 and 1995, Gray slightly restructured the ballet and added 4 singers with musical staging to its cast. The Queensland Ballet performed the revised work in 1996, following