On Saturday, I was over at the house of one of the girls who plays Odette in Swan Lake (we have a split cast system and a lot of understudies in order to get as many people in as many roles as possible. There are two Odettes and two Odiles, one for each show, and they each understudy at least one princess role). Her mother was fitting me for my swan tutu bodice and handing off sewing work for my mother to do. The girl, Merry, and I were talking about how rehearsal that day had gone, and she was complaining about how hard it was to do Odette while sick. Suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, she stopped and looked at me.

“I just realized- you have to do princesses and little swans in both shows, don’t you?” she asked me.

I simply nodded. This was something that had only occurred to me at least once every day since casting. By now, the knowledge that I had two rather difficult parts and was on stage for most of the show had ceased to bother me much, so it was with some amusement that I watched Merry’s eyes grow wide with horror.

“Please don’t get injured,” she pleaded. “I mean, I know your part, but I don’t think I could do it.”

This brought to mind a long-held belief of mine: that the corps and demi-soloists actually have more work than the soloists, and are extrodinarily under appreciated.

Now, don’t get me wrong- I’m not necessarily saying that the corps are better dancers, or even that they work harder. Soloists are obviously good, hard-working dancers or they wouldn’t be soloists. However, what many people don’t realize is that for every minute a soloist is on stage, a corps member is on for at least twice that. People also assume that being on stage by yourself is harder, when the opposite is actually true. In a solo, there is some room to fudge the timing, or the steps. In a corps dance, however, you have to have exactly the same steps and timing as 20 other people, and be in a perfect line while you all try to dodge each other on the cramped stage.

Sure, soloists have a lost of work and it can be difficult. However, we can’t forget everyone else. Respect the corps- without them, the ballet would be far less impressive.