Character dance

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Character Dance is a specific subdivision of Classical Dance based on national and folkloric traditions that have been stylized and included in classical ballet.

Many Classical ballets feature Character sections and variations, however, there is no school of Character Dance anywhere outside of Russia and 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.

Most popular in the Classical Character repertoire are the national dances of Hungary, Russia, Poland, and Spain: csárdás, mazurka, flamenco, etc. As an example, the ballet Don Quixote features many Character Variations based on the flamenco dances of Andalusia which have been stylized for Classical Dance performance.

Folk traditions have been incorporated into what is known as ballet for centuries but it was not until Aleksandr Shirayev, Assistant to Marius Petipa, that Character Dance became a unique and codified art-form that takes its rightful place as an integral part of Classical Ballet.

The shoes worn are usually black heels called character shoes. Not tap shoes but heels are worn in this dance.