What are character parts?

Character parts (also called character roles) are parts in ballets and other story-based dance productions that rely heavily on pantomime (acting with only the body, not the voice) to carry parts of the show. 

Character parts usually require dance ability, but at a lower level and in a more “folksy” style than soloist and corps roles.  Some character parts in well-known ballets include party parents in Nutcracker.  These characters perform some dance steps, but their main purposes are filling the stage with characters that use their actions to set the scene.  Party scene in Nutcracker wouldn’t feel like a party if the families didn’t arrive and participate in the Christmas festivities.  

Sometimes villains like Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty are also character parts since they rely much more on pantomime than advanced choreography.  Any part that requires a dancer to dress in drag (such as Mother Ginger in the Nutcracker) is a character part.

Usually in local and community productions, young dancers’ parents and adult dance students perform character parts.   In professional companies, dancers alternate character parts with solo and corps work.  A dancer may portray a party mom in the first act of Nutcracker, then change her costume to appear as a mirliton or flower in act two.

Whether performed by a beginner or professional, character parts are fun, easy roles that contribute a lot to the quality of a production.