Developing a character for performance

When performing in a dance production, it can be challenging to really understand your role, especially if you are not in the lead.  Corps parts rarely have individual names, let alone personalities.  It can be a lot of work to develop your character, but it's great chance to be creative, and it will help you give a more enthusiastic performance.
Four corps parts I've done in the past couple of years are Sea Snake in Little Mermaid, Snow in Nutcracker, Garland Girl in Coppelia, and a corps dancer in Gypsies of Esmerelda.  I've approached the roles differently, but I did come up with an individual story for each, and the ways in which I developed my characters illustrate the four main ways in which this can be done.

For Sea Snake, I was dancing the part of an animal.  From my time in rehearsal, I knew my choreography and how my character fit in the overall story.  However, I didn't receive a ton of direction on the personality I should exude on stage.  For that, I turned to YouTube.  I looked up videos (such as the Crocodile Hunter) that showed sea snakes in the wild.  I watched how the animals moved and tried to incorporate that into the way I moved on stage.

For all animal roles, I recommend doing some research and trying to see that animal (in a video or in real life).  Go to the pet store, go to the zoo, or look up a video clip.  It sounds silly, but finding real animal inspiration is really helpful in tying up the loose ends with an animal character.  After watching the snake videos, I was able to perform with situations playing in my head like "I am a snake protecting my den" or "I am a snake investigating something new."   (Note: For pure animal parts, your character development can stop here.  For more anthropomorphic parts, combine this with the next section.)

When I danced as a Garland Girl (my director and friends often called my specific part "purple girl") in Coppelia, my part was one of many different types of townspeople that made up the corps de ballet.  Again, while the steps were provided, individual personality was left up to me.

Since I knew the basics of the story (19th century Germany, rural town, everyone knows everyone), I wrote myself a character that fit in.  I started with a name (Alice, pronounced Elise) and came up with a sort of Facebook profile to provide a simple personality.  Alice is 15 years old, likes flowers and dolls, and dislikes arguing and relationship drama.  Having this little profile as guidance helped me pantomime happiness during the dancing doll scenes and show an angry reaction when characters are fighting.

For Snow in Nutcracker, I was dancing the representation of an inanimate object.  With roles like this, there is no person for which to create a personality.  There's the thing, its essence, and the way it plays into the ballet's story.  In Nutcracker, Snow is a transitional scene, and most of the time it's joyous.  My body language needed to be happy as I performed the choreography.  This is where it helped to have a developed character.

Inanimate objects are tricky because, well, they don't have personalities.  I started thinking about different ways I'd seen snow before, and most of what I came up with was from movies and TV.  Snow is beautifully animated in the movie The Polar Express, and it plays a big part in Game of Thrones.  When I danced, I imagined myself as a little ice crystal in the snow blowing around a train, or falling around fantasy characters' galloping horses.  It helped me stay full of energy through the long and challenging section of fast-moving choreography, and it was pleasant to think about (helped me keep my smile).  If you're portraying a part like a jewel or a flower, think of a representation of that object and how you could apply that to your dancing.

When I danced in the corps of Gypsies of Esmerelda, the director frequently reminded the cast that this ballet is sassy and sexy.  The choreography was a combination of technical/classical and character steps, and some sections involved interacting with other dancers and the audience.  Since I'm naturally a rather shy and quiet person, it was a lot harder to think up a character for this part than it was for Coppelia.  I started thinking about different characters from books and movies in search of a strong, sexy, uninhibited person I could use as inspiration.  I chose Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad.

I didn't want to exactly emulate Harley's mannerisms, but I did use her as a reference.  How would Harley hold her head when watching others dance?  What kind of energy would she exude when running across the stage?  Since the sassy, sexy persona is very different to me, it was extremely helpful to have a fully formed character to pull from when performing my choreography with energy and personality.

To review, the four major methods I use for developing characters are (for animals) look at how the animal actually behaves and apply it to your dancing, (for inanimate objects) look at how that object is portrayed in real life or in media and apply it to your dancing, and (for people) either write your own character or use an established character as a reference.  Regardless of what character you are dancing and how much time you have on stage, an informed and deliberate character will add a lot to the quality of your performance.