Ballet Backstage Secrets: Top Etiquette & Best Practices for Dancers | Pro Tips & Tricks Revealed
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- Опубликовано: 14 апр 2023
- With recital/year end performances coming up, we wanted to give you guys a few secrets to backstage success with our comprehensive guide on our top etiquette and best practices every ballet dancer needs to know! In this video, we dive into essential tips and tricks that will help you maintain a professional and harmonious environment behind the scenes by respecting the stage, keeping a clean and organized dressing area, honoring fellow dancers and crew members, and more!
This video is perfect for ballet dancers of all levels, from beginners to seasoned pros. Watch the whole video so you don't miss out on these backstage insights.
Thanks for watching today's video!
Grace to you,
J&E
p.s. LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more ballet-nerd content!
#BalletBackstage #DancerEtiquette #BalletTips"
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In my experience in Russia 🇷🇺 Ukraine 🇺🇦 and Romania 🇷🇴/ Eastern Europe as well as companies run in the Bolshoi style, the backstage is run like a very polite well structured army: just because the stage manager says “places, please!” that’s an order not a suggestion. You always say please and thank you. My experience is always having a quick change area stage left (a space covered by curtains where you go in and the wardrobe mistresses will change you completely in sometimes 30 seconds or less); on the same left side of the stage there’s a large table with a taped grid on it where all props/headpieces have the name of role and dancer (you’re responsible for returning your props/headpieces to the same spot!). On the topic of merde, in Europe you reply to merde with another merde. You also gift your partner or if you’re dancing in a trio (pas de trois Paquita, Shades, Odalisques etc) with a small token of good luck also called merde. The curtain calls are as rehearsed as the performance. If someone drops something onstage that can become a hazard and you can work in to your role to pick it up or kick out of the way, you must do it. Finally the most important rule: if the conductor is playing you dance no matter what (unless you’re literally unable to do so!) and of course never let them see you sweat! Merde à vous!
These are thoughtful and really great points you shared. The props table is so good to keep every in order for the show. Love the “polite army” analogy, that’s exactly how it is 👍🏻😂. And yes, 💯 on dancing when the music is playing! Merde!
@@balletreign ✊🏻🩰
Ex ballet dancer here. The fact that I yelled “space boooooots” by myself at home at the same time as Eden at 14:16 killed me. Your channel obviously brings me back. Thank you for your hilarious, fresh take on ballet content!
YESSSSS 🙌🙌🙌 Love this, made Eden’s day 😂 Glad to have you here! #spacebootsupremacy
Tell me why I read space boooots as a long version of space bots and was wondering what was going to transpire in the next ten minutes
One of my old dance teachers used to constantly tell people off for touching/adjusting costumes on stage and as a result it's become my pet peeve.
😂 our costume mistress was the exact same way lol
So interesting that the dance world uses “merde”! I’m a French Canadian set designer and we still use “merde” in the francophone theatre world! Although the explanation I’ve always heard for it was closer to the explanation for break a leg, the thought being that if you wish someone shit, then they’ll get the opposite! The superstition still stands that you’re not supposed to say thank you when someone wishes you merde. The response I hear the most often is “je le prends” which translates to “I’ll take it”.
Hi, glad to have you here 👋 🇨🇦 Great insights on the theater world. Never heard of that reply, but we like that a lot!! Might start using that one.😉😉 Thank you for sharing, love this
Same in Peru, we huddled and shout “mierda”! before starting the performance
Interesting hearing it from a Dancers perspective with all the small differences that it has with Musical Theatre. I wish we used Stage Left and Stage Right we have Prompt and OP which as a newbie is the most confusing thing to imagine. Prompt is Stage Left and is named such because that is where actors in the past would receive prompts if they forgot one of their lines. OP stands for Opposite Prompt (because theatre people were feeling really creative that day) and is Stage Right.
We're also encouraged to go mingle with the audience after the show (at least all of my productions have been so far, maybe we're just the weird ones) and it's seen as a pretty selfish thing to avoid interacting with the audience since they paid to come see you perform and are what allow you to do so.
Dressing rooms for musical theatre are absolute Chaos, especially if you are in a production that is very lead heavy with the ensemble off-stage for most of one of the acts. I have way too many photo's of cast mates being absolute lunatics while desperately hoping the time comes for us to FINALLY be on stage after nearly an hour of doing nothing. That being said, the Sound Lock is a sacred place where talking and noise will be punished at after parties with severe judgement and forced Karaoke. With the whole "break a leg" that's not really a thing in Australia we say "Chookas Girls" and there is a whole history on that which is just as weird as it sounds so I recommend looking into it.
The Conductor doesn't usually come on stage for their bows as in Musicals the bows are done while the band continues to play but everyone on stage will bow to the Conductor as thanks for putting up with us and making us sound good. Seriously, the Conductor and the band never gets enough credit.
It's good to know that no matter which stage production you are apart of the rule is 'Early is Late, Really Early is the bare minimum, Arriving at sunrise is preferred'. NEVER be late. I would sooner face down a rabid grizzly bear than look into the eyes of the musical director if I was late to a performance.
WOW loved reading your experience and thoughts on this. Didn’t realize there were so many differences from ballet and musicals/theater! The one thing we do relate with is timeliness. Def would take a ravenous grizzly bear over coming to stage call late 😂
Your comment was both hilarious and informative! I looked up “chookas” and found an article on Australian theatre, which was pretty amusing.
I had no idea grizzlies lived in Australia. Did they float there on icebergs? Gravity is stronger in the southern hemisphere so if they got on an iceberg in Alaska, they could just ride the Humboldt Current to the Gold Coast. I know that’s how beavers got to Australia where they mated with ducks and became platypodes. They love Australia and refuse to move home to Canada because it was cold and they had to gnaw on trees all day to build lodges. Apparently they prefer languishing in tropical heat instead. Their duck bills prevent them from gnawing on anything and they appear grateful they don’t have to work anymore. Science has recently reclassified platypodes into the sloth family.
Canada is miffed. They have withdrawn their ambassador from Canberra and are contemplating appointing a new national animal, and possible retaliation against Australia. The upcoming Aussie Rules Ice Hockey match should be interesting.
But I have digressed from the topic of backstage etiquette in musical theater, and how it is different from ballet. Thank you for your input. I have nothing to contribute on that subject, which you may have noticed, but I am enjoying learning!
I wonder if the 'prompt' & 'op' is an Australian thing? I have been in the theater in the US for a couple decades and we've always used stage left and stage right. It's always cool to hear about how others do the same culture.
This is great information and usually the stuff that you learn by initially messing it up.
BTW, here's another "don't do" that I did during my first stage performance: Don't argue with other performers on stage! Okay, I was only 4 or 5 years old and had completed my lovely solo as Mary with the Little Lamb. I was supposed to sit quietly on stage with other Mother Goose characters, and I knew where my mark was! And I was confident that I knew where another dancer's mark was, too, so I told her about it and she told me about it and apparently we were the most "memorable" characters in the opening Act of that recital! 😂😂😂😂
Thank you, glad this helps! Your story made us laugh- so adorable, 4-5 yr olds are the cutest on stage 😂
I am not sure if this is just an Australian tradition, but some of us say Chookas! before a show which comes, like merde, from olden times. It comes from when chickens were a special treat to eat and if a theatre was full the performers could afford a delicious chicken, or 'chook' in Australian slang for dinner. Some performers would call out 'Chook it is!' which is now abbreviated to chookas. I say it all the time to my fellow performers and friends.
That’s so cute! 😂 thanks for sharing that! 🐓
I would love to see a video of etiquette for the audience. There's something performers hate or love from the audience? Thanks. I love all your videos! 💕
Great suggestion! There are a few things we can cover for audience etiquette. Thanks for your request, we will consider that in a future video ♥️😊
Great vid! The "left over right" rule reminded me of a trip to Japan where I wore a Yukata with right side over left, which was apparently a faux pas. I was told the way to remember the correct to way was to think of "left over rice", lol.
I did musicals growing up (coming back to ballet as an adult though!) and we also had the rule about not letting the audience see you haha
Yes!! The magic of the performance must be preserved on all kinds of stages 👍🏻. Thank you for sharing your experience!! ❤️❤️
My heart sank for a moment when it came to "left over right layer". LOL🤣
Last week I sewed a pull on wrap skirt with fixed layers for my ballet training, having no clue about that layer rule.
When it came to that left over right rule in your video I jumped in alarm, ran to my closet and checked the layering of my new ballet skirt.
Pewh! That was a close shave! It's left over right. ;-))) 😜😇
Concerning upcoming performances:
Yes! In june! I am a 53 year old hobby dancer. After 13 years with no opportunity to do so, I will dance on stage again together with my recreational ballet group. We will perform a classical ballet pice choreographed by my ballet teacher. I am sooo excited!
P.S.: I Love your videos! ❤
Greetings from Germany
This made us laugh so hard!! But glad you serendipitously sewed it correctly 😂
Hope the show goes well for you and the others!! We’re sure y’all will do great 👍🏻❤️
Best from TX! 🤠🤠
@@balletreign ❤
@@balletreign We are done! Had our stage perfomance today. It was great! I took every "rule" from your video to heard.
Dress rehersal was chaotic, as it should. 🤣
The performance in front of a sold-out house went very well. The audience was great. Gave me goosebumps over and over again. I am sooo excited!
At the ballet school/student company I danced at our stage left and stage right were reversed.
We were taught that they were always from the audience's perspective. However, I think that it's becoming more common to refer to that as audience/house left or right.
That's what I learned long ago also.
Dancers! Do you have any tips for #backstagelife? We’d love to hear your experiences and how you guys prep for a show. We know you guys have your own pre-show and post-show routines so pls share ;) As always, thank you all for watching with us 😊
Break a leg comes from the curtain call at the end - the more the audience claps the more the curtain lifts for the cast to bow and the curtain is on a leg that would break if the audience kept clapping
Wow thank you for that info! Never knew about that before 😄
This is so helpful! And I do agree that dancers should be kind to eachother, even if it’s not a show. I remembered when I first started my studio’s company, and it seemed like everyone knew eachother, and now, me and my level have all became like a family. I am doing my company’s modern show titled “Evolution of… Dance in America” in about a week and I’m very excited yet so nervous lol! After that, it would be recitals and our auditions. I also do come from the musical theater world, so saying break a leg at a performance is just second nature to me, so it’s interesting listening to other things to say other than that. Thank you so much and i love your videos!
Congrats on your show!! Hope it went well 🥳🥳. Unity between students/dancers is sooo important and it is such a special thing. You’re very blessed! Thanks so much for watching, we’re glad you found it helpful! ☺️❤️
It's interesting that in ballet the conductor of the orchestra is escorted onto stage! I'm an actor and in musicals usually we just extend our hands towards the orchestra (and of course tech booth) after all bows are taken.
Another charming and educational video! I learned a number of things of which "merde" is easily the most culturally useful. Merci!
In addition to "break a leg," I've heard that actors are definitely absolutely not supposed to say "MacBeth" and instead say "the Scottish play." I saw that on an episode of the UK comedy "Blackadder III" which is extremely hilarious and I highly recommend it!
Although I'm not a performer, I understand the concept of having to work as a team in order for everybody (the company, store, small business, restaurant, park, brand, whatever) to look good to the public. I was almost kind of surprised how you said you all have to work together, to be mindful of the needs of other performers, and of the performance in general, and the amount of respect you showed your partner etc. because I've obviously been watching too much TV and I assumed people would be taking advantage of juicy opportunities for drama and backstabbing and fun stuff like that but it's good to hear that it's not officially encouraged, and I also thought I would use this as an opportunity to write the longest and most unnecessary sentence ever in one of your videos' comment sections. Thank you. 😌
Well, ladies, I have had a blast, and I'm already looking forward to your next video! Your sense of humour and editing was en pointe as usual! 😍🙏🩰👏❤️💐💐
Aww thank you so much for your comment, long sentences and all!! 😂 We love reading your experiences and insights and appreciate your kindness as always ❤️🩰
@@balletreign You are very generous, thank you! 😄❤
this is true you never say Macbeth in a theatre. Theres a long bizarre ritual to undo it if you accidentally slip. I cant remember it now...anyone else?
@@shawnlilybodhi2200 idk if this applies in the real world, but the UK comedy Blackadder III had an episode in which this Macbeth superstition featured. The actors had to do a hand-clapping routine along with the words.
Pasted from imdb:
“Blackadder : Good lord, you mean you have to do *that* every time I say *Macbeth*?
[the actors] Keanrick , Mossop : Aahhhhh. Hot potato, off his drawers, pluck to make amends.”
idk how about other countries but in many places in Poland we have 3 rings before show - first around 10-15 minutes before, second is double and it is 5-10 minutes before start and third rings 3 times 1-5 minutes before show. last 15 minutes is a panic mode and audience also hear those rings so they know that the concert/spectacle is about to start
Hi 👋 🇵🇱 Glad to have you here! We love learning how it’s done in other countries. We don’t get the three rings here, but that would definitely add to the pre-show panic 😂
My studio is doing Swan Lake in early June, and I'm so excited! I haven't been onstage since November, so it'll be great to be back.
Wow congrats!! Swan Lake is one of our absolute all-time faves. Such a privilege to dance in it! Wising you the best on your return to the stage 🙌🏻❤️
P.S. We did make a video on Swan Lake that you might like to watch if you haven’t already 😉😉
@@balletreign Thank you! I think your Swan Lake video was actually the first video of yours I watched, and now I'm hooked 😂
Aww that’s awesome!! So glad to have you here 😆😆💕
Hiya! I've only been a dancer for a few years now I'm performing at the end of this week! I just wanted to say thank you for posting! content like this is SO HELPFUL! There are so many unspoken "common courtesies," that are just not common knowledge, and, as a dancer who doesn't have a lot of more-advanced dancers at our studio to mentor me/us, it's really amazing to have the youtube community through which to grow my/our knowledge! (As an adult dancer amongst younger students, I'm often able to be a mentor for my younger friends as well! So thanks again for sharing!
Yay! You’re so welcome, so glad this video was helpful! We love sharing and all about helping each other out as dancers 😊 How was your performance?!
@@balletreign It went well, thanks for asking! I am also not performing en pointe yet so maybe there isn't as much pressure to succeed (I started dancing when I was already an adult)? I don't know.. but if it keeps me from feeling nervous than I'm fine with it!
Having danced and performed (various styles) for around 50 years now, I have been surprised a few times that dancers never heard of saying "merde"! I have also been at a few unconventional performance spaces that only had one large group dressing area and so it was everyone (male and female) together changing clothes. Also, fun fact, for Butoh performances, once you start applying your white make up before a performance you don't speak after that until you remove it!
I remember missing the 5 minute call ..i was in the dressing room running my mouth and being absent minded ..i remember hearing my number and thinking this music is very familiar lol all i can say is no one was happy coz i never turned up for it plus the number had partner work lol
You both are adorable and beautiful!
Aw, thank you so much ☺️ Glad to add some ballet nerd content to your day ;)
Now, I'm a musician and haven't danced on stage for close to a decade at this point, but in France, for stage directions, it's "côté cour" and "côté jardin". Literally means "courtyard side" and "garden side". It comes from the theatre the Comédie Française operated out of from 1770 to 1799, the *Salle des Machines* in the Tuileries Palace, in Paris. One side of the theatre opened on the courtyard, and the other on the gardens, and so it eventually stuck. Cour is stage left/audience right, jardin is stage right/audience left, and there's a few mnemonic devices to help you remember it :)
One I like is Julius Caesar Rex. Looking from Rex, the régie (light booth, in the room, faces the stage), you've got JC, so jardin to your left, and cour to your right. When you're on stage, it's "côté coeur, côté cour", or "heart side, courtyard side", because of the sound similarity between "coeur" and "cour".
As to good luck wishes, I haven't used merde in ages, I think it's more of a theatre/dance thing than it is a thing in the classical music world, these days. What's more commonly used is "Toï toï toï", regardless of whether anyone in the room is actually German ! But I do think it's more commonly used in situations where the conductor or a bunch of people in the room aren't actually French. I'm not quite sure where it comes from, some theories say it might be linked to "Teufel", the German for devil. I really like "Toï-toï-toï", nice conductors will gather their musicians right before entering the stage, deliver a little pep talk, and conclude it by that !
Hi this is useful and we love learning ballet performance etiquette from other countries and cultures/languages. Thank you for sharing! 😊
Ladies, your videos are an entertainment highlight I look forward to weekly.
It seems that you also have a genuine love of the rich music of ballets. Variations and steps aside, would you ever consider sharing your favorite tracks from ballets? As an example, while I love the entirety of Giselle, La Bayadere is not a favorite (*scandal*, sorry), but I think the adagio with Gamzatti is one of the most beautiful things I've heard.
That’s a great suggestion! Thank you so much. We’re glad we could share our love for ballet with y’all ❤️
Thanx for the video! I haven’t been on stage for a few years, but my total pet peeve: deodorant sprays in the dressing room. Please, pleas, please don’t use sprays in there. There’s usually enough toxic fumes in there from all the hairspray to keep your hair up.
Thank you again for the video and being a total ballet nerd. (What we in the Netherlands say before performing: toi toi! - pronounced the same as toy toy).
Thanks for sharing! Yes, we’d have to agree 💯 we’d prefer less sprays in the dressing room if at all possible :) Here for less toxic fumes 😊 Appreciate you ballet-nerding with us!
In South Africa, we used to say, “chookas”
but we pronounced it more like “chukkas”. That was back in the late 90’s. Don’t know if it’s still used but as an equestrian now, I still say that rather than “good luck” and definitely NOT “break a leg”….😬
Wonderful content. Can you cover auditions for youth ballet? How does it work? Does everyone learn the same basic steps? For Swan Lake is there a separate audition for swan maidens vs the town people? How do they pick the danseurs who will do the cygnet danse? How often will they cast a girl for a male role (not talking about a major role/protagonist?)
Wowww those are great questions! We’d love to answer these in a future video 😁😁
@@balletreign Thank you so much. Love your content.
Any chance you all would do a video on etiquette/best practices for first-time audience members?
YES! Thank you for this great suggestion! 👍🏻
In theater the standard response to "merde" it "je prends" or "on prend", meaning, "I'll take it" or "we'll take it"
That sounds so much more sophisticated than just “oui” 😂 thank you for sharing! Maybe we’ll try to get the ballet world to adopt that one
My school is doing Thumbalina for our end of the year performance. I’m so excited!
Loved your video. Double checking your and other people's costumes is sooo helpful. I once almost ended in the orchester pit in a kids opera, because I didn't tie my shoe correctly. I can tell you, I never, ever forgot to check my shoe laces before going on stage after this. 😅 🙈
We're doing sleeping beauty and I'm in the garland waltz
So cool! It’s a beautiful piece to dance to. Wishing you a great show! 💕
Love all your posts! (former dancer) Happy to have stumbled across your channel a few weeks back. 💚✨
Welcome!! Thank you so much. We’re so glad you’re enjoying our videos! ❤️❤️
You guys are amazing
Thank you so much ♥️♥️
I love your channel and keep leaving comments for the algorithm ((: great energy and knowledge 🤍🧚♀️🦋
Lol We are so grateful for all of you. Thank you so much! 💕💕
love your videos!!! i’m performing Don Q in a week. ❤
WOW! Congratulations! Would love to hear how the show went!! Don Q is such a fun ballet to watch and perform 🎉🥳
V interesting! ❤
in my shows we usually say toi toi when someone goes on stage, i have never heqrd about merde 🌹 thank you teachers
You’re so welcome, glad you learned something new. We’ll have to use toi toi as well. Thank you for sharing! 💕
Hi. I just found your channel. It looks great! Are you both currently members of a ballet company? I look forward to watching your other videos 😊
Hey there and welcome!! Glad you’re enjoying so far and glad to have u here. (Maybe we’ll answer that in another vid 😉)
Oh my gosh when you did the 5min call I instantly had flashbacks to Nutcracker. It sounded too real lolzzz.
😂😂😂
@@balletreign oh also to add......on the topic of ribbons I do the loop technique for that very reason. I'm always afraid that my ribbons will come out so I now do the loop and it has been the best thing ever.
I guess I knew most of this stuff, but it is fun to hear someone spell it out. I hadn't thought about being careful about walking on backstage halls without shoe coverings to avoid the wax on the floors. I didn't know the correct response to Merde was Oui. I think I also use "Break a Leg" a little too freely for your tastes. You can always learn something.
So glad we could share something new with you! We’re learning new stuff everyday too 🎉. Thank you for watching! 😄😄
I believe it was Gelsey Kirkland who gave the entire bouquet to her partner …
Knew we could count on you! Thank you! 🙌🏻❤️
Yes, Gelsey Kirkland to Kevin McKenzie, performing The Leaves are Fading.
I love your channel! Thanks for the great videos!
Oh I almost forgot to mention the ballet that I'm currently in. I'm doing Rumpelstiltskin and we open May 5th
Omg wow!! Congratulations! Hope the show went well 🎉🥳
Would have loved to see it, we’ve never seen a Rumpelstiltskin ballet before
@@balletreign we are the first to ever do it. Our conductor wrote a whole new score and we were the first to ever dance to it.
That is EPIC you are so blessed to dance to a brand new score! Wow, now we really wish we were there 😂
I have such a big fear of my ribbons coming out I switch to the elastic ribbon loop.
Also, after the curtains fall, you’ll want to celebrate with the company. Please, don’t be too loud, the audience can hear you 😂
Eden looks a lot like Wonyoung from IVE
omg i always thought "break a leg" was the english version of "merde"
(i'm from Brazil, and here we do say merde but in portuguese)
In essence they are pretty much the same 😆. Hello Brazil!! 🇧🇷💕✨
Do you guys not say 'toi, toi, toi'?
We’ve heard of the saying before, but surprisingly we don’t really use it ourselves 🫢 But we’d love to know the meaning of the expression!
@@balletreign I wonder if it's more British. Maybe someone else knows.
I'm pretty sure it's commonly used in continental Europe, apparently it's meant to be spitting noises as in "spit three times to avoid the Devil." 😂
No it’s right over left right? For wrap skirts. That’s how I was taught right!!!! Am I crazy!!!!!!😢
I had no idea non-French dancers said « merde » before a show. I’m not a dancer nor an artist, but as a French person, I was often told « merde » before taking an exam, or anything implying I would need good luck. And I’ve always felt quite embarrassed not being able to say « merci » in return, because it is bad luck indeed, and people seem to care much about this tradition. So I just nod and say « c’est gentil ». Stupidest moment of confusion ever…
Hahaha we can totally relate to that scenario lol it always feels so awkward 😂
3:50 please what is this from 😭🤣
algo comment again
Love it, thank you 😊
I’ve heard the term pedantic multiple times over a few of these videos and was always confused. I’m not sure the presenters know what pedantic means…?? Maybe just using the term in an unfamiliar way or I’m not understanding the context.
Pedantic is related to the word pedant, which is a person who is particular demanding in regards to minutiae and rules, and has common connotations of being demanding in expecting others to stick to those learned rules. Jordan said that preferring a very formally “correct” answer to merde is pedantic, which sounds like appropriate usage of the word to me.
The bit where you said that everybody is friends when it comes to performance time-I can relate so much.
I remember a few times when, on performance day, I was suddenly talking and working closely with dancers that I usually hadn’t been very close to before. It’s like magic 🪄
Yes 💯 so glad you had a positive performance experience. It’s beautiful when the ballet community comes together ❤️Thanks for sharing!
@@balletreign 💕