Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina

Every standard professional ballet company is organized into a strict hierarchy based on a combination of skill and seniority.

1. Artistic Director: This position oversees all aspects of selection and training of dancers, promotions, curating the programs and performances, etc. The artistic director often reports to a board of trustees, usually wealthy patrons who provide funding for the company and fiscal and organizational oversight.
2. Ballet Master/Mistress: Below the artistic director are a handful of ballet masters/mistresses, usually former principal dancers who deal with day-to-day training. They have some say in casting and may oversee the staging of one or more ballet performances each season.
3. Principal Dancer: The principal dancers (men and women) are the most skilled dancers in the company. Though there is some level of seniority involved, the principal dancers are selected based on their skill and stage presence. The precise number of principal dancers depends on the size and prestige of the company. ABT currently has 18 principal dancers. The principals receive the starring roles in most major ballets and will often be chosen for solos and duets in competitions.
4. Soloist: Soloists are just below principal dancers in both skill and hierarchy. As their name implies, soloists do solo performances in ballet productions and competitions. They will also understudy for principals in starring roles. Many dancers are promoted to soloist and never reach principal status; however, becoming a soloist is a necessary first step to being promoted to principal.
5. Corps de Ballet: The corps de ballet is the main body of the ballet company (corps means “body” in French). The vast majority of dancers will be members of the corps. They perform the group dances, usually as a backdrop for the soloists and principals. Every dancer hired permanently by a company starts here and hopes to be promoted to soloist.
6. Studio Company: The studio company is a steppingstone from the academy for ballet students to the corps de ballet. A small number of promising students from the academy are invited each year to join the studio company for a year, where they receive more training and showcase their abilities in a kind of apprenticeship in hopes that they will then be offered a full-time position in the corps de ballet.

In ballet, the barre is the name of both the horizontal handrail used in ballet classes to help dancers maintain their balance and the training regimen of the discipline of ballet, which includes strength and balance exercises and learning new positions. It is the foundation of all ballet training. Every class begins with barre work.