Corps de ballet

The corps de ballet are a group of dancers in a ballet company who are not soloists. They perform as a group (the Flowers in the "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker, for example) and at other times as a backdrop for the soloists (the peasants in the mad scene from Giselle).

Corps De Ballet Media

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  In this scene from Swan Lake, the corps de ballet is forming a "V" at the front of the stage. They are directing attention to the principal dancer in the spotlight. The dancers behind her are also corps de ballet and form a backdrop.

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  This 1877 Degas painting, Ballet at the Paris Opéra, features not only the soloist but the corps de ballet.

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  Edgar Degas - Ballet Rehearsal on Stage (1874)