How to Help Students Embrace—and Succeed in—Background Roles

In a surprise to no one, students are generally pumped to be cast in solos and featured roles. Background parts where they’re more part of the scenery than the spotlight, however, typically inspire less enthusiasm. Yet this is exactly where most young dancers begin their careers. And it’s just as much a part of what makes a performance magical for audience members. “People in the background are like the description of the setting, if we were reading a book,” says Alberto Blanco, a faculty member at The Sarasota Ballet School.

What’s more, being part of the background takes a very particular set of skills: blending in without looking static, responding to soloists without drawing focus away from them, and shaping the overall space onstage, says Kiyon Ross, associate artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet. But these aren’t the kinds of things students are typically taught in technique class. 

So how can teachers prep students for the challenge—especially when they’re not overly excited about it? Here are the five most helpful tools to focus on. 

Consider the Character

Even if the casting sheet just says “peasant,” encourage students to have some fun coming up with as many details as possible about their character on their own. “Sometimes I even tell dancers to put a name to their character and to find a task—let’s say that I am going to meet this other person for the very first time to do business together,” Blanco says. Their inner script doesn’t have to be set in stone: Ross actually recommends playing with slightly different scenarios each performance to keep things fresh. (Remind them that this is one of the benefits of not having to follow set choreography!) This approach can help a dancer bring their own imagination to the role and act more naturally while they’re at it. 

Focus on Spacing

Choreographers use background performers not only to set the mood but also to fill out the space onstage. So these dancers need to always be aware of exactly where they’re standing and how their positioning relates to other cast members. “I think this new generation of students, perhaps because they spend so much time on their computers or their phones, they are a little less spatially aware,” Blanco says. “A lot of times, I find that kids don’t realize that they’re in a clump and the rest of the stage is empty.”

Learning this kind of awareness starts in class, he adds. Teach students how to use the mirror and their peripheral vision during center and across-the-floor combinations to assess where there are gaps and practice how to create a harmonious formation. 

Teach Dancers When to Be Still

Although dancers shouldn’t be so passive onstage that they look like another set of audience members, remind students that there are moments that call for relative stillness. “For example, in Giselle’s mad scene, there is very minimal movement in the background, as it’s a somber scene where the focus is meant to be fully placed on her,” says Boston Ballet II dancer Natalia Cardona. “It’s all about ‘reading the room,’ so to speak.” 

Don’t Forget the Eyes

Focus can be a particularly powerful tool that background dancers can leverage: Where they look can help direct the audience’s attention to where a choreographer wants it. “Is this a moment where you should be looking at the principal couple, or is this a moment where you’re trying to create a micro-world within this larger world?” Ross asks dancers. 

This also includes the way dancers project. “I focus more on interacting with other dancers and my surroundings when I’m in the background, and although I never lose my link with the audience, I make more of an effort to connect with them when it’s time to dance center stage,” Cardona says. 

Think About the Size of Movements

A common mistake among young dancers in the background is to overact. “Doing more is not necessarily better,” Ross says. To keep dancers from overshadowing the main action, Blanco has them dial in their energy levels: When they’re dancing full-out at the front of the stage they might be giving 100 percent, but once it’s time to transition to a background role, they should bring that down to around 50 or 30 percent. “In the background, they need to be engaged but restrained,” he says. “It’s a little exercise of like, ‘Okay, can you do the same movement, the same expression that you’ve just done, but perhaps with less volume?’ ” 

Musical theater choreographer Stephanie Klemons adds that background dancers are typically used to amplify whatever’s happening center stage. So remind students to think about how their actions are helping to accomplish that, rather than draw attention to themselves. “It takes a generous spirit,” she says.