Have you ever noticed how professional ballet companies will assign titles to their dancers? We are here to explain what those titles mean and how you can use that information to understand what the expectations are for each rank and title below. This post focuses on company rankings mostly within the United States, but a lot of companies around the world use similar ranking styles.
The Traditional Path of a Dancer
Ballet Ranking 1- Trainee and/or Second Company
A dancer's first journey into the professional world begins with an invitation to join a Trainee program or Second Company. I have included them both together here as they are used the same way for most companies. A Trainee-ship is nowadays the first step a dancer takes into becoming a professional ballet dancer. Trainee programs vary greatly depending on what the company has outlined as the roles and responsibilities for their program. Some trainees will train directly with their associated company's professional members while others will have a separate trainee class offered. Some trainee programs will have their trainees attend regular pre-professional school classes instead of training with the company. Some trainee programs are viewed as the bottom of the professional career ladder for the affiliated company while others view trainees as the top of the pre-professional school division. Some programs pay their trainees a stipend while others charge trainees to participate in the program. In many trainee programs, trainees are expected to perform corps roles with the professional company, perform with the school in their productions, and participate in outreach programs to the local neighborhood. There are some companies that use both a trainee level and a second company.
These two positions are used as a bridge between the pre-professional student world and becoming a professional company member. The program is usually a full day's worth of classes and rehearsals, from 8:00-4:00 or whatever the time frame is set as, Monday through Friday. A typical contract runs August through May, but this varies greatly based on the length of the season of the professional company. Most trainee positions last between 1-2 years in which the dancer is either offered a position in the company or let go to find other opportunities.
Almost every aspiring dancer (at least in the United States) starts their career as a trainee or in a second company. Trainee-ships allow a company to get to know a potential professional dancer, see their work ethic, and observe if they would be a good fit for the company. A dancer needs to have advanced technical skills to get into one of these programs. Once inside though, competition is very fierce to be seen among the crowd. It can be difficult to be seen in these programs when companies take in 16-20 trainees, only to have company roles for about 4 of them, and only have 1 available promotion to give for the next season. Many aspiring dancers drop out at this level if they find that they are unable to move past a trainee-ship or second company rank.
Trainee-ships and second companies are seen in almost every large and medium sized company including Ballet West, San Francisco Ballet, Colorado Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Met, Milwaukee Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet Arizona. While trainees are listed as a rank or program either within the company or the school, a second company will sometimes look like its own entity on a website (Ballet West II).
Ballet Ranking 2- Apprentice
Many would consider an Apprentice position to be the first "real" level of a professional company. Before trainees and second companies were used in the ballet world, the apprentice rank was the level where most dancers started out. The apprentice rank is viewed like a company's way of expressing interest in hiring a dancer into the main body of the company after the dancer has gained a bit more experience with the company repertoire and culture. Companies will usually have a handful of dancers in this rank, with the idea that eventually they will move up into the Corps de Ballet in a season or two. Apprentices are usually paid a wage, though rarely is it a living wage, and depending on the contract, might not even meet minimum wage. These dancers will perform alongside the main company in corps positions but would most likely not be offered soloist roles unless expressly chosen by a guest choreographer.
Ballet Ranking 3- Corps de Ballet
The Corps de Ballet makes up the largest rank of the company as it is often viewed as the backbone of a professional ballet company. Corps dancers work together and dance together in the large group sections of ballets. The Corps members usually dance in group ensemble pieces, perform in every show, and occasionally will have the opportunity to dance soloist roles or cover for lead roles. For a significant number of dancers who become professionally ranked, they will spend the majority of their time as a Corps member throughout the span of their career. Dancers in this rank will most likely still not make a livable wage depending on the company, length of contract, and location involved.
Ballet Ranking 4- Soloist
The rank of a soloist is viewed as a bridge between dancing in the Corps and being promoted to do more featured roles. The amount of soloists hired in a company varies depending on the company's needs. Some will only have a few select soloists with a preference for more principals while others will have more soloists and fewer principal dancers. Soloists tend to be the "jack of all trades" with regards to casting. They could be cast in an ensemble with the corps, they could receive special solo roles, or they could even be cast in a leading role if the need is great. Many companies will use the soloist rank as a means to provide further development and preparation for a dancer who is on a career path to become a principal dancer. Soloists tend to make more money than members of the Corps, but may still struggle to survive solely off of their dancer salary.
Ballet Ranking 5- Principal
The principal dancer is the highest rank in any company, and is reserved for the best of the best in the company. Most companies will have a select few principal dancers that they rely on to perform the leading roles in full length productions. Principals can be the veterans of the company, having learned all the roles and gradually risen up through the ranks over time, but they can also be the young prodigy dancers who quickly shot up through the ranks due to their amazing talents and performance qualities. The status of a Principal dancer is one that most dancers aspire to be, as it brings the best roles and most acclaim to their performance career. Principal dancers will make a modest salary for the area they live in.
Over the last 50 years or so, professional companies have created different ways to identify the professional rank of a dancer. Below is a list of non-traditional ranks found within various companies. Their rank numbers are an estimate of where I would assign them if they were to fit in with the ranks listed above.
Ballet Ranking 1- BFA and Post Graduate Divisions
Within the professional world, there are a few companies that are affiliated with local colleges that offer degree programs. These training opportunities are viewed similarly to trainee-ships and second companies, with the added benefit of receiving a college education and possibly a degree for the time put into the program. On a personal note, I wish more professional companies would offer these programs so dancers would benefit more from the first several years trying to break into the professional world. The downside to these programs is that dancers may feel trapped to finish the degree out even if they end up not like the professional company or college affiliated.
-As seen with Boston Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Ballet West, Richmond Ballet
Collective Ranking Group 3- Company Dancer/Member/Artists and Leading Company Dancer/Member Artist
Some companies have decided to do away with the dancer ranking altogether, and instead list all of their dancers as Company Members (or some variation of it.) One of the main justifications was to not limit dancers to certain parts due to their rank in the company, but to make all parts available for those who have the right aptitude for the role. Critics of this style of ranking suggest that it loses any sense of motivation for dancers to work harder so that they can move up in the ranks. Additionally, some companies who have this ranking system still have 'stars' who would never be cast in corps roles, even if they are all technically the same rank. Others enjoy this approach to company rankings as it rewards those who might be the right fit for a certain role even if they aren't a designated principal dancer. A few companies, such as Milwaukee Ballet, have added an additional layer to this style of ranking by having a two tiers- Artist and Leading Artist.
-As seen with Ballet Arizona, Joffrey Ballet, Nevada Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet
Ballet Rank 3.5- Demi-Soloist, First Soloist, or any other variation on a Soloist
Sometimes companies will want to further differentiate their dancers into ranks the further up the dancer moves through the company. This is mostly done in very large companies where it is helpful to have defined ranks for casting purposes. A demi-soloist would be the rank below a traditional soloist and would be used for a dancer who is beginning to receive more soloist opportunities and moving out of the corps ranks. A first soloist would be above a normal soloist rank, and would be for a dancer who is being primed to move into a principal position. There may be additional soloist titles out there that have been created but they usually fall within the same spectrum of being a soloist; a dancer who is performing solo roles but is not quite a principal dancer. As see with Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Royal Ballet, English National Ballet