Ballet Vs Musical Theatre

There are many styles of dance, and they all require different skill sets. The two styles of dance that I am discussing today are both styles that tell a story on stage over multiple hours, introducing many different characters and having a beginning, middle and end. However, going to see, and training to perform in ballet and musical theater are two very different experiences.
Ballet is one of the oldest dance styles and, while it tells a story, there is no speaking, singing or any other words to be said. You portray a story through very complex movements that take a lifetime of practice to get perfectly. You wear specific shoes so that you can go on pointe and, while sometimes you get a main part and play a character, you could also be part of a main group of ballerinas who dance to set the theme. The most important part of ballet is technique, and there is little room for personal and emotional interpretations. …show more content…
Musical theater is a very textured dance style that is much more about style of movement than traditional technique. In musical theater, you are telling a story through song, as well as dance so you might also be singing along with your dance. In musical theater, you are always playing a character and, depending on what is going on in the story, the style of dance might change. At a point where the story is fun and happy, the style might be more hip hoppy but where the story is more sad, it might be more lyrical. Musical theater is much more about using dance to assist a story and set the