I am writing a story and one of the main characters is a professional ballet dancer (male). I really don't know anything about ballet except for what I've googled so I've got lots of questions from people actually "in the know".
To start out with...my character is in a company (such as The Washington Ballet as the story takes place in DC) and I guess he would be one of the principals since he dances the lead male role? How exactly does that work - how are the characters assigned to dancers? Would he have to audition for each different ballet? (He's been in the company about 10 years) Are lead roles rotated throughout multiple dancers in the company? How far in advance are roles cast? How long does it take to rehearse for the shows?
The two ballets that will be included in the story are Sleeping Beauty and Giselle. I don't know yet if there will be a third.
Thanks for any help. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get further into my plotting...
