Age & Level Appropriateness
The first factors to look at when developing your personal repertoire all have to do with age and level. After all, the last thing you want to do as an 11 year old in the first year or so of your pointe work is to try out Black Swan. Therefore, you want to look at what is appropriate for your age and level of strength with your pointe work. I would say that in many cases, if not most, that you wouldn't want to even attempt variations and building a repertoire until at least your second year en pointe, and even then, you'll want to seek the advice and direction from your main ballet instructor as to whether or not you can safely begin variation work. This, of course. is not to say that an aspiring young dancer can't begin variations study on demi-pointe/ flat, but variations are meant to be done on pointe, so even a demi-pointe study should be geared to what you will eventually do en pointe.
It should also be noted that while many instructors say that beginner students (on flat) or a new pointe student (again, I would say at least two years en pointe in most cases, the exception is a dancer that is taking multiple technique and pointe classes in a given week and has the feet/ ankle strength) there are many young dancers, as young as ten years old who want to compete in national ballet competitions. Although the dancer should yield to the instructor's advice on whether they are strong enough, it's also a coach's responsibility to adjust variation choreography to fit the dancer's ability while still maintaining the original elements, hence the title of a variation.
Available at the end of this post is a rough guide for levels and the types of variations that would serve a dancer well to be working on as well as include on their social media resume, and their competitive submissions.
Variety of Character & Emotion
One of the biggest considerations is developing a range of characters within the variations you choose, as well as the range of emotion and depth said characters and variations portray. For example, if you choose to study Giselle, Act I variation, and Aurora Act I variation and La Fille Mal Gardee, there won't be much of a difference in the acting factor of the performance. Of course they are different characters with very different story lines but the dynamic is simply not there to demonstrate a wide range of character depth and emotion. So the objective becomes picking a wide range of characters and "emotional situations" that provide a comprehensive portfolio to your dancing skill beyond technical proficiency.
The expressions of joy and happiness, such as with a peasant or princess type role who has found her true love, is something that is socially acceptable for the younger dancer in most cases. Or fanciful characters like birds and other animals. Many instructors and coaches will hold the position that within many of the ballet/ Broadway stories, a young dancer does't have the maturity and life experience to portray certain roles. I, personally, disagree with this way of thinking. I believe this to be a lazy out for coaches. It's absolutely true that a young person doesn't necessarily have these personal life experiences to draw upon, however, a coach does. A coach should be able to not only explain and articulate some of these experiences (again, keeping in mind age and level appropriateness), but also mentor the dancer in how to mimic and design the lines and facial expressions needed to portray a given character.
It has to be understood, even very early on, that a dancer checks herself at the door upon entry of the studio. Whether that is part of the appeal of dance to begin with or if it has to be a deliberate action and decision for the dancer, this transformation must take place. Whether it be real or, imagined. And honestly, the entire world of the stage is imagined with the assistance of sets, music, costumes, etc. so why would anyone limit a dancer's access to a character simply because she may have never actually fallen in love yet? (Like any of us knew right from left if we ever had actually fallen in love...) Or the feeling of betrayal? Rage? Jealousy? Confinement? Hope? It is usually naive to believe that a teenager doesn't or hasn't felt these things on some level and in some great measures for them to be able to draw into their own character portrayals.
So it is by no means that a certain age, around 14 or older can probably take on most roles. How they portray it and if their lines and facial expressions are properly performed is cultivated by the coach or instructor.
And when seeking that dynamic, the student should be seeking a wide range of joy, anger, loss, betrayal, jealousy, revenge, justice, liberty, generosity, majesty, love found, love lost, coquettish-ness, arrogance, etc. when they are examining the roles and variations to build their repertoire.
The expressions of joy and happiness, such as with a peasant or princess type role who has found her true love, is something that is socially acceptable for the younger dancer in most cases. Or fanciful characters like birds and other animals. Many instructors and coaches will hold the position that within many of the ballet/ Broadway stories, a young dancer does't have the maturity and life experience to portray certain roles. I, personally, disagree with this way of thinking. I believe this to be a lazy out for coaches. It's absolutely true that a young person doesn't necessarily have these personal life experiences to draw upon, however, a coach does. A coach should be able to not only explain and articulate some of these experiences (again, keeping in mind age and level appropriateness), but also mentor the dancer in how to mimic and design the lines and facial expressions needed to portray a given character.
It has to be understood, even very early on, that a dancer checks herself at the door upon entry of the studio. Whether that is part of the appeal of dance to begin with or if it has to be a deliberate action and decision for the dancer, this transformation must take place. Whether it be real or, imagined. And honestly, the entire world of the stage is imagined with the assistance of sets, music, costumes, etc. so why would anyone limit a dancer's access to a character simply because she may have never actually fallen in love yet? (Like any of us knew right from left if we ever had actually fallen in love...) Or the feeling of betrayal? Rage? Jealousy? Confinement? Hope? It is usually naive to believe that a teenager doesn't or hasn't felt these things on some level and in some great measures for them to be able to draw into their own character portrayals.
So it is by no means that a certain age, around 14 or older can probably take on most roles. How they portray it and if their lines and facial expressions are properly performed is cultivated by the coach or instructor.
And when seeking that dynamic, the student should be seeking a wide range of joy, anger, loss, betrayal, jealousy, revenge, justice, liberty, generosity, majesty, love found, love lost, coquettish-ness, arrogance, etc. when they are examining the roles and variations to build their repertoire.
Dynamic of Classical and Contemporary
Ballet and all dance, really is rooted in tradition and what has become generally accepted as the classics. It is important for students/ pre-professionals to master the classics because it demonstrates a palate from which almost everyone can identify with on technical, performance and presence overall to your acumen at achieving a well-known character and conveying that story line to the audience.
Equally as important, however, is being able to convey this translation with a completely new work, hence most contemporary works. Contemporary pieces are typically wide open for the dancer and choreographer. It can be a deeply emotional piece, or completely abstract; it may or may not tell a story; if it doesn't have a story, it may focus solely on designing shapes with the body; music tends to have more modern beats, instruments and sounds, etc. Contemporary pieces may be more liberating from an artistic stand point but it is equally difficult to perform if given the right coaching and direction. In some cases it requires a deeper level of discipline because so many of us are focused on classics from very early on and throughout our dance training.
What You Should Work On vs. What You Should Perform
A common mistake I see both students and coaches making is having a student perform or compete with a variation that is technically above their level before they are ready. This is not to say that a particular variation isn't good for the student to work on to increase their technical proficiency, but if they are still struggling with the steps, they should not compete with it. For example, if you have a dancer who is not a good grande allegro jumper, Gamzatti variation may be a great piece to work on, but not necessarily to compete with, unless the dancer has put about a year or more into working on the piece.
Once you are around 14/ 15 years old and are ready (potentially) to start working on the more advanced variations, be sure you have realistic expectations of the timeline. Most pre-professionals should expect to work on an advanced level variation for about a year prior to competing with it. In this case, this is how your repertoire is steadily built, because you have what you will be working with for that year and what you will be working on in the coming year as well as whatever you did in the past. And of course no one expects perfection from a pre-professional and to perform something that you haven't put that time into may be okay and probably encouraged so you have performance experience with the piece. But as a coach, I recommend a minimum of 6-8 months under your variation belt with a piece before seeking to compete with it. And once you have performed or competed with a piece, it doesn't mean you stop working on it. Anything that you pull into your repertoire, should be kept fresh and something you could easily perform at a moment's notice.
Example Repertoires
Beginner
Bluebird/ Canary
Cupid
Doll
La Esmeralda
La Fille Mal Gardee
Intermediate Variations on demi-pointe
Ballet and all dance, really is rooted in tradition and what has become generally accepted as the classics. It is important for students/ pre-professionals to master the classics because it demonstrates a palate from which almost everyone can identify with on technical, performance and presence overall to your acumen at achieving a well-known character and conveying that story line to the audience.
Equally as important, however, is being able to convey this translation with a completely new work, hence most contemporary works. Contemporary pieces are typically wide open for the dancer and choreographer. It can be a deeply emotional piece, or completely abstract; it may or may not tell a story; if it doesn't have a story, it may focus solely on designing shapes with the body; music tends to have more modern beats, instruments and sounds, etc. Contemporary pieces may be more liberating from an artistic stand point but it is equally difficult to perform if given the right coaching and direction. In some cases it requires a deeper level of discipline because so many of us are focused on classics from very early on and throughout our dance training.
What You Should Work On vs. What You Should Perform
A common mistake I see both students and coaches making is having a student perform or compete with a variation that is technically above their level before they are ready. This is not to say that a particular variation isn't good for the student to work on to increase their technical proficiency, but if they are still struggling with the steps, they should not compete with it. For example, if you have a dancer who is not a good grande allegro jumper, Gamzatti variation may be a great piece to work on, but not necessarily to compete with, unless the dancer has put about a year or more into working on the piece.
Once you are around 14/ 15 years old and are ready (potentially) to start working on the more advanced variations, be sure you have realistic expectations of the timeline. Most pre-professionals should expect to work on an advanced level variation for about a year prior to competing with it. In this case, this is how your repertoire is steadily built, because you have what you will be working with for that year and what you will be working on in the coming year as well as whatever you did in the past. And of course no one expects perfection from a pre-professional and to perform something that you haven't put that time into may be okay and probably encouraged so you have performance experience with the piece. But as a coach, I recommend a minimum of 6-8 months under your variation belt with a piece before seeking to compete with it. And once you have performed or competed with a piece, it doesn't mean you stop working on it. Anything that you pull into your repertoire, should be kept fresh and something you could easily perform at a moment's notice.
Example Repertoires
Beginner
Bluebird/ Canary
Cupid
Doll
La Esmeralda
La Fille Mal Gardee
Intermediate Variations on demi-pointe
Intermediate
Beginner Variations
Kitri Act III
Lilac Fairy
Aurora Act I
Contemporary pieces
Advanced
Intermediate Variations
Odile/ Black Swan
Giselle Act I
Firebird
Mad Scene (Giselle)/ Death Scene (Juliet/ Odette)
Sugarplum Fairy
Contemporary pieces
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