Variation

The ballet world that Allie Rousseau and her family are entrenched in is central to Variation. After Allie suffers a potentially career-ending injury, she recognizes the competition and pressure that ballet often puts on dancers, allowing her to escape from that world and be truly happy for the first time. To understand Allie’s character development in the novel, two important components of ballet must be understood: its competitive structure and the ruthless demands of competing at the elite level of the sport.

Ballet structures its dancers into three main categories: the corps, the soloists, and the principal dancers. The corps makes up the majority, serving as an entry point that allows “aspiring dancers to hone their skills, technique, and artistry in the early stages of their careers” (Chhabra, Dyumna. “Careers in Ballet: Understanding a Ballet Company Hierarchy.” The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet, 28 May 2024). In the novel, Eva is in the corps, which offers insight into why she chooses to use June’s parentage to extort Vasily: She is looking to move beyond the corps and play a more pivotal role in the ballet, as well as make a better name for herself.

The soloists rank above the corps and perform by themselves rather than in a group.