comedy ballet

6.2

A ballet that tells a funny story using dance

noun
/ˈkɒmədi bəˈleɪ/

Specialized

: ballet cómico

The new comedy ballet delighted audiences with its witty storyline and playful choreography.

Examples

Many classical comedy ballets use exaggerated movements to create a light-hearted mood.
She loves watching comedy ballets with her friends.
Comedy ballet emerged in the 18th century as choreographers sought to blend humor and dance.
The new comedy ballet was a huge success!
The new comedy ballet delighted audiences with its witty storyline and playful choreography.
Many classical comedy ballets use exaggerated movements to create a light-hearted mood.
Comedy ballet emerged in the 18th century as choreographers sought to blend humor and dance.

How Comic

comedy ballet

Specialized

6.2

modern ballet

1 4.1

ballet

240 3.3

Surface Forms

comedy ballet singular

comedy ballets plural

Morphology

comedy + ballet

The meaning is directly compositional: 'comedy' modifies 'ballet' to indicate a ballet with humorous or comic elements. This modifier-noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistic way to create genre labels, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Comedy ballet comes from ballets that added funny stories and playful acting to dance. Picture dancers making silly faces and jokes while they dance, so the mix of comedy and ballet explains why it means 'a ballet with comic elements'.