The Opening Ballet is another method for opening a musical show besides the OpeningChorus. The dance or mime can range from wild slapstick to a mild series of vignettes. Major characters may or may not be introduced during this sequence - the entrance of one may bring it to an abrupt end; most of the figures in this sequence may be purely incidental, never to seen again.

Staging what was originally written as a overture as an Opening Ballet has become a common director's trick.
----
!!Examples:
* Some productions of Maury Yeston's ''Theatre/NineMusical'' treat "Overture Delle Donne" as a ballet sequence between Guido and the women in his life.
* The Prologue of ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' communicates the entire relationship between the Jets and the Sharks up to the story's opening.
* "Rolling Stock" or "Entry of National Trains" in ''Theatre/StarlightExpress'' (Depending on which version.)
* The Carousel Waltz from ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}'' is another famous example.
* "Runyonland" from ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls''.
* The street performers outside Covent Garden in ''Theatre/MyFairLady''.
* The Night Waltz from ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic''.
* The opening song in ''Once Upon a Mattress'' is staged with a ballet retelling "Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea" story as we know it...the remainder of the show proceeds to tell the "real story", and it's [[Main/FracturedFairyTale a lot different]].
* OlderThanRadio: When Music/RichardWagner was revising ''Theatre/{{Tannhaeuser}}'' in preparation for the 1861 Paris production, he had to accommodate the Grand Opéra's demands that every opera should have a ballet, preferably in the middle of the evening. Wagner objected to placing the ballet in the second act, instead provided a ballet at the very beginning.
* Creator/CirqueDuSoleil shows love to use this trope to bring out major and minor characters and establish the setting: ''Theatre/{{Saltimbanco}}'', ''Mystere'', ''"O"'' (a ''water'' ballet), ''Dralion'', ''Varekai'', etc.
* "The Story of Chess" and "Golden Bangkok" in ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' (depends on which version of the show; the original West End production introduced them and so versions that draw heavily from that plot, such as the 2008 concert, tend to use them, while Broadway-based productions usually don't).
* In ''A Chorus Line'', the opening song ("I Hope I Get It") has a ballet portion, with the rest of the song being made up of other various types of music and dance. While the song doesn't truly introduce the main characters, they are all there dancing, and their names are announced at the end.
* ''Theatre/TheCatAndTheFiddle'' opens without an overture on a series of choreographic vignettes depicting the charming street life of Brussels, with vendors occasionally singing their cries.
* The London production of ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies'' had one after the prologue with "The Coney Island Waltz", but the Australian version turned it into a full song for the chorus.
* ''I Can Get It For You Wholesale'' has a choreographed prologue depicting a garment workers' strike.
* ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' is an oddity in that its ''closing theme'' has one.
* ''Film/FortySecondStreet'' has its opening number be a tap audition sequence for the chorus of the show's show The Pretty Lady.
----