C. Multiculturalism, Ethnicity and Race Before presenting the field work and in order to set the framework for this research about Multiculturalism in Classical Ballet Companies Nowadays, it is appropriate to define first of all the basic concepts of this study. The key terms, will be described briefly based on what is found in general theoretical works about these concepts and based on the course ‘Discours et Multiculturalité’, taught by Laura Calabrese at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
All the concepts related to culture and multiculturalism, such as diversity, ethnicity or race are very difficult to define clearly. Over the years many descriptions of these terms have been presented. Depending on the angle from which the researchers investigate the terms, different definitions have been given. Therefore, in this study the description of these concepts will be narrowly related to what can be applied to the dance world.

Multiculturalism is composed of the Latin words ‘Multus’ (much), in plural ‘Multi’ (many), and ‘Cultura’ (Culture, adjective Cultural).
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines culture as:
“The beliefs, way of life, art and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society, the attitudes and beliefs about something that are shared by a particular group of people in a particular organization, activities that are related to art, music literature” (2011: 411).

Judith L. Hanna describes culture as follows:
“A