Chorus

originally a dance in a ring, or a dance within an enclosure. The word came to be applied to a band of dancers. Then, probably because the dance was accompanied with song, to a band of singers. The chorus of the Greek drama was a band of performers, represented as of age, sex, and condition appropriate to the play, who appeared as spectators of the entire action. The chorus occupied, in the theater, the position between the stage and the auditorium. Through the coryphaeus, or leader, the chorus took part in the dialogue with the actors. When no actor was on the stage, the chorus sang such sentiments as would seem to have been suggested by the events presented, or supplied necessary information that could not be given in the regular speeches. As the members of the chorus sang they danced, or moved about the altar of Bacchus. The chorus was considered indispensable. At one time as many as fifty persons were included in the Greek chorus. Later the number was limited to fifteen for tragedy, twenty-four for comedy.