Music that's NOT "Music for Ballet Class Vol.15 Turning Combinations"

[TYR]

Music you actually like in class. Nina Thilas-Mohs threw this one at us the other day:

 

 

 

[trog]

My long time teacher, who sadly retired last year, had a CD of piano versions of well known songs and TV theme songs, which we all thought was great. I'm not sure if she really appeciated us singing along with them though! One of the ladies in class is a chorister so the sound wasn't as bad as you might think.

[LinMM]

Yes it's all very trendy to have pop music for ballet class and is sort of okay here and there I suppose but to be honest there is just so much pop music around and I do like classical music as well!!

There are so many nice bits of music which are classical in nature and much more inspirational for ballet class but I suppose teachers stick to CD's made which may have the more boring classical music I'm not sure

 

But apart from the odd joke piece ....I don't know grands Battements to Only the Best by Tina Turner ....I just don't want too much pop music in the ballet class.

To be honest I'm nor even that keen on musical theatre songs!! If I have to do another exercise to Frozen or Edelweiss I swear I will walk out!!

[LinMM]

It's great if you can have the luxury of a really good live pianist though because you can persuade them to play bits of Chopin and Beethoven and Schubert and Mozart if they slip into ..."somewhere over the rainbow" yuk!!!

 

Once when with the former LAB company we had a wonderful pianist for a while. He had actually been a concert pianist for a while so had a fantastic repertoire once you started talking to him ....absolutely loved class when he was playing.

[Flit and float]

Scottish Ballet classes have great music as they're the company pianists so they always pick just the right piece (classical mostly with a few pop songs etc) Ones that stick in my mind was the can can for grand battlements & Super Mario theme for petit allegro - both were perfect for the exercise!

[LinMM]

Yes it's the balance I suppose. When it's all pop music or somewhat trite tunes from musicals ALL the time it can be a but tedious in the end.

 

There are some delightful Tchaikovsky tunes for both adage and petit allegro but I know I'm a dying breed.

I don't think young people are exposed to ANY classical music these days generally in most schools so will depend whether their parents like it or not mostly as to whether they will hear any.

Even those learning musical instruments these days are paying for separate lessons (even if within the school)

 

So it's pop more pop and yet more pop!!

[LinMM]

I love dancing out to pop to let of steam though ....I don't hate it or anything just PLEASE not in the ballet class and NOT for adage EVER!!

[TYR]

There is someone at Central who likes the piano arrangements of Adele songs far too much. Nein danke.

 

Mind you, I've had a pianist on intensive week who kept playing Leonard Cohen songs for adage and "who's got the last laugh now" for barre.

[ballettaxi]

Flit and float, when my DD was an Associate as Scottish Ballet the pianist was Alan Costello, he is absolutely fantastic and she would love to tell me all the little tunes he played during classes.  I particularly liked at parent observation classes when he would slip in the theme to Blackadder and various other TV programmes.  Always got a few chuckles from the parents.

[Jan McNulty]

Philip Feeney of CSB and Gavin Sutherland (now Music Director of ENB) are brilliant class pianists (if either of them still play for class).  They both sort of doodle and it sounds fabulous.

 

Nathan Fifield's musical selection (NB) sounds great to me when we are watching company class.

[Flit and float]

Ballettaxi - Alan Costello & Brian Prentice are my faves ????

[Moomin]

Ballet class is an escape from the children, there should definitely be no Frozen played. Ever!

[trog]

It has been about 15 years since I've done a class with a live pianist. It's too expensive to hire somebody. When the time comes that I have to give up class, I intend to brush up on my piano (which i gave up when I was at uni and sadly haven't had the chance to return to) and play for class for free.

 

Battletaxi, on the CD that I mentioned above, one of the tracks was Blackadder and we all sang along to it.

[Guest]

The meaning of the music depends on the age of the listener! Our (much younger) ballet teacher was very partial to the music from the ballet 'Spartacus' and completely perplexed by our delighted yells of 'Its the Onedin Line'

[TYR]

Sure everyone would love this...

 

[Kate_N]

Oh yes, TYR, I've done Nina's class (when she fills in for Renato) and done stuff to that track - we were doing something a bit Balanchine. We may well have been in the same class even before the ENB workshop a fortnight ago.

[TYR]

Quite possibly. IIRC a bit out of the Sanguine variation from 4Ts. Actually how could I forget? It worked on the Sunday, I was back on the Friday and couldn't stop screwing up...

[TYR]

After we'd done it a couple of times, waiting the whole of that intro got to be utter torture...

[hfbrew]

It has been about 15 years since I've done a class with a live pianist. It's too expensive to hire somebody. When the time comes that I have to give up class, I intend to brush up on my piano (which i gave up when I was at uni and sadly haven't had the chance to return to) and play for class for free.

 

Battletaxi, on the CD that I mentioned above, one of the tracks was Blackadder and we all sang along to it.

Come and work for me! I hire pianists for my Ballet classes and I still profit although admittedly not as much as those who use recorded music. But the joy of dancing to live music can't be beaten!

[TYR]

*Use* the music.

 

https://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/imagination-missy-elliot-gotta

[taxi4ballet]

I seem to remember watching dd in class on one occasion, when they were doing grands battements to the theme tune from The Flintstones

[Bluebird22]

I use music by David Plumpton and Alessio de Franzoni. My juniors love it

[Nicola H]

I seem to remember watching dd in class on one occasion, when they were doing grands battements to the theme tune from The Flintstones

 

 if the music fits  does it really matter ? for barre and centre  the primary requirement is that the tempo matches the  speed of the  exercise ....

[HAIRBELLES]

I use music by David Plumpton and Alessio de Franzoni. My juniors love it

David Plumpton is fab he played for dds class when she was an RBS JA associate and at Northern ballet Academy , we have some of his CDs too .

I'm sure it must be lovely for your juniors Bluebird to hear familiar tunes they can do ballet to.

[Moomin]

Dance is all about an expression of music to me, if the whole class is filled with Muzak that belongs in a lift it's not likely to be a good class for me regardless of whether the tempo is correct! An occasional burst of blackadder or flintstones played on a real piano sounds fab, an entire class of a cd of synthesised pop 'classics' not so much!

[LinMM]

I think you've said it for me Moomin so agree with that post

 

It's not JUST about timing

If you have been set quite a complicated adage ...say with promenade in attitude...renverse...chase into arabesque another promenade this time bringing your leg into retire etc etc...to,be finished with a big port des bras in 4th ...you really want some pretty UPLIFTING music to sustain not just your physical but soul while doing this to any degree of satisfaction.

If the music is then "somewhere over the Rainbow" or the theme from Titanic....however great these are as songs and in the right context for me it's just NOT for an exercise like this!!

I want Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty ....loads of gorgeous inspiring Chopin even Listz and dome of the late Beethoven sonatas are wonderful.

I once worked on a little dance piece in a primary school in a pretty tough area of the White City in London....to one of the late Beethoven sonatas .....the kids( and parents as well) lapped it up. We were also doing a piece from Carmina Burana which they also loved....and years later became an advert theme and often wondered whether any of those pupils cast their minds back to that term when everything was danced themed for a while....great.

Well yes this was rather a long time ago now back in the 70's and so before the digital age etc where it's harder to resist ( if need be) whatever becomes popular at the time.....there's more peer group pressure now I think.

We did all sorts of dance then and of course let them choose the music for a piece sometimes.

But sometimes you can lose the whole feeling of what classical ballet is if there's always only "popular" music to support it.

Just my view.

[Michelle_Richer]

As several have already said “David Plumpton’s Modern Melodies”, has some lovely pieces for ballet class. I remember a few weeks ago, our standby teacher was late for our rehearsal ballet class, so we had to start off the barre session ourselves, I had my tablet with me, needless to say we started it with Plie’s from David Plumpton Titanic theme, LinMM will remember that, its drop dead gorgeous.

 

Another one which is very similar in style but based on ballet rep is Craig Wingrove’s Musical Gems XXI Repertoire 2 for Ballet Class.

 

For stretching at the end of class I do like “The Mission Gabriel’s Oboe”, that does move your body and soul, we used that in one of our “Alive” shows, when most of us heard it for the first time we were almost in tears with emotion, its so moving

 

 

Edited March 29, 2017 by Michelle_Richer

[Jan McNulty]

That is a lovely piece of music Michelle.

[taxi4ballet]

 if the music fits  does it really matter ? for barre and centre  the primary requirement is that the tempo matches the  speed of the  exercise ....

Yes, it does matter. You're not doing an exercise workout to music, you're dancing. The tempo has to fit, that goes without saying, but it doesn't have to be just any old music every time. That would be boring.

[Nicola H]

Yes, it does matter. You're not doing an exercise workout to music, you're dancing. The tempo has to fit, that goes without saying, but it doesn't have to be just any old music every time. That would be boring.

 

 not talking adage  or  rep  though ...  it;s actually an argument   that  varying music can be used  for   barre and the  'exercises' part of centre work  etc  as long as it meets the needs of the exercise ... 

[LinMM]

That's lovely Michelle and recognise it also from some choreography we have done? ....but I wouldn't call that "popular" music as TYR posted originally. No offence TYR ....I have a feeling you are quite a bit younger than me!!

 

As Moomin said I do think it's okay .....more at the barre...to have the odd pop song etc and it is nice on a social level when everyone suddenly joins in spontaneously ....nice little moments in class.

Actually Swan Lake often brings out a bit of an over the top response the other way with sudden lots of flapping swans arms.....can also be funny!....especially when someone who is normally quite shy suddenly gets all dramatic for a few moments.....the dancer comes out!!

[Fiz]

We used to cool down to "All of me" by John Legend. I'm not a fan.

[TYR]

Morricone? That has some possibilities.