Fondus Intrigued Me

There are few ballet movements that got me as intellectually engaged with ballet as the fondu did. 

I was so intrigued that two legs, exactly the same length, had to travel different speeds from a bent position to arrive fully stretched at the same time. How was that possible? I remember trying it out when I thought no one was looking. lol. I was really really intrigued by the difficulty of the coordination of it.

And then came the music for it.. oye.

One teacher only wanted...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! As a Canadian who was already done thanksgiving back in October, I'm eyebrow deep in Christmas preparations already! lol. The lights are up, the tree is up and cookies are start to get stored in the freezer! (Quick question, do you wait until Thanksgiving is over to decorate?)

Speaking of Christmas, GUESS WHAT?!  I've been planning on releasing a Christmas ballet class album for years, literally.. about 10 years I kept talking about it but with 2...

Classical Music and Circle K

Did you know that convenience stores often play classical music outside their entrance to discourage people from hanging around? Why? Why do you think classical music would have that kind of power?

I would speculate that the layers of rhythm, harmonies, structure, etc in classical music is just too much information for untrained (music-wise) minds to really appreciate; it's noise rather than music to them. They would likely simply say they don't like it, but my guess is that...

Music is amazing..

I’ve travelled and played piano in 5 different countries,  on grand stages, small halls and dimly lit lounges and do you know what all those experiences had in common? People enjoying the music. Like my grandpa used to say for fun, “Hey! You can play in German!” lol 

Music is life.

Music brings joy.

Music exudes and builds emotions.

Music propels movement.

Music can drive and inspire a dancer who’s had a bad day.

Today I want to discuss STRONG music....

Working with a pianist this year?

You’ll find this post especially helpful.

When it comes to working with a pianist instead of recorded music, there are a couple of things you need to realize and integrate!

What you need to know, before I go any further, is that my beginner days of accompanying ballet weren't exactly the easiest. I started playing for a professional school before ever having been to a ballet or played for a recreational class, even. It was scary. I cried. Legit. A lot! So,...

Speed matters..all the time, not only on the highway!

Imagine you get to drive a Ferrari... 30 kms an hour. Gag, right? Or how about a farm tractor with a seeder on the back, as fast as it will go on the autobahn? Either situation sounds awful, right? It's a matter of each vehicle having an essential value and sweet spot that they're intended for and using them in other ways just makes no sense and doesn't work well; music is no different.

Each of the music types that are commonly used in ballet class...

When you are considering what music you want to use for your petit allegro, there are really only two things you need to consider, is it about the landing or the jump, AND, how high do you want the allegro to be?

Let me explain.

Let’s talk about glissades for a second. Glissades are a travelling step. They’re quick and close to the ground. Do you want to encourage your dancers to have high glissades? No!  The coordination is fast and small. In fact if you have this...

Congratulations! You made it! What a year, eh? You and I both know that many things were dropped from regular practice in some of your dancers' approach to ballet class. They could be summed up in the word ‘Consistency’ I think.

Consistency in attendance. (Ballet class on zoom sucks! Really any education for a child on zoom sucks. Who’s with me on that?!)

Consistency in using their turnout (when was the last time you got to actually activate a child’s turnout muscles?)

Consistency...

I'm not playing the piano, why do I need to know music terms? Does it really matter if I know what those 4 words mean?

Yes! Yes! and YES!!!

You NEED to know what they are so you can be clear to your musicians, your dancers and yourself when you're marking! Your total awareness and ability to express these music qualities will take your teaching to a WHOLE new level! 

Bwoop! Bwoop! Bwoop!

4 Music Terms you NEED to Know, Understand and Demonstrate

Tempo

This is the speed of music you need. When...

Petit Allegro.. A joy. A pain. Dreaded. Loved. Hard. Easy!

"It's just jumping"

"Why can't they be on the music?"

"I'm so sick of using a 2/4 for sautes"

"What else can I use?"

So, when it comes to petit allegro, you usually have 2 purposes. 1) Warm up their achilles and 2) wake up your students' brains and feet!

Generally warm up allegro should be a combination of plies, rises and actual sautes. With that in mind.. what kind of music works for that? What kind of music supports your various saute...