A pianist's simple observations from years of accompanying ballet!

After all the years of ballet class accompanying, one of my favourite classes is still when students are asked to be creative. The tangible fear or pure ecstasy that I see in their faces when the demand for creativity is given to them is striking!You know what I'm talking about right?!

Whether it's creative movement to something I'm making up (often younger dancers) OR creating exercises for a student led barre, I love watching dancers be...

I have to be honest with you..

I hate the phrase "use your words.", it makes me want to vomit.

Maybe I've just heard it too often. Maybe it's the farm girl in me who grew up pretty rough and tough! All that being said, it was the first phrase that sprang to mind when I was thinking about today's topic.

Here's the thing.. every dance teacher marking an exercise knows that they need to count! You know that it's important that your exercise is in phrases of 8 counts (at least the average exercises). So...

Keeping ballet class fresh and exciting..

especially when it's late spring and your energy has been drained by shows, competitions, exams, and the 'vid with zoom time, is brutal.

You know I'm right! I'm feeling the burnout too; TONS of extra rehearsals, extra work, and extra busyness. I LOVE what I do but wow..these are busy times! Spring is the 'Christmas' of our industry. lol.

In March I sent out an email asking for my subscribers to hit REPLY and tell me some of the ways THEY keep ballet class and...

Working with a pianist can be a real treat!

Unfortunately, it can also be frustrating at times, especially if you're uncertain how to do it well, so I've put together a tongue-in-cheek guide to ensure that your next opportunity is a delight to both you and your musician!  (I've been on the receiving end of ALL of these at some point in my 20+ year career! lol)

Enjoy! :D

Top 10 Worst Tips for Working with a Pianist

1. First of all, do NOT talk with your pianist outside of the studio. Musicians love to...

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...