“. . . And she done the fandango all over the place”
I’ve just found another beautiful piece of dance research. Beauty might be an odd adjective to use, but there is something deeply attractive about the careful observation, and attention to…
Jewels from the Ballet: down the wonderful rabbit-hole of English ballet history
I’ve seen this book so many times in my life, either as the piano version, or the one for violin and piano, that I have come to instantly disregard it.…
Presentation at DANSOX summer school, Oxford, 7th July
A packed and interesting programme of lectures/events at the DANSOX summer school in Oxford coming up (6th–8th July 2019), including a joint 2-hour presentation by me and Susie Crow based…
Sources for the “Esmeralda” pas de deux
One of the oddities about the ballet repertoire is that the more famous and frequently performed the piece, the more tricky its musical history, like the “Black Swan” Pas de…
Rudy Apffel’s Czerny For Ballet Class blog
Absolutely thrilled to discover Rudy Apfells’ Czerny for Ballet Class blog — lovely recordings of huge numbers of Czerny exercises, together with reimaginings/reworkings of them (see here for a description…
Lightly up, up, up: John O’Brien, legendary dance teacher
When John O’Brien died on 11th May this year, I suggested to the RAD that they should do something to remember him, since he taught for many years there, quite…