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…
Bulletin of the Vaganova Ballet Academy — online journal (with English abstracts)
Am I the last person to have noticed that the Vaganova Ballet Academy has published a serious journal containing the work of Russian dance scholars, Bulletin of the Vaganova Ballet…
On-screen commentary from pianist Joshua Piper during YouTube ballet class
When I first learned to drive, I read a book about the police driving test, in which you had to do a “commentary drive,” which involves describing to the examiner…
RIP John O’Brien
RIP John O'Brien, dear friend and wonderful teacher, to whom I owe everything as a pianist in ballet, died yesterday, 11th May 2019.