Can’t tell a waltz from a tango? I have just the song for you
“I can’t tell a waltz from a tango” would be a great title for a ballet-related music course, though in all honesty, “I can’t tell a kujawiak from a redowa”…
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…
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…
Music in “Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear” by Stephen Manes
I bought Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear when it first came out in 2011: I didn’t particularly want to read it (because I spend enough time in this world at…
“Ballerinas in the church hall”—Virginia Taylor’s thesis online
Joyce Kilmer thought she would never see a poem as lovely as a tree; well, I’m pretty sure I will never see a thesis as lovely as Virginia Taylor’s “Ballerinas…
Judith Espinosa, the fishermen’s wives and the waltz
As allegro was about to begin during a ballet class yesterday, I started to smirk thinking about something I’d read in Derek Parker’s fascinating book, The First 75 Years of…