Tag Archives: piano

Which was the first ballet to be rehearsed to piano?

Posted on December 11, 2020 1:53 pm by Jonathan Still

It’s hard to find out when people first rehearsed ballet with piano rather than violin. An article from 1963 might have the answer. Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Music | Tagged Dancing Times, John Lanchbery, ballet music, choreomusicology, piano, violin | Leave a comment

Pianos and violins in the ballet class

Posted on July 9, 2020 6:47 am by Jonathan Still

When did the piano replace the violin in the ballet class in the Imperial Theatre schools? Galina Bezuglaya has some interesting answers. Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Music, Musicology, Playing for ballet class | Tagged Bulletin of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, Fokine, Galina Bezuglaya, Kostrovitskaya, Legat, Vaganova, ballet, ballet accompaniment, ballet class accompaniment, piano, research | Leave a comment

The Ballet Piano Podcast

Posted on February 16, 2020 8:47 pm by Jonathan Still

I remember saying to someone a few years ago that the distance between you thinking of an idea for a project, and someone else coming up with the same idea independently and actually doing it is about twelve months, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Playing for ballet class | Tagged Akiko Hobson, Chris Hobson, David Yow, Matt Gregory, ballet accompaniment, ballet class accompaniment, ballet music, piano, playing for ballet class, podcasts | 4 Comments

Rudy Apffel’s Czerny For Ballet Class blog

Posted on June 16, 2019 10:35 am by Jonathan Still

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 of the project) lots of interesting commentary, and downloadable scores. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Playing for ballet class | Tagged Ballet class CDs, CDs, Czerny, Etudes, Rudy Apffel, ballet accompaniment, ballet class accompaniment, ballet music, ballet pianists, piano | 2 Comments

Judith Espinosa, the fishermen’s wives and the waltz

Posted on April 30, 2019 3:54 pm by Jonathan Still

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 the Academy, a brief history of the Royal Academy of Dance … Continue reading →

Posted in Playing for ballet class, Top pages | Tagged Judith Espinosa, Royal Academy of Dance, ballet, ballet class, ballet class accompaniment, piano, waltz | 2 Comments

Ballet pianists on film

Posted on January 20, 2019 6:42 pm by Jonathan Still

Film clips of ballet pianists playing for class are so rare. There are films (such as the World Ballet Day online classes) where pianists play for a class that is being broadcast, but that is quite a different thing. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Playing for ballet class, Top pages | Tagged Music, ballet, ballet accompaniment, ballet class, ballet class accompaniment, ballet music, ballet pianists, piano | Leave a comment