This was my first exposure to a Robert Long CD and I really enjoyed it. Many fellow teachers have expressed the fact that they enjoy his music for ballet class, and I have to agree–it’s very good!
I always “test” CDs out on my adult ballet class. They are an eclectic group of students, and I received some nice comments on the music. The tracks were arranged well, and best of all, labeled well. As an instructor, I found the way he used the liner notes to be very helpful. They were broken down into categories that made sense for the way I teach: at the barre, centre practice, pirouettes, adage, petit allegro, batterie and grand allegro. It made it very easy to arrange my class, and it was a detail that was much appreciated.
The music itself is passionate and pretty, and there are plenty of tracks to choose from since the CD offers many selections. Since I have a fairly large class, some of the tracks in the centre were a bit short for my purposes, but I doubt that would be true for all teachers. There are 48 original selections in all for barre and centre practice. I listened to everything here and found each track to be well-suited to ballet class exercises.
It is obvious that Mr. Long has been involved with the dance community for a long time–his intuitive sense of planning the CD and its selections showcases this fact quite well. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him and using his music for class well into the future.
It’s worth noting that Mr. Long offers music on iTunes and Amazon as well, for those who prefer that format.
Visit Robert Long’s site for more information about him and his music.
Read more about this artist in the 4dancers “10 Questions With…” interview.