4dancers.org

A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Follow Us on Social!

Visit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On Instagram

CD Review: West End To Broadway: Inspirational Ballet Class Music by David Plumpton

by

by Emily Kate Long

dance class musicUntil this disc, I was never a fan of show tunes and popular music for ballet class. David Plumpton’s skill and sensitivity make West End to Broadway a fun and functional class album. Plumpton plays with warmth and a light hand, making this a great CD for intermediate or advanced classes. Clear, consistent tempi without over-emphasis of every beat will give dancers the freedom to enjoy the breath and richness of this music. Selections from Aida, High School Musical, Chess, and more offer something for all ages and tastes.

The disc includes seventeen tracks for barre and twenty for center with no repeats, though many are long enough for both sides. There are several lovely adagios (“Unexpected Song” from Tell Me on a Sunday is divine), multiple tracks for port de bras in center, plenty of waltzes for turns and allegro, and enough bounding, bouncing jump tracks to get any class light on its feet. Who can resist lofting through the air to “Gaston” from Beauty and the Beast?

West End to Broadway is a fun addition to teachers’ libraries for intermediate, advanced, or adult ballet classes.

CD Review: Music For Ballet Class 3 By Ayumi Hirusaki

by

by Emily Kate Long

dancer in tutu“Music for Ballet Class 3” by Ayumi Hirusaki contains 27 tracks (including repeats) for barre and 14 for center. The center tracks do not repeat. This disc features a mix of improvisations by Hirusaki, widely-known ballet tunes, and other classical and popular music. Hirusaki’s compositions are lovely; and I would have liked to hear more tracks by her over a few of the show tunes on this CD.

Barre includes a good mix of meters and speeds, all with clear tempos. Composers here include Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, and Bach. The center portion of the CD contains tracks for tendu, adage, two pirouettes, plenty of allegro and pointe selections, a grande allegro/grande valse, coda, and reverence. Music by Joplin, Prokofiev, Minkus, and Hamlish is played with skill and clarity by Hirusaki. Teachers of intermediate and advanced classes will appreciate and make good use of “Music for Ballet Class 3.”

CD Review: Ragtime For Dance by Charles Matthews

by

piano keysby Catherine L. Tully

This fun CD is a great resource for ballet teachers of all levels. Featuring well-known ragtime tunes such as The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag by the wonderful Scott Joplin, there are 16 tracks in all to choose from. Some are by other composers and are not as well known, but each track here works well for dance class.

Ragtime music has a gloriously upbeat tempo and feel to it, so it’s a wonderful choice if you need to give a class a “boost” or infuse a little energy into a combination that still needs work but is getting a little tired…

Matthews isn’t just any pianist–he has extensive experience working with ballet and contemporary dancers and understands their needs. The tracks here are edited into even phrases of eight so they are easy to use and they are played with attention and verve. It’s always nice to have a CD like this on hand for times when you want to change things up a bit and add some pep. Nothing does that better than some good ragtime!

Ragtime for Dance lends a 20’s feel to the classroom and is a super fun CD. There are a few sample tracks here if you’d like to have a listen.

CD Review: “I’ll Be Seeing You” — David Howard And Steven Mitchell

by

by Emily Kate Long

ballet music

l’ll Be Seeing You – David Howard And Steven Mitchell

I was so excited to try this CD out! I regularly use three other of Steven Mitchell’s CDs (“Solo” and both of the David Howard Covent Garden classes) and love them. I was not disappointed this time. David Howard and Steven Mitchell have come together for a third collection of great music.

The CD includes length, time signature, and counts for each track. There are thirty tracks total, sixteen for barre and fourteen for center. The variety in speed and time signatures for all the degage and allegro tracks makes this a great CD to use for both lower and upper-level classes. The songs themselves range from pop tunes and standards to classical music, some of which is playfully jazzed up as only Mitchell can. The tempi are consistent, the beats are strong, and the preparations are easy to hear—especially great for my junior high-aged class. With all that, none of this music sounds plodding or academic.

This CD is one I’ll turn to again and again.

dancer doing arabesque
Emily Kate Long, Photo by Avory Pierce

Assistant Editor Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice, and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. She has spent summers studying at Ballet Chicago, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Miami City Ballet, and Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive/Vail Valley Dance Intensive, where she served as Program Assistant. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007.

Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed principal roles in Courtney Lyon’s Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. She is also on the faculty of Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, where she teaches ballet, pointe, and repertoire classes.

Choosing Music For Ballet Class

by

by Catherine L. Tully

I’ve been doing a lot of CD reviews on the site lately. That, feedback from my adult ballet class, and a discussion with a fellow dance professional have inspired me to share some of my thoughts about selecting music for ballet class with you here…

And–I’d also like to ask for your feedback…your thoughts and ideas about how to select good music for class. Feel free to leave a comment below.

When I first started teaching, I used pretty much anything for class. I figured it was all ballet music, so it was fine for classes, right? Wrong.

With more experience, and some input from my own teachers, I began to uncover the fact that there are many things to think about when it comes to selecting the right music for the class you are teaching. With that in mind, I’d like to share some of the things I have learned here with you today: [Read more…]

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

This site sometimes features advertising, affiliate marketing, or affiliate links, such as Amazon Associate links and others. When you click on these links, we get a small sum that helps to support the website operations. Thank you! There’s more detailed information on ads and our disclosure policy under the About tab in our navigation at the top of the site. We clearly mark any and all posts that contain these features.

Copyright Notice

Please note that all of the content on 4dancers.org is copyrighted. Do not copy, utilize, or distribute without express permission. We take cases of infringement seriously. All rights reserved ©2022.