dance class music

CD Review: Music for Ballet Class Volume Two

December 14, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Charles Mathews

If you’re a ballet class regular, chances are you’ve plié-d and rond de jambe-d through this CD before. If you’re a teacher and haven’t added it to your collection yet, you should.

Music for Ballet Classes Volume Two takes dancers through a range of emotions–yearning, to pensive, to lighthearted–that help encourage expressiveness. For my own practice, I felt that the slower, more reflective pieces most enhanced my movement and that delightful feeling of being so guided by music that you become lost in it.

Arrangements include selections from opera, classic ballets, non-ballet classical music, and original compositions by Matthews.

Some of my favorites include Beethoven’s serene “2^nd Movement Sonata Op. 13” for warmup at barre, the grand and wistful “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana for plié, and the tender ache of Puccini’s “O Mia Babbino Caro” for port de bras.

Yes, I’d have to say this album brought out more of my inner Swan than Swanhilda. And that’s lots of fun!

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CD Review: Music for Ballet Class Volume Four

June 15, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Music for Ballet Class Volume Four
Charles Mathews

by Rachel Hellwig

I’ve always found it helpful for artistry and musicality to dance to melodies from ballet classics in class. Also, it’s just plain fun. I was delighted to discover that Charles Mathews’s Music for Ballet Class Volume Four is mainly made up of such selections, including pieces from Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Coppélia, Giselle, Napoli, and others.

You can channel your inner Osipova, or its as-humanly-close-as-possible approximation, when you fouetté to Kitri’s Act I variation. You’ll be tempted to add Odile-ish accents to your barre work as you frappé to the less frequently performed, though more evocatively sinister, version of the Black Swan variation (which is not to imply that there’s anything inherently evil about frappé at barre; in center, that’s another story, but I digress…) And Raymonda’s dream/vision variation may inspire a royal grace in your pirouettes en pointe; or perhaps draw you into uplifting daydreams of dancing in the Prix de Lausanne where this piece is often performed–as you likely know from regular intervals of artistically edifying YouTube ballet binges.

You may not (or you may) be a prima someday, but it’s a joy to point your toes to memorable tutu-and-tiara tunes on stage or off.

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CD Review: Modern Ballet Studio Melodies Volume 6

July 24, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Modern Ballet Studio Melodies Volume 6
Christopher Hobson

by Rachel Hellwig

Christopher Hobson’s Modern Ballet Studio Melodies Volume 6 is an eclectic mix that combines “melodies from classical, contemporary, pop, jazz and musical theatre”. The album is intended for all levels of ballet and features 30 tracks. Some of my favorite selections include:

Stranger in Paradise

This song from the 1950s musical “Kismet” borrows the melody of Alexander Borodin’s “Dance of the Maidens” from the ballet scene in the opera Prince Igor. Naturally, it’s good fit for fondu.

I Giorni

Ludovico Einaudi’s cinematic music often brings to mind images of dancing, so I was delighted to see that Hobson included one of the composer’s best-known works in an arrangement for port de bras.

Livin’ on Prayer

Bon Jovi meets ballet? Yes, it actually works quite well. Without obscuring the melody, Hobson adapts this signature song into a piece for petit allegro.

The CD also offers arrangements of tunes like “Someone Like You” and “Happy”, as well as works like “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Seventy Six Trombones”, and the World War II-era hit “Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree”.

Preview full-length tracks here and purchase on iTunes.

CD Review: David Plumpton’s “West End to Broadway” Vol. 3

December 26, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

West End to Broadway Vol. 3
David Plumpton

by Rachel Hellwig

Jetés and all that jazz.

The energy and drama of musical theater songs makes them ideal for ballet class.

David Plumpton’s “West End to Broadway” Vol. 3 fills 36 tracks with piano arrangements from popular shows like Wicked, Jekyll and Hyde, and various Disney musicals. It also contains many pieces that you might not recognize unless you closely follow theater. But that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy these selections or find them wonderful for barre and center.

The spunky accents of “When I Grow Up” from Matilda are perfect for almost any tendu combination. The delicate (yet not-too-sugary) version of “A Whole New World” from Aladdin is dreamy for développés. “Welcome to the 60s” from Hairspray is a fun way to begin center tendus. “Popular” and “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked will add spark to petit and medium allegro combinations.

This CD is a great way to bring the magic of one performing art to another.

CD Review: “More Sounds of Christmas”

November 24, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

More Sounds of Christmas
Christopher Hobson

by Rachel Hellwig

‘Tis the season to frappé to Jingle Bells.

Christopher Hobson’s “More Sounds of Christmas” is full of familiar favorites like “Frosty the Snowman”, “Feliz Navidad”, “Sleigh Ride”, “White Christmas”, and “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year”. It also includes some less-well-known pieces like Nat King Cole’s “Take Me Back to Toyland” and the Irish-themed “Christmas in Killarney”.

Hobson’s arrangements show taste and sensitivity to the musical needs of different ballet exercises. “O Christmas Tree” is perfectly adapted for pirouettes. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is lyrically channeled for pliés. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” becomes a buoyant piece for grand battement en cloche. “The Chipmunk Song” is tamed into a peaceful melody for rond de jombe. And, throughout the collection, Hobson finds the balance between arranging a song and changing it into a different piece.

“More Sounds of Christmas” features 24 tracks and is sure to bring holiday cheer to any ballet class.

Disclosure: 4dancers accepts compensation for promoting More Sounds of Christmas

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