Ballet Piano Podcast

Have we a got a fantastic episode for you this week?!  A brilliant ‘In Conversation’ with James Barton, originally recorded in October 2020. 

James has had, (and is still having) the most wonderful career having started as a Junior Associate of the Royal Ballet School, trained at Elmhurst school, and graduated into Birmingham Royal Ballet, performing on the west end stage, and then becoming ballet master at Scottish Ballet, he has done it all.

James has worked some of the best people in the business from Gillian Lynne to Christopher Wheeldon, and the stories he can tell will leave you warm hearted.  He has an effervescent personality and that really comes through in this episode with the many hilarious tales he has to tell, and the many one liners that roll off his tongue.

When Tunes Work, and Don’t in Ballet Class Read More »

Thursday can only mean one thing…a brand new episode!  And this week, it’s all about when tunes go wrong.  Call this a horror stories episode if you will!

We have quite an in depth discussion about choosing music you think is going to work for your exercise, but turns out when you play it, it is way off and you have to think on your feet about how you’re going to get out of it.

As pianists, sometimes we choose something we think is right, but the teacher wants something much quicker or slower, and that can dramatically change the music you have chosen to play.  Then what do you do?

We talk about examples of tunes that only work in specific settings, and of course when it’s fallen apart, and David enlightens us from a teacher’s perspective how it feels when he’s presented with music he wasn’t expecting, and how he deals with such situations.

This episode is proudly produced and published by PodcastRecording.co.uk

Thursday can only mean one thing…a brand new episode!  And this week, it’s all about when tunes go wrong.  Call this a horror stories episode if you will!

We have quite an in depth discussion about choosing music you think is going to work for your exercise, but turns out when you play it, it is way off and you have to think on your feet about how you’re going to get out of it.

As pianists, sometimes we choose something we think is right, but the teacher wants something much quicker or slower, and that can dramatically change the music you have chosen to play.  Then what do you do?

We talk about examples of tunes that only work in specific settings, and of course when it’s fallen apart, and David enlightens us from a teacher’s perspective how it feels when he’s presented with music he wasn’t expecting, and how he deals with such situations.

In Conversation with Karen MacIver Read More »

It’s that time of the week again where we bring you a brand new episode, and this week it’s another ‘In Conversation’.  It’s the turn of living legend, Karen MacIver.

We talk to Karen about her life and career in ballet, silent movies, composing, and her authorship of two books about her approach to accompanying dance.

It’s a very interesting episode with so much knowledge, insight, and thought provoking words from Karen about her theory behind accompanying the ‘moving image’.  We feel very lucky we get to share her wisdom, and experiences with you all.  You can find out more about Karen and her work by visiting her website, https://www.artofclass.online/. 

This episode is proudly produced and published by PodcastRecording.co.uk

Musical Trickery – Moving the Bar Lines Read More »

We bring you a technical episode this week, and it’s all about counting music where the strong beat is not where you expect it to be.

Some tunes do not start on the first beat of the bar, and as a result counting them for dancers can be tricky.  And so, in this episode we discuss how we overcome this and metaphorically move the bar lines in the music, and play in such a way that makes it easier to hear the strong beat of the melody as the strong beat of the bar.

It’s quite a weird concept to understand, but we hope this episode will help you when counting music when the strong beat is not easy to find.

We also talk about how the use of the introduction can help as a way of shifting the melody so that again, the obvious beat in the melody lines up with the strong beat of the bar, and the dancer’s count.

This episode is proudly produced and published by PodcastRecording.co.uk

We bring you a technical episode this week, and it’s all about counting music where the strong beat is not where you expect it to be.

Some tunes do not start on the first beat of the bar, and as a result counting them for dancers can be tricky.  And so, in this episode we discuss how we overcome this and metaphorically move the bar lines in the music, and play in such a way that makes it easier to hear the strong beat of the melody as the strong beat of the bar.

It’s quite a weird concept to understand, but we hope this episode will help you when counting music when the strong beat is not easy to find.

We also talk about how the use of the introduction can help as a way of shifting the melody so that again, the obvious beat in the melody lines up with the strong beat of the bar, and the dancer’s count.

If you are a dancer, teacher, or pianist, we would love to know your thoughts on this.  So please get touch to tell us how you relate to this situation, and what you did to overcome it.

Lovingly referred to as ‘The Godfather of ballet music’, Jonathan has been involved in the world of ballet and music since the mid 1980’s and his knowledge and experience is unparalleled.

Jonathan has affiliations with every major ballet company in the UK as well as The Royal Academy of Dance, and the world renowned International Ballet Masterclass in Prague.

In this episode, we talk to Jonathan about his life and career at the RAD, English National Ballet, the Prague Masterclass, the lengthy process of writing his PhD, and his freelance career.

Jonathan has the most amazing analogies for everything, and this episode is littered with funny one liners, and quips.  I guarantee you’ll love it.

This episode is proudly produced and published by PodcastRecording.co.uk