Ballet Piano Podcast

Occasionally we will be dropping 'in conversation' interviews with some leading people in the world of ballet. We'll be talking to them about their lives, careers and as always - there'll be funny stories along the way.

This episode is with podcast team member, David Yow, former principal of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

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

In this episode featuring the whole of the podcast team, we talk about what consists of an introduction for a ballet exercise, and the sorts of things you might play for an introduction.  We also talk about the difference between dancers counts and musicians counts, and how this can affect what you may give as an introduction.  We talk about the different kinds of introductions including those belonging to complex time signatures.

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

Introductions for Ballet Exercises Read More »

This episode is all about the misunderstandings that can happen in a ballet class, including timing, tempo, time signatures, and also when things have been miscommunicated by the teacher or the pianist, and you end up in a sticky patch.  Listen as we regale you with our tales of when it all went wrong, and how we got out of them.

We learn from both the teacher and the pianist how best to overcome some of the most common communication issues, through their stories, knowledge and experience.  As always, it’s filled with laughter, advice, and joviality.

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

We bring you an exciting new episode this week, hosted by Matt, and it’s about playing for repertoire, solo, and variation class.

As Chris and Akiko have the most experience with this side of the job, they share with us all the insightful information about what it’s like to play those colossal ballet scores, and how they cope with the different environment of a rehearsal room instead of a classroom. As always, there’s an anecdote or two, and it’s a very interesting episode with the husband and wife team.

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

Playing Ballet Repertoire Read More »

In the absence of David Yow, the three pianists bring you a Hot Topic episode very close to our hearts, and an essential skill required to becoming a successful ballet pianist.  We are discussing Arranging Ballet Class Repertoire. How we arrange existing pieces of music to make it suitable for a ballet class, and ballet phrasing.

We also talk about the ways that musicians count their music, and how different that is for dancers.  And how important it is to recognise both in order to understand what the dancers and teachers mean when they count their exercise and the music.

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

In the absence of David Yow, the three pianists bring you a Hot Topic episode very close to our hearts, and an essential skill required to becoming a successful ballet pianist.  We are discussing how we arrange existing pieces of music to make it suitable for a ballet class, and ballet phrasing.

We also talk about the ways that musicians count their music, and how different that is for dancers.  And how important it is to recognise both in order to understand what the dancers and teachers mean when they count their exercise and the music.

As always, there are funny anecdotes and humour in this episode and we hope you enjoy it.  Do give us a little review on Apple podcasts, and follow our social media channels for all the latest content from podcast HQ!

In this episode we're lifting the lid on Chososing Ballet Class Repertoire. We talk about how we choose what we will play for class, the many ways you can build your repertoire, and where you can gain inspiration for choosing the tunes you play.

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

Choosing and Playing Ballet Class Repertoire Read More »