pherank Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Finding the Keys for the Right Ballet Stepshttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/arts/dance/finding-the-keys-for-the-right-ballet-steps.html“There’s a disconnect between the orchestra and the dancers, partly due to the fact that there’s a physical separation between the two,” the young choreographer-in-residence Justin Peck said recently backstage at the Koch Theater. “The outlier is the rehearsal pianist.”'Playing for dance classes requires a somewhat different set of skills. A rehearsal pianist needs patience and precision; a class pianist relies more on observation, intuition and the ability to draw on a vast range of musical idioms. Despite the rigorous structure of dance exercises, there can be a certain freedom in playing for class. “No piece is going to fit an exercise perfectly, so you’re always having to improvise,” Michael Scales, the music director at New York Theater Ballet, said at the company’s East Village home. “I have all this rep in my head I can pull from.”' Link to comment
sandik Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I was interested in the comment about the census of Goldberg Variation performances in NYC (that the music critic discussing it didn't include the pianist at NYCB who was playing it for the Robbins' work) -- I cannot remember now who said this, but apparently in the 1950s and 60s, NYCB performed newer music more often than the rest of the concert music community in New York. People who wanted to hear Stravinsky or Webern would have a better chance at NYCB than at the symphony. Link to comment
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