Hear From the Company and School Accompanists
Ballet and classical music are intrinsically linked. Most beloved classical ballets from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Swan Lake to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Stravinsky’s The Firebird have sweeping musical scores that not only accentuate the dancing but help to express character’s feelings. Most classical ballet scores, also stand on their own as music compositions even without the ballet.
Many ballet theaters – including PBT – are fortunate enough to have pianists who play live music for classes and rehearsals. In honor of Classical Music Month, we want to highlight PBT’s accompanists and how they feel live music impacts rehearsals. We’ll also show an inside look at their favorite pieces to play in the studio.
1. How do you believe live music impacts studio rehearsals?
Live music in the studios allows for in-the-moment artistic collaboration among dancers, teacher and musician. The musician responds immediately to the movement, the dancers react in turn to the dynamics of the music. Ideally, we are a healthy living organism, breathing and moving together; ideally, the musician is inspiring both teachers and dancers to create their best work in the moment, to improve each day as a technician and an artist.
I’m so glad Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School is committed to live music in the studios for all its students. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this project for so many decades.
2. What is one of your most favorite pieces to play in the studio?
I’m afraid I have too many favorite pieces to mention. There is a great thrill, at any moment, in matching a piece perfectly to the dance, no matter what the music. Even so, some things I love are: the slow movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (see Kenneth MacMillan’s Pas de Deux). It requires very slow moving choreography, so I don’t get to play it very often. I still love Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere and a few slow and evocative piano works of Bach and Mozart. I still enjoy playing the very sweet Minuet from Gluck’s Orfeo, Faure’s Sicillienne (from Jewels), and some selections from Copland’s Rodeo, including Saturday Night Waltz.
Juliet Winovich
1. How do you believe live music impacts studio rehearsals?
In an interactive dynamic environment like a ballet studio work,
Live music is, the spatial medium that unifies the group action. The quality of rhythm alone,
Is as powerful as turning on the light in a dark room.
Not only is live music a source of motivation and inspiration, it is also a tool that responds
quickly, adjusting as needed, to facilitate emergence.
2. What is one of your most favorite pieces to play in the studio?
It depends on the work being done at that moment.
Sun Chang:
1. How do you believe live music impacts studio rehearsals?
I believe it creates a sense of community and a feeling of support between the pianist, dancers, and the instructor. It also makes it feel very much like a living art form, and it feels creative!
2. What is one of your most favorite pieces to play in the studio?
I love playing the Rose Adagio from sleeping beauty by Tchaikovsky!
Maja Petrovic:
1. How do you believe live music impacts studio rehearsals?
Playing for dance classes and rehearsals is such a creative process, that process changes and affects the energy, the mood, and the dynamic of one’s dancing.
From the very first note we play, we initiate this inspiring collaboration with the dancer, and together we create an artistic space where they can express all those qualities in a different way every time they hear a certain piece of music.
2. What is one of your favorite pieces to play in the studio?
Being a classically trained pianist myself, I tend to gravitate towards classical piano pieces that I can arrange in ballet format, and I also enjoy excerpts from ballets. Some good examples are the 2nd movements of Ravel’s piano concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. From ballet repertoire, I enjoy playing La Source’s Romance, from Act 3, and scenes from Prokofiev’s Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet.
Josh Malave:
1. How do you believe live music impacts studio rehearsals?
I believe live music in the classes creates a unity between everyone involved, we share in each other’s striving to make something that is real and which is good.
2. What is one of your favorite pieces to play in the studio?
One of my most favorite pieces to play is a waltz from the opera La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini