Music & Dance
“Crossing Ashland”: Brock Clawson’s New Work for the Milwaukee Ballet
by John Nevin
Brock Clawson’s approach to choreography is in some ways unusual; his works are intricate, entertaining, and widely respected, but as his success has evolved, he has focused his work carefully. Since receiving the prestigious Cliff Dweller Award as Choreographer of the Year in 2006, he has completed seven works, and each has made its own significant impression. Clawson came out of the remarkable choreography development scene that is Thodos Dance Chicago, and three of his major works (“Falling Out”, “Along the Way”, and “Nine”) were toured by them. More recently, his works “Give and Take” for Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, “The Yawning” for Houston Met, and “Falling Out” for Eisenhower Dance Ensemble of Michigan, have brought his unique eloquence to an even broader audience.
As a choreographer, Clawson works generally within the aesthetic of Contemporary and to some degree Jazz dance, but his attention to elegance and architecture gives his work a ballet-like dynamic, and that may be one of the reasons why the prestigious Milwaukee Ballet asked him to create a new work for their “Winter Series”, a widely respected annual concert run of one-act works.
The opportunity brought with it unique challenges to his process; Clawson is extraordinary in his emphasis on the importance of sound design, but because of the scope of this work, developing a successful score required an even more expansive approach. “This is their contemporary show, and many choreographers will use classical music for any one-act work, even for contemporary ballet, because it lends itself to the length of the work,” Clawson observed. “I knew that I didn’t want to go in with classical music, but that immediately raised the question, how am I going to find contemporary music that you can put together to present a cohesive one act work?”
Sound Design: Finding a Workflow That Works
by John Nevin
A common mistake made by choreographers is to think of their final sound design as one of the last steps in their process. Although the initial inspiration for choreography is often musical, the fine-tuning of the musical score is usually relegated to the final stages of the work, along with the costumes and lighting design.
In all three areas, there is expertise that a choreographer may need some help with, but sound design is so integral to the creative process of choreography that it needs to be included early and often. Doing so isn’t that difficult or that expensive, and in many cases it can be easy and free.
Naturally, if you’re choreographing a short work to a single track, or creating a piece that is essentially non-musical, there’s very little involved in the sound design. In every other case, a continuous awareness of how you’re developing your score can really enhance the development of the choreography. The question becomes how to do this, because for most dancers, the sound design process can be a little intimidating. Very often, the best way to begin something that’s intimidating is to think about how it should end, so let’s start with the ending.
Review: Artistry In Motion by Lisa Harris
It really is a joy to be able to listen to ballet class music that is arranged by someone who has been doing it for such a long time. It’s something I think of every time I hear one of this lady’s CDs.
Lisa Harris is known for her musical work in the ballet classroom, both as a pianist and as an artist who releases CDs for ballet class (as well as digital music). “Artistry in Motion” is an excellent example of why she is so well-regarded in the field.
Selections here include favorites such as an adagio from Swan Lake, slow tendu music from Bach and a minuet from Mozart. Harris has a knack for selecting composers that mesh well with a particular exercise, and her command of the piano insures that they are played flawlessly. This makes for a CD that is wonderful for both the teacher and the students in the classroom.
This album has 26 (repeated) tracks for the barre and 16 for the centre. Other composers that are included in the mix here include: Schubert, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Handel, Verdi and Adam.
Interested in this album, or in seeing more of what Lisa Harris has to offer for the ballet classroom? Visit her site. For those who are making the switch to digital music–she has options for you as well.
0Music and Dance: Arranging Music
by John Nevin
Arranging your music into a successful sound design involves the same challenges, for the most part, whether you’re working in ballet, modern or jazz, because the need for an effective through-line is important in any performance regardless of style. The essence of the challenge is to keep the audience absorbed in the Dance, and the issue is not so much to create something powerful in the musical arrangement (unless you’re working with a composer on an original score) as it is to reinforce the power of the choreography. Most important of all is to avoid anything that may distract the audience from the choreography itself.
Assuming that you’re working with two or more selections of music, the most difficult issues are always transitions and endings. If you’ve found music that has an ending that you can use, it may simply be a matter of finding useable edit points within the existing music, either to remove a section to reduce the time, or to repeat a section to extend it. This is relatively easy with music that has a consistent meter, but more difficult with freeform performances, like solo piano music or classical ensembles.
0Review: Variations by Lisa Harris
This is a CD by the well-known ballet pianist, Lisa Harris. Variations features some unique tracks, adapted for piano, including:
Seasons/Elton John
History of Us/Indigo Girls
Save the Best for Last/Waldmen
‘Til There Was You/Willson
The Rose/Midler
Piano Man/Joel
And many others, including classical composers, Tchiakovsky and Delibes. Played expertly by Harris, there are tracks for both barre (19) and centre (20). If you are looking for a ballet class music CD with lots of variety, this is it.
The music here can be used for classes at all levels. I’m sure adults would appreciate the selections, but the music would work for any age group. If you haven’t heard Ms. Harris play before, know that she has plenty of experience–and many other CDs to choose from, as well as digital downloads available. Look for more reviews of her music on 4dancers soon.
Visit her site for more information and for samples of the music.
0Review: “Dancing Keys” by Gill Civil
This is one of two ballet class music CDs by Gill Civil. Keep an eye out for the other review, coming up soon.
“Dancing Keys” has 28 tracks–all original works that were played and composed by Civil. I really do love the original ballet class music CDs. I think it adds another level of artistry to the class environment to use compositions that were created with this particular dance form in mind. Adapted pieces are fine–and many people like them. I just prefer original work.
I believe this would be a perfect CD for an adult ballet class or beginner/intermediate class. The music is clear and metered, and the selection is good. The reason I wouldn’t use it for an advanced ballet class is because the barre is on the short side. Other than that, it is appropriate. Tracks are of adequate length–neither too short, nor too long.
The centre music is plentiful, with tracks that include sautes, allegro, waltz, gavotte and adage. I found the music inspiring and beautiful. I think it is such a challenge to come up with tracks that have heart in them, and Civil is able to do so. She has quite a background in the field, having played for schools and companies in New Zealand, Canada and Australia–she’s no newbie to this type of music and it shows.
If you would like to hear samples of the music on “Dancing Keys” or if you want to purchase a CD to use for teaching, visit her website.
0Review: Ballet Studio Inspirations, Volume Two
Yet another lovely CD by Richard Maddock. By now, it should be no surprise.
Ballet Studio Inspirations, Volume Two is a terrific CD, appropriate for more advanced classes in my opinion. The music is stunning, but a more expert ear is required to find the music here–it is perfect for honing musicality as a dancer at a higher level—something I believe is very important. While not every track is challenging this way, I do think that younger, more inexperienced dancers may find some of the music difficult to follow.
The other reason I would recommend this CD for higher level classes is the fact that there are plenty of choices for the instructor. There are 45 original compositions for barre and centre here, with some designed specifically with pointe in mind–although they can be used for other exercises as well.
There are 12 tracks for the regular barre and six more for the pointe barre. The centre features music for port de bras, petit allegro, grand allegro and more. The pointe section of the centre has an additional eight tracks.
This CD would make a fine addition to any ballet teacher/studio’s collection. Hear samples and more at Maddock’s website–and if you need digital downloads, he offers those as well.
0Music & Dance: Finding Music
by John Nevin
For most choreographers, finding music for a new work isn’t all that difficult, at least not at first; in many cases a new work may actually be inspired by a specific piece of music, and many choreographers have a long list of tracks they would like to choreograph to. Yet even if finding some of the music isn’t difficult, what can really be a problem is finding the rest of it. The first article in this series talked about how different the two steps in choosing music can be; that finding music is a personal, almost unconstrained process, while arranging that music into an effective score is a much more practical challenge.
You can really choose any kind of music to choreograph to, but as soon as you do, that music begins to shape the rest of the work. Sooner or later there has to be a transition from the purely personal choice of what inspires you to the more restricted choices of what will inspire your audience and your dancers, and what will go with the music you’ve already chosen.
None of that matters until you have a place to start, and on a practical level, the ways you find music, and the places to find it, are much the same whether you’re looking for music for a brand new work, or searching for that last section to complete your score. Besides the sites mentioned in the first article in this series (classical.com, junodownload.com, mondomix.com and beatport.com), there are several other approaches worth thinking about. One of them would be to subscribe to a streaming service, which doesn’t cost much at all. This gives you an important ability to listen to tracks all the way through, instead of just to excerpts, which becomes an important consideration when you have to arrange your music into a successful sound design. When you find something you like at one of those sites (napster.com, rhapsody.com, and classical.com has their own in-site), most of them make it easy to buy a legal copy. (Please don’t steal it, either by going to one of the illegal music sites that Google will be happy to guide you to, or by copying it from somebody you know.)
Beyond the download and streaming sites, there is another legal space for music discovery that is almost completely unknown to choreographers — the under-the-radar artist sites. Bandcamp.com and soundcloud.com are both well worth finding. At Soundcloud, you need to be careful because some of the tracks are not uploaded by the artists or their labels, but many are, and in many cases are available for free download. There’s also a brand new legal music store at vimeo.com, and because Vimeo is a film and video site, there’s a tremendous choice available there of soundtracks that can work well for choreography. In any case, finding that first piece of music, whether for a work you’re about to begin, or just for some possible future project, is best done with an open mind and plenty of time.
2Review: Ballet Etudes By Robert Long
This was my first exposure to a Robert Long CD and I really enjoyed it. Many fellow teachers have expressed the fact that they enjoy his music for ballet class, and I have to agree–it’s very good!
I always “test” CDs out on my adult ballet class. They are an eclectic group of students, and I received some nice comments on the music. The tracks were arranged well, and best of all, labeled well. As an instructor, I found the way he used the liner notes to be very helpful. They were broken down into categories that made sense for the way I teach: at the barre, centre practice, pirouettes, adage, petit allegro, batterie and grand allegro. It made it very easy to arrange my class, and it was a detail that was much appreciated.
The music itself is passionate and pretty, and there are plenty of tracks to choose from since the CD offers many selections. Since I have a fairly large class, some of the tracks in the centre were a bit short for my purposes, but I doubt that would be true for all teachers. There are 48 original selections in all for barre and centre practice. I listened to everything here and found each track to be well-suited to ballet class exercises.
It is obvious that Mr. Long has been involved with the dance community for a long time–his intuitive sense of planning the CD and its selections showcases this fact quite well. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him and using his music for class well into the future.
It’s worth noting that Mr. Long offers music on iTunes and Amazon as well, for those who prefer that format.
Visit Robert Long’s site for more information about him and his music.
Read more about this artist in the 4dancers “10 Questions With…” interview.
0Review: Music For Movement And Imaginations by Richard Maddock
This CD was such a lovely surprise!
Richard Maddock has created an original album of dance music for children ages 3 and up, and it would be a great addition to any ballet teacher’s collection. Right away from the first track I knew this was going to be a collection of music that I loved. It’s just so pretty!
Music for Movement and Imaginations lives up to its name. The tracks here range from dreamy to daring, and there are 43 of them to choose from, giving dance teachers plenty of raw material to work with when it comes to dance making. Maddock has labeled these well too–including some hints for usage in the titles, such as “run and freeze”, “skips”, “gallops” and “run like the wind”. Ballet terminology is present here too, and some tracks are labeled with “port de bras” or “jumps and allegro” accordingly. Very helpful.
I was actually taken aback at how beautiful this CD is. Maddock has a talent that shines through, and it is kind of nice to have a collection of dance music for children that doesn’t include all the “typical” fare. Rather than go the traditional route with kids dance music, Maddock has chosen to push the envelope and create tracks specifically with them in mind. I love it!
That said, I do think that this CD could be used for other ballet classes as well, and quite frankly, the music is so pretty that I have put it on in the background when I want something on that is soothing. While not every track is quiet or low-key, the overall album is very nice to listen to.
To learn more about Richard Maddock, or to purchase one of his CDs, please visit his website.
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