Ballet Music

 

 

Mediaphorie specializes in Ballet Music for the ballet class.

Mediaphorie distributes the work/CDs of two outstanding pianist accompanists:

• Ellina Akimova
• Richard Davis

Pianist and composer with russian roots, Ellina Akimova, worked at the Bolchoï from 1990 to 1995, she works now in France as pianist accpmpanist at the Opéra National of Paris, at the CNSMDP, at the CND, and at the Danse school of the conservatoire of the XVIIe district of Paris and she is composing music for ballet class.

So far, Ellina Akimova published four Ballet Class Music CDs. Those CDs are excellent tools for the ballet class teacher. Those CDs features original music for ballet class and have been realized in collaboration with outstanding ballet dancers : Alain Bogreau who was a dancer at the Opéra National de Paris from 1959 to 1994 and Franciska-Elisabeth de Mikhnevitch (Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris 1960 to 1984) who currently teaches ballet class.

Ellina Akimova's CDs are part of an expanding set called in French : La Danse Accompagnée (which stands for dance accompaniment or Ballet Class Music in English) :

• Ballet Class Music I : Musique pour le Cours de Danse Classique I (11/2000) : Cours complet (barre, milieu, pointes), et Références
• Ballet Class Music II : Musique pour le Cours de Danse Classique II (04/2001) : Adage, Divertissement, Pas de Deux.
• Ballet Class Music III : Musique pour le Cours de Danse Classique III (07/2003): Barre, Milieu, Pointes, Garçons, Final.
• Ballet Class Music IV : Musique pour le Cours de Danse Classique IV (02/2007): Cours Complet Professional.

Richard Davis began his training in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Edith Knox, and later extended his artistic development with Julian Musafia and Adele Marcus. He pursued his education in Paris, France, where he obtained the french state diploma in piano accompaniment in addition to a diploma as professor of music for dancers, and therein continues a career as pianist, composer, improviser and accompanist for voice, instruments and dance. Pianist at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1994, he is also accompanist at the Paris Conservatory where he has served as associate professor in accompanying. Chosen as Artist-in-Residence at Duke University in 1993, he has been invited as visiting professor and pianist for the dance company Bat d’Or, Israel, and the English National Ballet School in London, England. He has also performed as soloist and improviser in festivals in Finland, Germany and the U.S.A., and participates regularly in musical productions and activities at the Châtelet Theater in Paris as well as the Orsay Museum.

Richard Davis CD Ballet Class Music 1 is a perfect tool for the ballet class teacher it features music for the entire ballet class: music for Barre, Center, and Pointe exercises.

About Ballet
Ballet developed as a separate, performance-focused art form in France during the reign of Louis XIV, who was passionate about dance and determined to reverse a decline in dance standards that began in the 17th century. King Louis XIV established the Académie Royale de la Danse (which evolved into the company known today as the Paris Opera Ballet) in 1661. The earliest references to the five core positions of ballet appear in the writings of Pierre Beauchamp, a court dancer and a choreographer.(*)

Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian composer serving in the French court, played a significant role in establishing the general direction in which ballet would follow for the next century. Supported and admired by King Louis XIV, Lully often cast the king in his ballets. The title of Sun King, by which the French monarch is still referred to today, originated from Louis XIV's role in Lully's Ballet de la Nuit (1653).[13] Lully's main contribution to ballet was his nuanced compositions: his understanding of movement and dance allowed him to compose specifically for ballet, with musical phrasings which complemented physical movements.(*)

The first ballet school was in France, taught by Juliette Blanche, and the terminology was crystallized there. Nearly everything in ballet is described by a French word or phrase. (You even wish dancers good luck in French. Actors wish one another good luck before a performance by saying, "Break a leg!" Dancers say, "Merde!", a French expletive. The drawback of this is that dancers must learn the French names for the steps and movements; the advantage is that they can take a ballet class anywhere in the world and, no matter how unintelligible the rest of the talk is, the terminology will still be in French and therefore understood.(*)

While France was instrumental in early ballet, other countries and cultures soon adopted the art form, most notably by Russia. Russia has a recognized tradition of ballet and Russian ballet has had great importance in its country throughout history. After 1850, ballet began to wane in Paris and concentrate in Denmark and, most notably, Russia thanks to masters such as August Bournonville, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, Enrico Cecchetti and Marius Petipa. In the late nineteenth century, orientalism was in vogue. Colonialism brought awareness of Asian and African cultures, but distorted with disinformation and fantasy. The East was often perceived as a faraway place where anything was possible, provided it was lavish, exotic and decadent. Petipa appealed to popular taste with The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862), and later The Talisman (1889), and La Bayadère (1877). Petipa is best remembered for his collaborations with Tchaikovsky where he choreographed The Nutcracker (1892, though this is open to some debate among historians), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and the definitive revival of Swan Lake (1895, with Lev Ivanov). These works were all drawn from western folklore.(*)

The classical tutu began to appear at this time. It consisted of a short skirt supported by layers of crinoline that revealed the acrobatic legwork. At times the classic tutu revealed more than the audience cared to see and it became customary to wear a leotard as an undergarment(*)

Ballet as a musical form is a musical composition intended for ballet performance. The same music can be used for several different ballet choreographies. Until about the second half of the 19th century the role of music in ballet was secondary, with main emphasis being on dance, with music being a compilation of danceable tunes. Writing "ballet music" used to be a job for composers known as "specialists".(*)

From the earliest ballets up to the time of Lully (1632 - 1687) , the music of ballet was indistinguishable from ballroom dance music. He created a style that was separate, where the music told a story. It wasn't until 1717 that the first "Ballet d'action" was staged. This was a story told without using any words. The pioneer was John Weaver (1673 - 1760). Both Lully and Rameau wrote "opera-ballets", where the story was party danced and partly sung, but ballet music became gradually less important. The next big step occurred in the early years of the nineteenth century, when principal dancers changed from using hard shoes to ballet pumps. This enabled a more free-flowing style of music to be used. In 1832 Marie Taglione (1804 - 1884) is credited with being the first famous dancer to dance "en pointe". This was in "La Sylphide". It was now possible to have music which was more expressive. Gradually dancing became more daring, with men lifting the ballerinas into the air, and even, in "Swan Lake" (1876) to have dancers flying through the air suspended on wires.(*)

Starting with Adolphe Adam's "Giselle" (1841), characters were given leitmotifs, phrases of music which indicated their character, repeated during the action. Until the time of Tchaikovsky the composer of ballets was considered to be separate from the composer of symphonies. In many cases ballets were still short scenes within operas, to enable scenery to change, or singers to change costume. Perhaps the best-known example of ballet music which is part of an opera is "Dance of the Hours" from Ponchielli's opera "Gioconda" (1876). There was a violent change in mood when Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" (1913) was performed. The music was expressionistic and dischordant, and the movements were highly stylised. In 1924 Antheil wrote "Ballet Mechanique". This was actually for a film of moving objects, not for dancers, but it was pioneering in the use of jazz music. From this point ballet music split into two directions - modernism and jazz-dance.(*)

(*)Sources from wikipedia.org