Accompanying ballet classes

[pianoist]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if any of you have done this kind of work and might have suggestions on classical pieces that are good for ballet class? 
I've been doing this for a couple of months and I desperately need to find some new music to play. I have a couple of ballet books, but frankly, most of the stuff in them isn't very interesting, very blah.
I'm adding some Chopin and Brahms waltzes to the music I already have...any other suggestions? Especially for marches/grand battements and slow 4/4 exercises?
It doesn't have to be classical, necessarily.

Thanks!

[retrouvailles]

Petrushka, of course. There is a wonderful arrangement that Stravinsky did of the complete ballet. It is easier than the 3 movements he transcribed.

[elspeth]

Tchaikovsky's always a good choice... but, having watched a lot of ballet classes (I work in a theatre that hosts ballet companies regularly so I end up having a lot of involvement with them) - provided the ballet master is ok with it you can play anything you like to accompany as long it's got a good, regular, obvious, appropriate beat. I've seen ballet companies working out to the tune of Skippy the Kangaroo because it happened to be the first piece the pianist thought of in the requested beat and tempo...

If you can use them, fake books can be useful - loads and loads of well-known tunes, provided you can put your own harmony to them. Any tune that falls easily into 8-ish bar repetitive phrases will work - Christmas carols are good material, so are most show tunes and TV themes. Well known opera works well. Try Brindisi from La Traviata, most of the famous numbers from Gilbert and Sullivan, the Toreador's song from Carmen, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld... use your imagination and play things you enjoy! Strauss waltzes are another obvious choice.

The thing to remember is that in general, unless you're playing for a rehearsal rather than a class, the participants don't actually care what you play. You're only there to help them keep in time. One company I know does class with a drummer rather than a pianist. So - really, play what you like, have fun, and don't bother learning anything difficult unless you want to learn that piece for its own sake.

[Kassaa]

On a random note, there's a choreographer who used the Hammerklavier third movement for a ballet .

The same cheographer used the Grosse Fugue for a ballet.

[general disarray]

The thing to remember is that in general, unless you're playing for a rehearsal rather than a class, the participants don't actually care what you play. You're only there to help them keep in time. One company I know does class with a drummer rather than a pianist. So - really, play what you like, have fun, and don't bother learning anything difficult unless you want to learn that piece for its own sake.

Excellent advice.  Just play stuff with the good old eight-bar layout and the dancers will be happy. 

Use Schubert:  dances, marches, waltzes.  Hundreds of them exist and are perfect for class work.  When I had a ballet company gig, I finally forgot about other composer's music and just improvised.  Easier that way and you don't get so bored.

Dancers aren't picky about the tunes.  Same way with their meals:  a hot meal is a cup of coffee and a cigarette.  They're fun to work with, actually! 

[pianoist]

Thanks!

[Essyne]

Same way with their meals:  a hot meal is a cup of coffee and a cigarette.