In the first part of this blog, I want to reflect on my observations and things I've learned while on the job. In the second part, I want to help out other dance accompanists by talking about the tips and tricks I've learned in accompanying ballet.
Being an accompanist is a really strange position. I've spent most of my life preparing big concert pieces to perform for an audience. As a dance accompanist, however, it's a little different. While I am still, in a way, performing for an audience, the focus is not on me as the performer anymore. It's on the dancers. I know my job is to make music that fits the movement and hopefully gives the dancers a little inspiration. It's easier to do the first part; hard to do the last. There's such a temptation week after week to just go through each class with the same set of music and play mechanically because you've played them a million times. But as a musician, I feel like I am committing an awful crime when I do that. My training has taught me that it is wrong to perform music unmusically when you have the technique and artistry necessary to make it more musical. So there's always a tug of war between playing just the rhythm and playing short familiar pieces musically.
I'll admit the job gets pretty boring, especially if you are stuck playing for a less-than-inspiring teacher. But once in a while, you get to play for an amazing, exciting teacher and it makes work so much fun. You also get to know the teacher and learn a bit about a dancer's life. I've also played a few company classes and got to see a few of their performances. Absolutely inspiring.
I never knew how much of a financial struggle small dance companies have to go through. I've been realizing that if you want to be a dancer, you really can't be in it for the money. Ticket sales barely cover any of the costs. They rely heavily on sponsors and grants. Perhaps that's why many companies have dance schools. At least you can make a little profit there. It's a bit sobering to see how hard those dancers work but how little they get paid. Sobering yet inspiring.
Last but not least, it is so rewarding to play for the little kiddie classes. I mean the 4 to 6 year olds. They are so darn cute and ask so many honest questions. At the Princeton Ballet School, there is this one teacher who teaches a bunch of little kiddies all Saturday morning and she handles them so impressively well. I had a total blast playing "alligator" and "fairy" music. It's also cool to play for the high schoolers who are learning pointe. By that point, you know they're serious about dance because that stuff looks so painful. The intermediate kids are the hardest because they are really uninspiring to watch. But I guess everyone has to go through an intermediate stage. It's the same in teaching piano. The intermediate stage is all about technique... very tedious and time consuming but necessary.
In the next post, I'll talk a little more specifically about dance accompaniment, how to organize music, what to play, etc.
