Appreciating Ballet’s Music is Katherine Teck’s fifth book about music for theatrical dance. Formerly a musician for classes in ballet and creative dance, she also taught courses in music for undergraduate and graduate dance students in New York City. Her own training included a master’s degree in composition plus a certificate in arts management. For many […]

About Appreciating Ballet’s Music What a godsend for dance and dancers everywhere. And free! This is all any dance music course needs. –Janet Mansfield Soares, Professor Emerita in dance, Barnard College; author, Louis Horst: Musician in a Dancer’s World   A wonderful collection.I feel like I need to lock myself in a room for a week […]

Ongoing thanks to members of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance, for encouraging me to investigate collaborations. Special thanks are extended to two colleagues who read the initial manuscript and made many helpful suggestions: Janet Mansfield Soares, choreographer; former chairperson, Barnard College dance department; author of biographies of Louis Horst and Martha Hill; and […]

Related works about specific topics are listed at the end of each section. Books are listed here in order of pertinent interest rather than by author or editors. Reference works: Dance The International Encyclopedia of Dance, Selma Jeanne Cohen, founding editor; Elizabeth Aldrich, managing editor.  (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.) The one and only! Six […]

For purposes here, the style “periods” refer to timeframes generally accepted for history of art music in Europe. Names are of composers unless otherwise indicated as dancers, conductors, choreographers, or impresarios. In arranging the order, priority was given to the dates of compositions rather than lifespans. Middle Ages (roughly 450-1400) Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) Ordo […]

Relating Past and Present Looking back at historical ballet, its forerunners, and its music can be tremendously interesting in itself, even if there is so much we can never know. But aside from expanding our knowledge, such explorations can also inspire us in our present roles whether as performers, creators—or enthusiastic audience members. Something to […]