Shall we dance?.

Shall we dance?. A few years ago, I interviewed a 10-year old who wanted to beginstudying piano. Irina's family had just bought a new upright pianobecause they were sure her interest in music would be long-term. Duringthe trial lesson, I was impressed with her curiosity and spirit, as wellas the fact that she seemed to already know a fair amount from schoolmusic classes and from having played the recorder for a semester se��mes��ter?n.One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year.[German, from Latin (cursus) s . I alsodiscovered that her ear was fabulous, and that she was in her sixth yearof studying ballet and jazz dance! The lessons began, and Irina's progress was astronomical dueto her natural abilities, dance experience and propensity to do focuseddaily practice. Her body already knew much about musical gestures Movement associated with music, either physical (e.g. body movement) or mental (e.g. musical imagery) are musical gestures. The concept of musical gestures has received much attention in various disciplines studying music (e.g. musicology, music psychology, NIME) in recent years. fromhaving danced. When I introduced physical phrasing, she picked it up asif she were already a veteran. She prepared gestures (breathing beforeplaying), executed them with continuity and elegance and followedthrough to the next gesture--with minimal instruction on my part. Thiswas not the first student I had taught who had already danced, but thiswas the first who naturally transferred so much physical and aestheticawareness to the piano. I was curious about her dance instruction and learned that herdance school's spring concert was imminent, so I attended. It wasan impressive event staged in a large theater to a wildly enthusiasticcapacity crowd, presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. family and friends. About 80 young dancersstrutted their stuff in various-sized ensembles with an occasional solo,all at what appeared to me to be at a high level of quality. Irinadanced expressively and with poise in several ensembles. As her musicteacher, it was delightful to see her in a different artistic scenario. I attended that day expecting to learn more about my student andpedagogy. I came home with that, plus more. Certain observationspersisted for weeks, followed by some changes in my studio and recital Recital - dBASE-like language and DBMS from Recital Corporation. Versions include Vax VMS. management: * Most students danced in ensembles of some kind. The only onesdoing solos were those who appeared to be at the upper-intermediatelevel or beyond. True, when trying to accommodate dozens of students in one programon a large stage, ensembles are a natural solution. But I sensed therewas more to it. While driving home, I wondered how those youngestdancers would have fared if they had danced alone--probably not nearlyas well. I also asked myself, "In the past why did I ask studentswho've played piano for barely a year to play only solo at theirfirst recital? Or even the second one?" About seven years ago, Istarted accompanying my elementary-level students on most completedpieces (improvising or composing an accompaniment if none was providedin the book) so that I could enhance their musicianship with my own andlend them my pianistic pi��a��nis��tic?adj.1. Of or relating to the piano.2. Well adapted to the piano.pi and personal support. I transferred this torecitals by accompanying most of my first- and second-year students. Itworked well; virtually everyone performed solidly and expressively andwith a good degree of self-confidence. In subsequent years, I allowedthem to mix solos with "duets" and then when ready, to playmainly solo (and occasionally duets with other students). Despite theobvious success of this approach, I sometimes had doubts about itbecause it was not the traditional one. The dance concert that dayreassured me that I was indeed on the right track. I did, however, feelsome guilt about having thrown novice swimmers into deep waters "Deep Waters" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the March 25 1910 issue of Collier's Weekly, and in the United Kingdom in the June 1910 issue of the Strand. in myearlier years of teaching. * A large variety of music was used, in truly diverse styles:classical (from several style periods), jazz (bebop bebopor bopJazz characterized by harmonic complexity, convoluted melodic lines, and frequent shifting of rhythmic accent. In the mid-1940s, a group of musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker, rejected the conventions of as well as modernand "smooth"), R&B, international folk, hip-hop, New Age,and so on. The keynote speaker at the 1994 National Conference on PianoPedagogy, John Steinmetz, asserted that art music is any music thatrequires the listener to pay attention to "get" it. Compellingart music exists in many styles, some more accessible than others. Ihave always had my students playing some jazz and pop music along withclassical, but after this dance concert, I was determined to expand thatstylistic range even more. * The audience provided copious co��pi��ous?adj.1. Yielding or containing plenty; affording ample supply: a copious harvest.See Synonyms at plentiful.2. and sometimes boisterous feedbackat the end of each number, not just polite applause. What better way tolet young performers know their hard work and skills are appreciated! Ihave since created a less formal, more easy-going eas��y��go��ingalso eas��y-go��ing ?adj.1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm.b. Lax or negligent; careless.c. atmosphere at recitalsto encourage the audience to feel less inhibited about showing theirsupport. * Parents and family--everyone--had to purchase tickets to see theevent, tickets that were not cheaply priced. I had always absorbed thecosts of studio recitals. My reasoning was that since parents paidtuition all year, I should produce recitals at no charge to them.However, the costs of hall rental, piano tuning “Piano tuner” redirects here. For the novel, see The Piano Tuner.Aural piano tuning is the art of making adjustments to the tensions in the strings of a piano so that the instrument is in tune. , refreshments re��fresh��ment?n.1. The act of refreshing or the state of being refreshed.2. Something, such as food or drink, that refreshes.3. refreshments A snack or light meal and drinks. andprograms do add up. Beginning the following year, I instituted a recitalfee for each student, billed at the beginning of the semester. * The event was joyful joy��ful?adj.Feeling, causing, or indicating joy. See Synonyms at glad1.joyful��ly adv. , inspiring and great fun for the audience.That said it all to me. Bruce Berr is an independent piano and pedagogy teacher inGlenview, Illinois There are at least two locations in Illinois called Glenview: Glenview, Cook County, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago Glenview, St. Clair County, Illinois, an eastern suburb of St. Louis , where he works with children, as well as other pianoteachers. He is a former university professor and is known nationally asa clinician clinician/cli��ni��cian/ (kli-nish��in) an expert clinical physician and teacher. cli��ni��ciann. , educational composer and author.