Klarinet Archive - Posting 000198.txt from 1998/03

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Ballet (was Marching Band (was alto mpcs)
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 23:49:46 -0500

>> Marching band is a wonderful combination of mechanical
>> movement and music.
>
>Personally, if I want to see bodies moving and great music,
>I'll go to a ballet, where each genre is appreciated in it's
>own right.

Mark, I'll need to correct you here. If you've ever worked with a Ballet
company, you know they know nothing about music (mostly, anyway). Their
audience knows and appreciates it even less, if possible. Most dancers'
concept of rhythm relates to the old joke -

"one - two - three - four - five - six - sev - en"

About the only place I know where this isn't pretty close to the truth is
the NYC Ballet, where Ballanchine's love and understanding of all kinds
of music pervades the repertoire still, years after his death.

David (whose daughter aspires to be a dancer)

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/