Dance Accompanist Opportunity

Musicians Mentoring Program - 

at Canada's National Ballet School

The Musicians' Mentoring Program is a five-day intensive program designed to hone the musician's skills as a dance accompanist. It is offered each year in late January and early February, though in special circumstances, alternative dates can be arranged. Participants may choose a Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday block.

Musicians will experience a variety of dance classes, including professional, recreational and adult ballet, modern/contemporary and creative dance. The flexible program is designed to meet the needs of every pianist, from the emerging musician to those with considerable experience. Areas of specific interest to individual participants can be highlighted. Each day will include a mix of observation and hands-on participation, plus a one-hour discussion with our musicians. All participants will have a final review session with Marina Surgan, Principal Pianist. For eligible participants there is also the opportunity to play for a class alongside the NBS mentoring musician.

Article Repost, Playing for Pliés

Juilliard Alumni News Spotlight

Playing for Pliés—A Life in Music and Dance

Marjorie Landsmark-DeLewis (Photo by Chris Downes)

More than five decades since receiving a degree as one of Juilliard’s first African-American graduates, Marjorie Landsmark-DeLewis (Diploma ’48, piano) occupies a special place in the ranks of American dance musicians. Over the course of her distinguished career, she worked with Agnes de Mille as rehearsal pianist for the American Ballet Theater, accompanied classes for dance legends Antony Tudor and David Howard, and served as music director for dance at Sarah Lawrence College. At age 90, she remains active as a composer and performer, and was recently featured as a special guest artist at the International Guild of Musicians in Dance’s 20th anniversary conference in Tucson.

Landsmark-DeLewis was born and raised in Harlem, where she began music lessons at age 5 with her uncle, a classically trained pianist who taught her in the same way he’d been instructed as a youngster in St. Kitts—by rapping her knuckles when she made a mistake. Seven years and a few sore fingers later, she began studying with Edward H. Margetson, a prominent black composer, conductor, and church organist who lived in Washington Heights. Lessons, Landsmark-DeLewis recalled in a recent interview with The Journal, cost 50 cents.

When it came time for college, Juilliard was the obvious choice. Not only did she have the talent and a strongly developed sense of discipline instilled by two demanding teachers, but the School, in its previous Morningside Heights location, was within walking distance of her family’s home. At Juilliard, Landsmark-DeLewis’s instructors included Karl Friedberg, Lonnie Epstein, and Arthur Newstead, with whom she continued to study for several years after completing her degree. As she remembers, there were very few black students enrolled in the School at the time, but “we didn’t stand around and talk with each other—we were so happy being at Juilliard we didn’t want to waste time.”
It wasn’t until the excitement of graduation was over that she asked herself, “Now what am I going to do with this [degree]?” By luck—or divine intervention, if you ask Landsmark-DeLewis—she found the perfect opportunity on Juilliard’s job placement board, where Aubrey Hitchens (an influential dance teacher and one of Anna Pavlova’s last partners) had placed an ad for a pianist to play Bach’s Italian Concerto for rehearsals and performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass. Having just performed the concerto on her graduation recital, Landsmark-DeLewis immediately contacted Hitchens and aced the audition. She went on to become his rehearsal pianist, quickly demonstrating an exceptional sensitivity to dancers’ needs and gaining a vast knowledge of repertoire from the piles of scores he gave her.

etc etc etc . . .
 

Further Dance Accompanying Resources

Articles:

Backstage article on Music for Ballet Class

NYTimes article on Dance View: A Ballet Pianist May Equal Dancers in Importance

Two articles from danceadvantage.net, the story of Richard Maddock, who has played for dancers since the age of 14:

One with the Music: Accompanying Dancers Part One

One with the Music: Accompanying Dancers Part Two

Theory and practice: Striking the Right Chord

Paid to Play - Dance Accompanist

Yet another career path at the piano: accompanying dancers.

At the University of Arizona, there is a Masters degree offered in the study of Piano and Dance Accompanying (page 11). Suzanne Knosp is the head of that degree - she is a great pianist, with a wide knowledge and love of dance. I studied dance accompaniment with her for one semester, before I traipsed off to CA.

Shenandoah University offers a Masters degree in Dance Accompanying, also.

There is also an International Guild of Musicians in Dance, if you are curious about the career choice and would like some contacts in the field.