1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:26,680 Welcome back to another episode of the PianoPod. 2 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,440 I am your host, Yukimi Song. 3 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,440 So today for my audience exclusively, I'm going to take you on a quick trip to New York 4 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:41,840 City's famous Lincoln Center, and more specifically, the backstage of the David H. Koch Theater, 5 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,100 home to one of the most renowned ballet companies in the world. 6 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:52,560 So for this episode, I got to interview Dr. Alan Moverman, piano soloist at New York City 7 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:53,760 Ballet. 8 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,800 For his 20-year career at the company, he has performed concerti and solo repertoire 9 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:07,080 in prominent concert venues worldwide and worked closely with the most celebrated choreographers, 10 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:13,320 such as Alexey Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, who was actually the choreographer of the 11 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,440 original West Side Story, and Justin Peck. 12 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:17,440 And more. 13 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:22,160 Before getting started, I want to welcome everyone listening or watching the PianoPod 14 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:23,160 for the first time. 15 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:28,360 I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City, passionate about creating a 16 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:34,160 thriving and meaningful community of the classical music industry through this podcast. 17 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,920 Please visit yukimisongstudio.com to find out more about my work. 18 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,860 In each episode of the PianoPod, I interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting 19 00:01:43,860 --> 00:01:46,280 new ground in the industry. 20 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,600 Before getting started, I want to thank everyone for tuning in today. 21 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:55,480 Please rate the show and review it on your favorite podcasting platform because every 22 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,840 rating review will help people find my show. 23 00:01:58,840 --> 00:01:59,840 So here we go. 24 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,040 Are you ready, dear friends? 25 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:07,520 Please enjoy the show. 26 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,800 You are listening to the PianoPod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry 27 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:17,680 about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. 28 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:24,120 I am honored to welcome Dr. Alan Moverman, a piano soloist at New York City Ballet. 29 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,320 So Alan, welcome to the PianoPod and thanks for being here today. 30 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:30,520 I appreciate the opportunity. 31 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:31,520 That's great. 32 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:37,320 I'm so excited to get to know the world of ballet today by talking to you as I'm not 33 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,120 familiar with what really goes into the production of ballet programs. 34 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,440 And I enjoy listening to ballet music and attending shows. 35 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:50,400 And to be honest, I did a few years of ballet lessons as a kid for five years or so. 36 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,280 And my experience and knowledge of what it takes to put together a ballet program stops 37 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,280 right there. 38 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:01,720 So I can't wait for you to take us to the backstage of David H. Koch's theater, which 39 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,240 is home to New York City Ballet and to be exposed to the ballet world and hear what's 40 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:11,160 like to work with the most celebrated dancers and choreographers and what it takes to be 41 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,780 a solo pianist at one of the most celebrated ballet companies in the world. 42 00:03:15,780 --> 00:03:18,440 So Alan, I want to start with this question. 43 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,680 Oh, by the way, where are you tuning in from today? 44 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,240 Oh, this is the Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. 45 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,680 You can see there's a ballet bar behind me. 46 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:29,680 I know. 47 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,280 And then there's a piano next to me. 48 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:34,280 Oh, wonderful. 49 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,360 This is a very small rehearsal room. 50 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:42,240 The ballet company is really lucky because we have rehearsal rooms in the Rose Building, 51 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,160 which is where Julliard is. 52 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,200 Also, huge, huge rehearsal rooms. 53 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:52,640 When I do gigs with some modern companies on occasion, they'll come into the studios 54 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,000 and they'll just be like, I can't believe this. 55 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:04,480 You know, it's like the most beautiful studios with also gorgeous light and huge 15 feet 56 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,560 windows throughout the... 57 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,640 It's really gorgeous. 58 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,320 But the dancers really deserve it because it's, as you know, it's an incredibly difficult 59 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,360 career for them. 60 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,200 And you know, they've made it a long way to be here. 61 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,360 You know, we want them to have the best possible conditions to work in. 62 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,360 Well, thank you for showing me the room. 63 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:27,360 It's gorgeous. 64 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,040 I mean, it's such an exciting... 65 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:30,680 Exciting happens in that room. 66 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,920 So that's incredible. 67 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:38,160 What is the job description of ballet pianist of this major ballet company? 68 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,880 What are the responsibilities? 69 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:47,600 Well, we have a really large repertoire here and a lot of it is quite complex. 70 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,160 We have 30 active Stravinsky ballets in the repertoire. 71 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:52,920 Oh my goodness. 72 00:04:52,920 --> 00:05:00,520 So obviously, Stravinsky can be complicated and we play them all or virtually all of them 73 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,760 in rehearsals for the dancers on the piano. 74 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:11,440 So I would say one of the primary job descriptions is to be able to realize piano reductions 75 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,520 and hopefully imitate the orchestra sound. 76 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:24,260 Also you need to have or develop kind of sophisticated sense of rhythm because the dancers are very 77 00:05:24,260 --> 00:05:31,000 sensitive to the speed of music and there are other parameters in music also. 78 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:37,520 Well, just talking about the rhythmic parameter, they need a lot of steadiness, a kind of steadiness 79 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,320 that is a kind of default position. 80 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:46,460 And as we all know as pianists, rhythm is one of the things we study. 81 00:05:46,460 --> 00:05:48,560 Rhythm is a living thing. 82 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:49,560 It's flexible. 83 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,560 It's rooted in dance. 84 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:56,000 It's rooted in our bodies. 85 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:02,040 It's something we always need to work on, but it's something dancers need a sense of 86 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,480 predictability in the rhythm. 87 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,680 How are you going to be able to match the orchestra? 88 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:14,440 Because after the rehearsal with pianists like yourself, then they're moving into orchestra. 89 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,140 So what's the transition like? 90 00:06:17,140 --> 00:06:24,560 That's one of the pedagogical problems with rehearsal with piano versus orchestra. 91 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:31,880 And I think it's important for people who do this job to constantly listen as much as 92 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:39,400 possible to the orchestra version of the piece they're playing because in specific ways, 93 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:45,440 like what instrument is prominent, but also in subtle ways like the type of rhythm an 94 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,680 orchestra plays. 95 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,680 Like I can give you a good example. 96 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,240 It might be fun to play a little bit. 97 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,400 So this is from one of Tchaikovsky's well-known pieces. 98 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,080 It's called Serenade for Strings. 99 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:28,880 So that piece I was practicing the other day. 100 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:34,800 And I realized that the way I play it, it sounds nice. 101 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,480 It's like a Chopin nocturne almost. 102 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,080 But orchestras have a broader kind of sound. 103 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:51,640 So then I think a little more careful, not really careful, but play on the more subdivided 104 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:52,640 way. 105 00:07:52,640 --> 00:08:02,760 But orchestras have to line up vertically, so you can't do like as much. 106 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:08,640 They would do this kind of thing. 107 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:14,400 So instead of playing with fluidity, you want to be more metronomical. 108 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,040 I don't want to say that term. 109 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:24,520 It's not physical, but a kind of more classical rhythm in a way. 110 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:30,440 And also, orchestra music is by definition has a public sound. 111 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:35,840 So when you're dealing with a public sound, you're going to be dealing with things that 112 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:40,480 are easier to understand, that everyone can understand in a nice way. 113 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:58,720 So if you play this, it's very beautiful, but it's intimate. 114 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:09,560 The public might want... 115 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:11,880 You hear the difference? 116 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:18,120 It's very hard when you play ballet, piano, not to get caught up in... 117 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,040 If I played it the first way, they might say, oh, that's beautiful. 118 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:23,480 That's great. 119 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,960 Or they might say, it feels a little too fast. 120 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:32,840 So it's important not to get caught up in the fact that I did something wrong. 121 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:38,320 I just didn't do it in the best possible way for them at the moment. 122 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,520 Because once you get into... 123 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,840 It's very easy to get into self-criticism of your rhythm in ballet. 124 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:52,920 So it's better to forthrightly play what you feel and then adjust than to always be like, 125 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:53,920 what do they need? 126 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:54,920 What do they need? 127 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:55,920 What do they need? 128 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:57,920 Another thing I was practicing, there's a beautiful... 129 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:13,360 And the other morning I was listening to the orchestra version, I was saying, well, maybe 130 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:26,280 better. 131 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:27,280 It's different. 132 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaking of that, how about playing... 133 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:31,560 Those are orchestra reductions. 134 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:36,240 So during rehearsals, you're playing orchestra reductions most of the time, such as... 135 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Most of the time in rehearsals, yeah. 136 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,960 So that must be really challenging. 137 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:46,480 I've done accompanying for violin concerto and everything. 138 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,480 Playing the entire score. 139 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:57,160 I left out a lot of notes, but it is a little different than playing accompanying a violinist 140 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,200 or a singer because you tend to pick... 141 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,400 The melody is generally being carried by another instrument. 142 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:11,000 You have to play the melody and you have to indicate as much of the sense of the orchestration 143 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,920 as possible. 144 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:19,320 Which is wonderful if you accompany people too, but doesn't always happen and isn't even 145 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:26,040 always desirable, partly because it almost requires you to play the piece as if you're 146 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:27,320 a soloist. 147 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,200 Wow, you're right. 148 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:34,120 But what's the secret to playing them well? 149 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:38,080 There are a lot of different ones, different elements. 150 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:46,120 Listen a lot to orchestras, try to think about what the emotional effect is of hearing an 151 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,560 orchestra, which is very different than hearing a solo pianist. 152 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:52,600 Although there's a lot of overlap, of course. 153 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,800 Also I learned there are very few books on the subject, but there's a very good book 154 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:02,480 on accompanying by Martin Katz, who was a famous vocal accompanist for Friedrich von 155 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:07,040 Stad and lots of Marilyn Horn. 156 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,080 He was great, great. 157 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,600 I studied with him a little bit and he wrote a book about accompanying men. 158 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:21,320 I can't quite remember the name of the book, but he did have a chapter on playing orchestra 159 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:22,320 reductions. 160 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,520 I've never seen any other book. 161 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:31,760 I think there's a Robert Spillman book also that has a chapter on playing orchestra reductions. 162 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:39,080 He taught at Eastman for many years and was also a spectacular vocal accompanist. 163 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:44,120 I actually studied with him as well, but they both wrote good books. 164 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:49,840 Probably Bob Spillman's book is out of print, unfortunately, and it was an amazing book. 165 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:57,960 I'll have to look on one of the websites and pay $300 to buy the out of print book, which 166 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:03,440 to be honest with you, I almost would because that's how good it was. 167 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,080 Do you come up with your own piano track transcriptions as well? 168 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:13,680 Well, I can show you what I was just playing off. 169 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:22,560 For most of music history, there weren't recordings, so almost everything written up to about 1950 170 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:28,920 has a piano version, which is kind of fun to know if you like orchestra music and you're 171 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,280 a pianist. 172 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:39,360 You can really find online or IMSLIP, you can find almost any of your favorite Beethoven 173 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:46,520 symphonies or Brahms symphonies in piano arrangements or at least in four-hand arrangements. 174 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,480 That's where we get our reductions for the most part. 175 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,360 If it's a contemporary piece, someone has to make one. 176 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:59,480 It could be another pianist or we could hire it out to someone who does that thing. 177 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,600 I've done some myself. 178 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:06,240 I probably have played close to 100 ballets here. 179 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:13,640 Most of them are about between 35 and 60 pages long. 180 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:20,360 I could probably get through pretty well 50 ballets, just sit at the piano and play cover 181 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,040 to cover. 182 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,840 What does your day as a solo pianist for a major ballet company look like? 183 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:29,600 How does your day start? 184 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,520 Are you with dancers at the piano all day long? 185 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:39,200 I rehearse between, generally between three hours and five hours a day. 186 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,480 Usually it comes in about four. 187 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:50,820 I start usually at 11.30 or 12 and there's a schedule that comes out two days in advance. 188 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:59,280 It says who is rehearsing what, who the pianist is, who the rehearsal director is and also 189 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,560 all the dancers that have to be in the rehearsal. 190 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:10,400 The schedule, it shows one of six or seven studios, or I think five or six studios that 191 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,400 we can rehearse in. 192 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:14,400 Different pieces. 193 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:21,800 Today I have to rehearse a piece called Camer Music by Hindemith, which is a piano concerto. 194 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,000 It's from 12 to 12.30. 195 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,160 Then I have to rehearse this piece, which is Serenade, the piece I was just playing, 196 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:33,200 Serenade for Strings, from 1 to 2.30. 197 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:40,400 That rehearsal is actually with the core because in ballet we have different categories of 198 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:41,400 dancers. 199 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:47,560 As you see on stage, there's a soloist, principal dancer often. 200 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:53,120 The core generally is more the background, for want of a better word. 201 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,500 Then you've got the people that are leading the troupe. 202 00:15:56,500 --> 00:15:58,080 Those are more principles. 203 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,120 You, they don't always rehearse together. 204 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:06,600 At one o'clock for Serenade, it will be a core rehearsal. 205 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:11,420 Even though it has principal dancers in it, I'll just be rehearsing with the core for 206 00:16:11,420 --> 00:16:13,880 an hour and a half. 207 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:15,480 They'll be going through it. 208 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:20,760 It's a lot of responsibility because we're going to Madrid next week. 209 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:27,640 This piece hasn't been touched by anyone for, I don't know, four months. 210 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,600 There's going to be two of these rehearsals. 211 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:36,200 Then tomorrow I'm playing what we call a complete, where the entire company will be there. 212 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,520 The conductor will be there. 213 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,640 The directors, Wendy Willen and Jonathan Stafford will be there. 214 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:48,120 All the dancers in the ballet will play the ballet from beginning to end, which is the 215 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,720 hardest thing we do. 216 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:56,160 Playing with the conductor also is different than playing by yourself. 217 00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:00,120 It's a bit of an art form unto itself. 218 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,960 What are the advantage, not to mention having a full-time paid job as a pianist, which is 219 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,560 sort of rare, right? 220 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,240 Because pianists don't usually, unless if you're teaching, you don't get to have that 221 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:12,240 luxury. 222 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:21,320 Now, what are the advantage of being part of this company and maybe you have more performance 223 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:22,440 opportunities? 224 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,120 Well, it is a reliable job. 225 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:28,920 At different kind of levels of the job. 226 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:35,480 I mean, just as with any part of the music business, there are different places you find 227 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,040 yourself in. 228 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:42,080 You can be a pianist who plays for ballet class. 229 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,800 Around New York, there are probably 100 ballet classes every day in New York. 230 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:48,680 I've done that before, yes. 231 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:50,320 They need pianists. 232 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,600 Oh, so you know about that. 233 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:53,600 I also play class. 234 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,480 I know how to do that. 235 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,800 Then you can play with a company. 236 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:05,200 That's maybe you'll be paid more money and you'll have more regular work. 237 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:11,360 Then you can play, hopefully if you like doing that sort of thing, you can play with a major 238 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:20,040 company and then you get a more full-time kind of job that resembles a regular job. 239 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:21,040 Right. 240 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:25,720 With benefits and insurance and the... 241 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,000 Yeah, sure. 242 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,520 I understand that part of full-time job, but more to do with, more than that, what are 243 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:38,480 the opportunities as a pianist that comes with this? 244 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,980 Because we have such a large repertoire and because the music we work with is so complicated, 245 00:18:42,980 --> 00:18:47,280 we can do any of the range of music at all. 246 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:52,920 We have a fourth concerto, fifth concerto, we do the two Shostakovich concertos, all 247 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,740 three Tchaikovsky concertos, Beethoven first. 248 00:18:56,740 --> 00:18:58,260 We do Ligeti etudes. 249 00:18:58,260 --> 00:19:03,480 We do at least three hours of Chopin music that we perform on stage. 250 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,240 We do the Ravel sonatine. 251 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:06,480 We do miroir. 252 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:07,480 Wow. 253 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:13,040 So, you get to really perform, not just the rehearsal. 254 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,880 Oh, no. 255 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:19,440 We play plenty of stuff on stage with the dancers. 256 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:20,440 Wow. 257 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:25,040 And then dancers are being, of course, choreographed with that music. 258 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:26,720 That is really fascinating. 259 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,400 I never knew that part of your job description. 260 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:30,400 Oh, yeah. 261 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:31,400 Yeah. 262 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,240 It's the great part of... 263 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,820 Well, all these other parts are also great parts. 264 00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:45,240 We do get opportunities to play big pieces that all pianists enjoy playing. 265 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:52,700 And we play with a very fine orchestra and very fine conductors. 266 00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:54,640 It's kind of an unbelievable privilege. 267 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:56,400 It is. 268 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:57,400 That is fascinating. 269 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:58,400 Yeah. 270 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:05,480 I played...the last really big piece I played was in the spring last year. 271 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:10,280 I played a piece called Piano Pieces by Jerry Robbins. 272 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:16,680 And it's a 40-minute piece of solo Tchaikovsky piano music, ranging from children's pieces 273 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:23,760 that are, of course, always a little more difficult than people think to very hard virtuoso 274 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:31,640 pieces that are recorded by...well, everything's recorded now, but virtuoso piano pieces. 275 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,040 And that was really great. 276 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:39,400 And generally, we play on the apron, they call it, which is on the side of the stage. 277 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,480 The pianist comes out and takes a bow for the audience. 278 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,800 That's how the piece always starts. 279 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:51,120 Then the lights kind of go down, and then they open the curtain, and then you play. 280 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:55,360 And that piece has, I think, 13 pieces in it. 281 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,400 I try to make a little story. 282 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:02,640 It helps me, and it makes it more fun. 283 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:09,120 Every music piece or choreography piece, generally there's some sort of structure, some sort 284 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:17,040 of subtext or story, and that helps you kind of organize all these pieces and have fun 285 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,900 telling the story that you think should be told with this music. 286 00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:23,920 And it also helps you get the tempos. 287 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:30,480 That's really, really important, because like I was saying about the serenade, you have 288 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,240 to be able to get kind of specific. 289 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,440 You can't just go, it's not all about you. 290 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:54,200 I mean, if you're, I don't know, Polini, you can sit and you can play. 291 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,920 You can play whatever you want. 292 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:04,960 But maybe the choreographer, maybe the story of this dance is a little more neutral. 293 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:23,720 Even though it's Chopin, you might play... 294 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:29,780 You might play something a little more broad, so you can make a picture. 295 00:22:29,780 --> 00:22:31,960 So the listener can make a picture. 296 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,920 Instead of being involved with your emotion, maybe you want the listener to be able to 297 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,240 dream. 298 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:39,880 So that's the kind of thing. 299 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:48,760 But if you say it is a kind of intimate communication with the dancer, and so that changes the tempo. 300 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:59,680 You might play... 301 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,480 Which is Poco Robato. 302 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,600 So Poco Robato is something you can remember. 303 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:17,780 Or you might do the broad moonlit thing, the picture. 304 00:23:17,780 --> 00:23:20,720 Which you might write semplice. 305 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,320 Those are different tempos. 306 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:29,520 The intimate one is slower and more in eighths. 307 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:34,200 As I found in the second measure, as I was thinking about it, the moonlit one is more 308 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:41,440 in two and has a slight larger rhythm that moves. 309 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,680 And every possible variation. 310 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,120 And I mean, these are the things we think about. 311 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:49,280 We're privileged as pianists to play complete pieces. 312 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:54,120 We're the only musicians that play so many complete pieces. 313 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:57,960 Violinists only play half the music. 314 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:05,000 And so we have a lot of fun, but we have a lot of responsibility to make decisions about 315 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,880 characterization. 316 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,040 And dance forces you to. 317 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,500 It's not just anything you feel. 318 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:18,000 It is important to realize that all the things you feel have validity. 319 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,680 But you have to eventually decide what is it? 320 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:27,560 Is it agitated? 321 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:32,680 Or is it defiant? 322 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,360 You know, what is it? 323 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,600 And it's fine if you're playing by yourself. 324 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,320 It's not even fine, really. 325 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,880 Because you really have to have this, I feel strongly you have to have this language of 326 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,560 emotion in your mind. 327 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,640 This episode is presented in collaboration with our good friends at Forte, a free alternative 328 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,920 to Zoom, purpose-built for music teachers. 329 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:01,640 Forte offers features optimized for classical music lessons, including audio quality far 330 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:07,280 sparrier to existing platforms and allowing you to hear every nuance of your student's 331 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:08,280 instrument. 332 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,160 And your colleagues at the Royal College of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Curtis Institute, 333 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,800 and Berklee College of Music have even used Forte in their own programs. 334 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:24,280 Forte's mission is to radically expand access to high quality music education worldwide. 335 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,320 Forte always puts teachers and students first. 336 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,000 This means you can use Forte with your own students for free forever. 337 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:38,040 Sign up for free today at ForteLessons.com or click the link in the description. 338 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:39,320 I had wonderful teachers. 339 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,600 I had Richard Good for many years. 340 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:47,840 And also the son of Schnabel I studied with, Karl-Erik Schnabel. 341 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:54,040 And he taught me, he said, to begin a piece, you should play it in many different characters. 342 00:25:54,040 --> 00:26:01,240 Like every character you can think of so you can get this language that connects the head 343 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,580 and the heart or the body. 344 00:26:04,580 --> 00:26:11,320 And it's very useful in dance because then you can remember a tempo in more than just 345 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,960 an abstract, an intellectual way. 346 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:20,200 Although you do, dance pianists do get a good sense of metronomic exactness. 347 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:25,400 Like 63, 63 is different than 66. 348 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:30,160 I don't want to test myself and embarrass myself. 349 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:35,800 You know, one thing that helps sometimes is some pieces you just sort of know the tempo. 350 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:48,960 And so like I know I could be wrong, but this little Scott Joplin waltz. 351 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,960 I believe it's 96. 352 00:26:51,960 --> 00:27:09,720 One, two, three, actually I think that was too fast. 353 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:10,860 So you remember that. 354 00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:16,440 So maybe I have to play some other piece that I decide is 96. 355 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:21,440 You know, you remember a piece you know the tempo of, oh, that was 72. 356 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,640 So yeah, develop this metronome in your body. 357 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:33,000 I'm sure especially with, you know, playing with dancers forces you to be more aware of 358 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,000 those things, right? 359 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,000 Oh yeah. 360 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,000 Yeah. 361 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,000 Yeah. 362 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,000 And it's fun. 363 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,000 You have to look at it as fun. 364 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:45,120 If you look at it as terrible and you know, how dare you play, you know, my sonata, you 365 00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:47,600 know, at 50 when I wrote 54. 366 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:53,040 I mean, you're not going to do that. 367 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,720 And then I think it's interesting. 368 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,880 The two approaches to tempo in the studio, you can play the tempo that you think the 369 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,520 orchestra will play all the time. 370 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:06,800 That's one approach. 371 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,440 That's a good approach for some people. 372 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,240 Also you can look at the dancer and the situation. 373 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,440 Where are they in their preparation? 374 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:21,740 Are they remembering the piece that they've played a long time ago? 375 00:28:21,740 --> 00:28:23,880 Are they amazing dancers? 376 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:31,240 And they, if you don't give them something to chew on, meaning a really healthy tempo, 377 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:32,240 they're going to fall asleep. 378 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,960 They're going to, they're going to not, it's too uninteresting for them. 379 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:42,760 You know, you have to get into the personalities of working with. 380 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,120 And that doesn't even just involve rhythm. 381 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,720 It can involve sound also. 382 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:52,520 You know, say I'm working with Tyler Peck, who's a complete virtuoso. 383 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,480 She probably has the greatest ballet technique of our time. 384 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:01,760 You know, so, and she's played Dancerinade a million times and say we're doing like 385 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,640 a rehearsal right before, she's totally on it. 386 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:05,640 She knows it. 387 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:18,760 You know, if I play like, for her, which is Serenade for Strings, that's more of a tempo 388 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,520 you would play when a dancer is trying to remember something. 389 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,360 They're in the room and you don't want to impose too much. 390 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:35,480 You want to remind them, remember this, you knew this last year. 391 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:42,440 So they have space. 392 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,160 So you know, you knew this last year. 393 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,920 So just remember, you know, jog your memory a little bit. 394 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,520 And you might have a dancer who's very tall. 395 00:29:51,520 --> 00:30:00,400 So they need the characterization, but they also need maybe a slower tempo. 396 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:14,240 That's a bigger body. 397 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:19,400 And so all these things, also these are words like characterizations of a Beethoven sonata. 398 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,760 Is it aggressive? 399 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,720 Is it stately? 400 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,240 Is it what's the difference? 401 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,880 I mean, there was a big long Schnabel article in the beginning of Opus 111. 402 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,400 What's the difference between maestoso and larghetto? 403 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,640 There is a difference. 404 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:44,920 It doesn't mean you're locked in to this terrible odious pedanticism, but you want to project 405 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:53,680 some specific, in order for an audience to read your music or for a dancer to read your 406 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,360 tempo, it has to be specific. 407 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:57,360 Wow. 408 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,000 All these things are very fascinating. 409 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:06,280 But what attracted you to start this career, and especially as a full-time soloist at a 410 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:07,560 ballet company? 411 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,840 Did you start as like, like internship or apprenticeship? 412 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,280 No, not really. 413 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:16,520 They kind of throw it all at you at once. 414 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:21,120 It's sort of a little sink or swim. 415 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:22,580 They're kinder now. 416 00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:30,080 But when you come in, when I came in, I think I had to play Suite 3 by Tchaikovsky, which 417 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:37,160 is a big orchestra piece, complete, on stage with the conductor, the entire company, and 418 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:38,720 within a couple weeks. 419 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:44,440 And then I played the second act of Midsummer Night's Dream, which is about 40 minutes long, 420 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,560 on stage with the whole company. 421 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:47,760 And that's the way it used to be. 422 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:54,240 It used to be a really, really challenging, to say the least. 423 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,040 You went Juilliard for Masters, right? 424 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,520 And then for Doctorate, you went to Stony Brook, the great schools. 425 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,720 Now, did they prepare you to be the ballet pianist? 426 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,480 No, not really. 427 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:14,920 I mean, I think one of the main things that helps me is that I started as a jazz pianist. 428 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,480 Oh, really? 429 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,040 Yeah. 430 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,640 And I was very good. 431 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,560 I studied with very famous jazz teachers. 432 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:34,680 I was New York State in high school, the first, I don't know what they call it, all-state 433 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,160 pianist, jazz pianist, two years in a row, New York State, which is a lot of jazz pianists 434 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:40,160 are in New York. 435 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:45,880 You know, my sense of music is very, in a sense, it's kind of conceptual. 436 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:50,280 Like the piano is just a part of what I do. 437 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,040 It's just the expression of what I do. 438 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,000 But I just play music. 439 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:02,520 And when I see music, because I was a jazz pianist, I just see harmony. 440 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:09,080 So when you're playing reductions, there's a kind of quick analysis of what's going on 441 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,080 in the music. 442 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:15,320 I mean, this is not only true of jazz pianists by any means, but it helped me to be less 443 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:16,320 orthodox. 444 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,520 Like, you know, I'm not like, what finger am I going to put on the note? 445 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:31,320 I'm like, OK, you know, this is serenade, so it's slow, it's 6-8, it's A minor, it's 446 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:32,560 moving to the dominant. 447 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:39,520 You know, like these little almost like cue cards, you know, what you know in the music. 448 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:40,880 Now it's changing tempo. 449 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,960 Now this phrase is eight measures, this phrase is six measures. 450 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:49,520 So I studied composition with Howard Boatwright, who's a wonderful composer and a pupil of 451 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:50,520 Hindemith. 452 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,200 So I had really good composition training. 453 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:58,800 And you know, really, I mean, my musical life, I mean, the main thing I do is play the piano, 454 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,800 but I mean, it's like all day. 455 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:07,480 It's listening, thinking about structures, thinking about reading about music history. 456 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:08,840 Yeah, wow. 457 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:14,600 But that's very different from traditional way of learning piano, because you have this 458 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:19,260 background of jazz and also the training of composition. 459 00:34:19,260 --> 00:34:21,320 So you see music differently. 460 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:27,560 So I think, yeah, then obviously playing for dancers also give you a different perspectives 461 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,800 about playing piano, right? 462 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,600 Yeah, and also I'm, well, you mean playing itself. 463 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:40,520 For example, you know, compared to I've done ton of work collaboration with singers and 464 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:41,520 instrumentalists, right? 465 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,520 So as opposed to that playing for dancers, right? 466 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,760 Well, you have to give them the structure more because they're going to be dancing to 467 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,520 people actually for one thing, they're going to be dancing to people that can't really 468 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,200 see them while they're playing. 469 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,720 So obviously, they're dancing to the music. 470 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:04,120 So you can't follow them in the same way that you follow a singer. 471 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:09,480 I want to say that with a caveat, you can follow them also, but as a rule, you have 472 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,960 to keep in mind that they need structure. 473 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:13,400 You can't see them. 474 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:20,880 So that is so you can't really like, you know, connect in that way. 475 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:45,280 So that's why what you do has to be involved with them, but defined. 476 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,240 Kind of very definite, you know, like this is what it is. 477 00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:51,640 So they know where the music is. 478 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,000 They need to know where the music is. 479 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,880 That's in a way, your primary responsibility is a structural responsibility. 480 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:03,160 Now when you're playing for singers, you know, I studied with Gil Kalish also, who was a 481 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,760 great vocal accompanist. 482 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:09,440 And he always said the pianist provides the structure in that too. 483 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,680 So I, my career is not a vocal accompanist. 484 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:15,880 Maybe you do more than I do. 485 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:22,160 I used to do a lot when I was in school, but when I was accompanying voice, a lot of it 486 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:27,680 was in the studio and a lot of it was about a kind of following or connecting, which is 487 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:29,800 what made it so enjoyable. 488 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:36,240 But I have to say that, you know, Gil, who was a great vocal accompanist, always talked 489 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:38,560 about providing the structure. 490 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:39,560 Right. 491 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:40,560 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 492 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,160 But I think it's more so for dancers. 493 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:46,120 I guess they have to really keep the beat, right? 494 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,880 They keep a beat and they need to know where they are in the piece. 495 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:49,880 In the piece, yes. 496 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:55,440 And it's impossible to sort of feeling each other, although you may, but because they're 497 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,160 on a different, you know, you can't see them. 498 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,000 It has to happen after. 499 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:06,120 I mean, it's when you play a solo piano piece, like the Robbins piece, I talked about the 500 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:11,800 Tchaikovsky or Dances at a Gathering is an hour long Chopin piece by Robbins with hard 501 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:16,240 pieces like the B minor scherzo and all sorts of crazy stuff. 502 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:20,160 You know, when you play those things, you can connect more. 503 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:25,120 But still, there's something that's agreed upon prior, really. 504 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:26,520 Right, right, right. 505 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:32,320 That's why there's you spend so much time on rehearsals and you spend time in rehearsals, 506 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:36,160 like the things I was showing before different ways. 507 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:43,280 And then once that way is established, you can connect, you know, that's the wonderful 508 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:44,280 thing. 509 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:49,040 But until that is established, and I suppose there are some dancers that are just, you 510 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:53,440 know, spontaneous and maybe you just throw the book out the window and just connect. 511 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,760 And you know, that's great if you can see them. 512 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,880 If you can see them. 513 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:04,240 Hey TPP friends and listeners, the Piano Pod is in its third season. 514 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:09,440 Thanks to all of you for watching or listening to every episode since its launch in 2020. 515 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:14,480 I started this show with a simple question I had in mind for quite some time, which is 516 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:19,000 how can we as classical pianist and music educators present the beautiful classical 517 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:24,320 music tradition to the 21st century audience in a fun and contemporary and stylish and 518 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:25,320 engaging way? 519 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:31,080 It's been an incredible journey for the last three years, and I love what I do through 520 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:36,880 this podcast, providing a platform for pianists and educators to reflect and discuss freely 521 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:42,080 how we can keep the classical music industry thriving and relevant in this rapidly changing 522 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:43,080 world. 523 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,780 Now more than ever, I need your support so that I can continue my work by bringing you 524 00:38:47,780 --> 00:38:52,160 highly valuable content bi-weekly by interviewing groundbreakers in the industry. 525 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:57,280 You can make a one time donation or monthly pledge by clicking the PayPal link in the 526 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:02,440 show notes or going to the Piano Pod's website at thepianopod.com. 527 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:07,480 As a thank you, you will receive the Piano Pod's fun logo sticker in the mail. 528 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:12,440 So please support my show today and don't forget to subscribe and continue listening 529 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,480 and tell your friends and colleagues about the Piano Pod. 530 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,000 Let's continue with the episode. 531 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:27,760 I just love dance because dance is another way that music can reach people because some 532 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:29,680 people are more visual. 533 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,240 Like they say, there are seven types of learning, right? 534 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:37,800 Some people are more, they learn with their eyes and it's friendlier for them to hear 535 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,600 a piece of music with choreography. 536 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,880 It helps their imagination. 537 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:50,520 They connect with the, seeing someone move makes you feel your own body. 538 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:55,520 Seeing a stage set evokes, stimulates your imagination. 539 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:02,960 You were talking about reaching people before we started the conversation and one of the 540 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:08,620 things that I feel really strongly about, you know, you're asking what is the relevance 541 00:40:08,620 --> 00:40:12,360 of music and society and stuff. 542 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:18,200 Music and all art, it's a much more, in a way it's a more specific language than the 543 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:24,760 words we use because it combines ideas and emotions in a way that's much more sophisticated 544 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:29,160 than we're able to, I mean maybe if you're Shakespeare or something, you know, you can 545 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,680 communicate those ideas and words. 546 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:37,200 But people in the world have problems, people have problems, but they go to see a dance 547 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:47,400 performance and it puts them back in themselves in a way that's tremendously healthy, even 548 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:48,560 practical. 549 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:54,840 We really need that in the world and art, people say, oh you shouldn't be an artist 550 00:40:54,840 --> 00:41:00,680 because you know, how are you going to make money and stuff, but it would be a terrible 551 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:05,240 world if, just terrible if no one tried to do it. 552 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:07,600 It is very, very hard, but it would be terrible. 553 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:13,800 We would have more wars and we would have, you know, we would have more, probably more 554 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:18,960 diseases, maybe even, you know, because the scientists wouldn't be as good because they 555 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,000 would be unhappy people. 556 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:22,000 Absolutely. 557 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:28,640 Art is just wonderful, it's like the best medicine. 558 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:35,200 So that concludes the first half of this fun episode of the Piano Pod with Dr. Alan Moverman, 559 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,840 piano soloist at New York City Ballet. 560 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:44,440 Tune in next Tuesday, April 4th at 8pm Eastern to hear the rest of Alan's stories from the 561 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:49,600 backstage of the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, which is home to one of the 562 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,520 most celebrated ballet companies in the world. 563 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:58,560 If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it wherever you get your podcasts. 564 00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:02,480 You can also watch this episode on the Piano Pod's YouTube channel. 565 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:08,000 And don't forget to follow my show on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 566 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,160 The links are listed in the show notes. 567 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:33,000 Till next time.