I composed my first ballet and what I learned after the fact

Featured Image – Dreams Interrupted Ballet by Pierre Bohemond, Choreography by Trinette Singleton – Dancers Alice Cao and Jacopo Janelli photo by Leighton-Chen 2014

I learned a big lesson after composing my first ballet “Dreams Interrupted” with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation – I used Cubase from Steinberg; Logic Pro and Ableton Live are other examples of a DAW). After finishing composing the music of Dreams Interrupted Ballet I searched for a choreographer. I was introduced to Trinette Singleton a former Joffrey Ballet alumna STAR dancer (Trinette was on the cover of Time Magazine) and currently is the artistic director at the Repertory Dance Theater in Allentown, PA. To my delight she liked the composition (Dreams Interrupted) and accepted to work with me. Trinette was able to land a performance agreement with ARB in Princeton, NJ. American Repertory Ballet is one of the top professional ballet companies in that state. Performances were very well received. People loved the ballet! Following on the succes I was asked by Douglas Martin the then Artistic Director at ARB to provide the score and parts for a live orchestral performance of the ballet. I was excited about the news until I was told that the orchestra was limited to about 24 musicians. My ballet composition required 80 musicians and a choir. If I had reduced the parts to 24 musicians (Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion and Strings) it would have totally lost the eerie atmosphere and the strong impact of the original score that is reflected in the audio mix. I did try to reduce the score and as I suspected it didn’t work. Sadly I couldn’t do it.

What I learned. When composing music for a ballet you need to ask yourself if this composition is just meant to be performed with your audio mix or will it be performed live? If you think that it will be performed live you will need to get ready with a mix and score parts for the orchestra. After what experience I learned the hard way that not all Dance Companies can afford large orchestras. Compose for a smaller orchestra or Chamber Music Group to have a chance at hearing your music performed live.

By now you guest it, the next ballet I composed “The Red Bench” was written for two instruments – a Cello and a Piano! (the music is posted on this website if you wish to listen.) Now you can put your DAW aside and get better scoring results with a notation program like Dorico Pro or Sibelius or Finale. I personally tried all three and without any doubt I exclusively use Dorico Pro. Now that COVID is almost a thing of the past I will start submitting the ballet to artistic directors and not worry about the request for live performances – Audio Mix and Score Parts are ready to go!