The Impact of Live Music on Choate Students' Ballet Classes

By Laya Raj ’24 and Sophia Pandya ’24

If you happen to step into Colony Hall in the afternoon—one of several auditoriums at Connecticut boarding high-school, Choate Rosemary Hall—you may hear the harmonious melodies of a piano in simultaneous rhythm with the patter of moving feet. After an absence of a year and a half, live music has returned to Ms. Pamela Newell’s ballet classes. The studio feels different with the piano bench occupied by her husband, Mr. Bob Newell, a musician and dancer himself.

Mr. Newell plays along with the ballet students, interpreting the feeling of the movement to find a suitable tempo. Though often overlooked, live music has a significant impact on the dancers. The collaborative nature of music and dance initiates an artistic conversation in which the performers bounce off one another and give rise to infinite possibilities. “It's not just the teacher and the musician but it's actually the whole creating all these little miniatures,” said Mr. Newell.

Echoing the same sentiment, Ms. Newell said, “I think it just fills up the room in a way that recorded music doesn't. I feel it surrounding me and supporting me. I'm more aware that there's a person, that there's a partner with me dancing.”

The partnership between the choreographer, musician, and dancers encompasses improvisation, variation, and communication. With joint effort, even the “little exercise at the bar turns into a work of art,” Mr. Newell said. Libby Dai ’25, a participant in Choate’s dance program, agreed, stating that “live music allows you to appreciate music, not just as something in the background, but as part of the dance.”

With different tones and tempos, live music can foster distinct atmospheres and induce varying sentiments. “It can create a certain emotion to how you are dancing,” said Arissa Lee ’25. She further noted that Mr. Newell’s dedication to the performance enables her to better recognize the emotions associated with each piece.

Dai, similarly, appreciates live music for its ability to enrich the dance experience. She recalled that when practicing slow and graceful movements, the music would be in adagio (slow tempo), and when training to petit allegro (small jumps), the music would become faster and more upbeat to accompany the quick footwork. When improvising, Dai lets the music guide her movements.

Maya Bashawaty ’24, another participant in the Choate dance program, believes that music determines the mood of the dance, thereby requiring the musician to observe the dancers and how they choose to interpret the piece. Bashawaty appreciates the constant communication between the dance teachers and Mr. Newell throughout the class to ensure that the music fits the movement’s tempo and mood. By reading the room, Mr. Newell sometimes plays in accordance with the emotional atmosphere or completely contradicts it. She recounted how, for instance, when the energy in the room is particularly low, Mr. Newell plays an upbeat tone to keep the dancers on their toes.

Dai noted the versatility of Mr. Newell’s playing as he effortlessly switches between multiple instruments to complement different types of dance. “When we’re doing grand allegro, he might play the drums; when we're doing adagio he might play on the piano.” As a violinist, Dai admires Mr. Newell’s ability to play different instruments in various time signatures from memory to fit specific ballet compositions. “It’s a really good experience listening to him and admiring him while also contributing to the performance,” she said.

For Bashawaty, when the drums are played in class, her attention will shift to the beat of the music, and her dance, in turn, becomes more rhythmic. When Mr. Newell changes music, Bashawaty said, “it teaches me how to keep up with the counts and adjust to him in real time.” This differs from when the piano is played, where she is then inclined to move in a more fluid and emotional way. “I enjoy trying to take all the little details of what he’s playing and encapsulate them in the mood that I express,” she said.

Dancing to live music has special meaning to Choate’s dancers, who have not had the experience since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020. “It just livens everything up, brings joy, simply, really. Covid took away those simple, joyful moments of being all together, working with musicians,” said Vicky Grechukhina ’23. “I really missed it, and I feel like I won't ever take for granted the chance of hearing music while performing.”