Solo Ballet Variations
Welcome to another endeavor of the Logokinesis Publishing Company. We develop, create and self publish books for the Pilates and Dance community and after two successful book projects we were ready to tackle a different medium: music.

You are wondering why?

Performing and teaching Variations of the ballet repertory is a thrill for student and teacher alike. The classroom suddenly becomes a live performance, making students grow into their dancer’s skin while learning original choreography and exploring the subtleties of character through the music. For a student, learning how to carry themselves through a solo is one of the important milestones in their lives and one they will remember.

As a ballet instructor in higher education and the private studio I often encountered major roadblocks when wanting to teach Variations. When I had the luxury of working with a live musician in class, the scores for ballet music were difficult if not impossible to find. Orchestral recordings on the other hand seemed to have been produced more for listening pleasure than for dancing: the sheer speed of them was impossible to handle even for the most advanced students. Without fail I was about to turn what should have been an exciting moment for my students into a major frustration. Thankfully, I met Christian Matjias.

Christian ingeniously adapted repertory works to the needs of students and teachers without sacrificing the soul and intent of the dance. Each solo on this CD has been recorded multiple times with different tempi to allow beginning and intermediate students to tackle and master choreography, one beat at the time. The introductions have been kept the same, but the core of the score was adapted keeping the original choreography in mind. The work you hold in your hands today is meant to be inspirational and practical.

An extensive bibliography accompanies our selection of variations - listing available video, DVD and orchestral recordings. To further enhance the educational mission of this project, composer biographies and their relationship to dance and dancers can be downloaded at: www.christianm.org or at www.logokinesis.com

Last but not least: A CD case formatted pdf file with all tracks and their related speed is available for download from our website. Enjoy!

Buy Étoile
$27.95
ISBN:783707364209