MUSICAL RESOURCES FOR CREATIVE DANCE

Compiled by Shana Habel Music for Creative Dance: Contrast & Continuum Volumes I-IV by Eric Chappelle. These CD’s are Eric Chappelle's response to many requests by dance teachers for recordings of his dance accompaniment work. The majority of pieces feature contrasts in tempo, texture and other music elements, which correspond to dance elements. Musical material of this nature is difficult to find in commercial recordings. This is an instrumental album with a wide variety of music styles and sounds appropriate for many different dance applications. Movement ideas are included in the CD booklet. Eric Chappelle's unique compositions are sure to appeal to dancers of all ages. Available through ravennaventures.com or creativedance.org/store/

Orff-Schulwerk, Vol. I-III by Carl Orff. (Vol. I: Musica Poetica; Vol. II: Musik Fur Kinder; Vol. III: Piano Music). Available through the Celestial Harmonies catalogue at blacksun.com. Short pieces which are great for guided improvisations and compositional activities. (There are other CDs by Orff and Gunild Keetman that are wonderful as well.)

Planet Drum by Mickey Hart. Available on amazon.com.

Drums of Passion by Babatunde Olatunji. Available on amazon.com.

Spirit of the Forest and Heart of the Forest by Baka Beyond. Available on amazon.com.

Shakin’ Down the Acorns, Vol. I-II by Tony Elman. Available on amazon.com and through acornmusic.com. American folk tunes good for traveling through space

First Harvest: Ten Years of Acorn Music. Available through acornmusic.com. Good folk and fiddle tunes for traveling through space.

Modern Dance Environments 1 and 2 by Craig Kupka and Norman Beede. Available through asgardprod.com.

Music by Jon Scoville. Available through asgardprod.com. Jon is an accomplished composer and accompanist. He is Music Director of Tandy Beal & Company and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Utah. You can sample his work at asgardprod.com.

Music by Michael Roberts. Available on balletmusic.com or amazon. Modern Dance Class has some nice melodies for explorations and traveling though space. Michael is currently the music director for the Trudl Zippler Dance Institute at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Electronic Dance Music by Alwin Nikolais. Available on amazon.com.

Music by Enya. (Shepherd Moon is great.) Available on amazon.com.

Classic Nursery Rhymes by Hap Palmer. Available on amazon.com and through cduniverse.com. Good for traveling through space and building rhythmic perception in young students.

The Guitar Toons CD by D.R. Auten. Available on drauten.com. Imaginative guitar sounds that imitate insects, reptiles and other animal characters that appear in a GuitarToons story. Great for moving through space.

Earth Tribe Rhythms; Jungle Moon; A Tisket, Tasket, A Child’s Rhythm Basket and other CD’s by Brent Lewis. Available at brentlewis.com.

Hush by Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin.

Waves by Gabriella Roth and the Mirrors. Available on amazon.com.

Good Morning Exercises for Kids by Georgiana Stewart. Available on kiboed.com or amazon.com.

All-Time Favorite Dances. Available on kiboed.com or amazon.com.

Vintage Parade: Childhood Memories (The Palm Court Orchestra).

Diavolo Dance Theate: 1992-1996 by Jean-Pierre Bedoyan. Available on cdtrracks.com

The Angels of Venice. Available through angelsofvenice.com (“Dragonfly” is magical.)

Heigh Ho Mozart: Favorite Disney Tunes in the Style of Great Classical Composers. Available on amazon.com.

Music for my Little Friends by James Galway. Available on amazon.com.

Share the Music. MacMillan/McGraw-Hill. Available in grade level sets at many schools.

Classical Music: Saint Saens, Carnival of the Animals Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Spring Rimsky-Kosakov, Flight of the Bumblebee Saitie, Gymnopedie I Chopin (Waltzes), Debussy, Brahms, Bach, Schubert, Pachelbel, Beethoven, Haydn, Scarlatti, Handel, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Dvorak

Jazz/Swing Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstron, Ella Fitzgerald, Djano Reinhardt, Earl Hines, Herbie Hancock (“Watermelon Man”), Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Bela Fleck

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