My bona fides are: 10 years of classical piano, 2 years as 3rd clarinet in a small local orchestra, and a little experience as a super in the opera.

For the sake of discussion, let's suppose that the best of the classical repetoire consists of 1000 hours of truly fine music. I maintain that at the most 20 hours of that is ballet. I don't count Purcell as a ballet composer.

Yes, much of classical music is based on dance forms. The relationship, however, is very loose.


Although trained dancers may be splendid athletes, I have always felt that both ballet and modern dance are UGLY. And, since most formal criticism is based on an analysis of personal experience and taste, I stand by my opinions.