Music for Ballet Class: the Etudes II album provides ballet class music for ballet instructors and dance students. Available in compact disc (professionally manufactured) or download format. Hello, I'm Robert Long, composer and pianist of the Etudes II CD. I have been employed as a ballet class music accompanist with several studios over a period of about 20 years. In that time, I have worked with many wonderful ballerinas, teachers and students. Etudes II is the product of my experiences and background and I believe it will be a useful and enjoyable aid to ballet instructors and students. Etudes II was released in 2005; it's my second CD of ballet class music, designed for classroom use, or private study. BARRE SELECTIONS PLAYED TWICE FOR CLASSROOM CONVENIENCE I hope you'll listen to my music samples, and please contact me; I'd be glad to hear your questions and comments! NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY DIGITAL DOWNLOAD! Entire Album or individual selections! Please refer to the links on the lower left hand column to go to Apple iTunes, PayPlay, Tradebit, or GreatIndieMusic. You can also purchase this album in MP3 format right here at CD Baby! Press review of Robert Long (Mississauga News) City music man is 'Long' on talent Thirty-plus song cycle moves from classical to ragtime Mike Beggs Mar 22, 2006 He's excited to release his second CD. But pianist Robert Long is far from your typical indie recording artist. Over the past 20 years, he has played only the occasional club or wedding gig. Instead, he has substantiated himself as a ballet accompanist for several area dance schools, and as the organist/pianist for the Unity Church of Mississauga. As such, his new CD, Etudes II is another assortment of original solo performances for students to dance to in class - leading them on the traditional path through barre work, centre practice, pirouettes, adage, petit allegro, batterie, and grand allegro. "It's very specifically designed for what it does, which helps me sell CDs to my classes -- ," he says. That said, this also makes first-rate music to, say, wash the dishes to. Long proves a deft hand on the ivories, as he moves from classical to ragtime in this 30-plus song cycle - which he composed, arranged, and performed singlehandedly. He took the Royal Conservatory route, before earning a four-year Music Bachelor of Arts in history and theory from U of T. The totally self-effacing Long "sort of stumbled" into his ballet gigs (for the local Giggs School of Dancing, among others). He's also long-time accompanist/synth arranger for the Bangor Lodge variety show in Cottage Country. "When I got into the ballet accompaniment, for whatever strange reason I seemed to be able to manage fairly well at it - - - If I'm ever having a bad day, I can usually kick myself into gear by just watching them (the dancers)," he says. "It can be graceful, but to me it's more the idea of motion somehow relating to music."