Below is the abstract of Andrew’s talk at The Ohio State University’s conference Practitioner Centered Music Theory: Concepts, Methods, Perspectives in October 2025. This conference brought together analysts and practitioners of instrumental performance, dance, and electronic music production to explore how music theory could learn from the knowledge of practitioners, which is articulated in a practical and direct way in comparison to music theory (if that knowledge is articulated verbally at all!). The most striking parts of the conference were when the panelists and keynote speakers shared their thoughts about the ethics of “translating” practitioners’ thoughts into a theory-laden format that one supposes to be more suitable to our field, and the assumptions of authority that come with that translation.

The Time It Takes to Jump: Battu Sequences as a Determinant of Meter and Tempo

Ballet choreography is often analyzed as a musical line created by a choreographer on the basis of existing music. I build on the choreomusical work of Leaman (2022) and Bell (2021), but I ask: what kinds of music are best suited to an existing tradition of choreography? Two case studies illustrate how composers and conductors choose their tempos and meters carefully when rendering music for classical ballet. My case studies come from Giselle (chor. Nureyev/Petipa) and Sleeping Beauty (chor. Petipa). The variations performed by male lead characters use repeated percussive jumping steps (the entrechat sixeand the brisé volé.)  that afford specific tempos and meters. Tempo, here, is determined largely by the height required to change foot position, while meter is influenced by the number of changes. In all, I show how the ballet dancers themselves have a hand in creating the music that accompanies them.