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MUSIC IS BRAIN FOOD
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Classes
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Waltzing Through Time
Hello - I’m Joshua Berrett.
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As someone who has been a musician since I was very young, I have long been fascinated by what I call “musical miracles” -- musical forms that touch us in profound ways. One of these is the waltz -- and its defining meter, three-quarter time.
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The waltz is a flexible -- you might even say a magical -- form. It evolved from an Austrian folk dance for couples called the Lendler, which is beautifully portrayed in Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical, The Sound of Music.
The earliest waltzes trace back to early 19th century Vienna, around the end of the Napoleonic Wars, when it became the hub of a whole waltz culture, with major dance bands led by popular composer-conductors like Johann Strauss.
You might be surprised to hear that there’s a direct line connecting those waltz bands to modern swing era dance bands!
In this six-week course, I’ll be sharing music videos of waltzes from operas, symphonies, musicals, and jazz, pointing out the distinctive underlying pulse and harmonies that create the warmth and passion that listeners, as much as dancers, instinctively respond to.
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All music is a journey through time. I’m looking forward to sharing this fascinating journey with you.
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Please read the text below for more information.
Testimonials
Josh Berrett has been consistently praised by his students for his deep knowledge of and passion for music and his willingness to address and explore the many questions they raise. To learn more about Josh's background, click here: https://www.agelessmindproject.org/about-josh
“Josh, what terrific material you use, not just for the waltz classes but for all of your classes. Your research is terrific and always interesting” - Edith N.
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"What I liked best about the course were Josh's dispositions and analyses of Richard Rodgers' waltzes, mainly because Rodgers' work was produced and popular during my lifetime. I could relate! I am particularly fond of the several Broadway productions in which Rodgers' waltzes were BIG HITS (South Pacific, Oklahoma, and others), as well as the waltz music accompanying "Victory at Sea", the film/video documentary describing the U. S. naval experiences in World War II. Thank you, Josh!" - Bernie W.
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"For the record, the Ageless Mind Project's "Waltzing Through Time" course by Musicologist Joshua Berrett was both informative and entertaining. It provided a meaningful overview of the structure of the "waltz" through Professor Berrett's technical knowledge of the music and the pleasure of listening to so many works
of music that we remember and to those that were introduced in this course. For an interesting and enjoyable experience, we recommend tuning in to this music course and come away feeling enriched." - David and Judy P.
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"I first learned to waltz as an army brat teenager living in Germany, and I've loved waltzing ever since, in both real and virtual worlds. I recently attended Josh Berrett's "Waltzing Through Time" course offered by Lifetime Learners. We learned about the history of the waltz both as a dance and as a musical form, heard dozens of beautiful examples of waltz music, and considered the cultural symbolism of waltzing in multiple social settings. Every session was as enchanting as the opening scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey," when a bone thrown into the air by a primitive hominid is transformed into a rotating spaceship, accompanied by "The Blue Danube." Don't miss the rerun of the course at the Ageless Mind Project!" - Mary Anne C.
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How To Sign Up
"Waltzing Through Time" is a six-week, live course that meets once a week on Wednesdays between February 4th and March 11th from 10:30 to 11:30 am (Eastern).
Each class will be recorded and available to you as a permanent, archived file. So, if you can't make the live classes you'll still be able to enjoy the course.
See the schedule below for details of what's included in each class.
NOTE: Participants in the live classes will be able to ask questions and comment in voice and chat in Zoom.
Questions? Contact us at AgelessMindProject@gmail.com
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