Over the past two weekends, members of the Edina High School band played in the pit for James Sewell Ballet Company, a very popular ballet company. James Sewell is a choreographer from Minnesota whose performances combine modern dance with classical ballet. In Spring of 2015, Sewell called EHS band director Paul Kile about getting a sousaphone for the cover of his ballet, Band It. Gladly offering one to Sewell, Mr. Kile then asked if he uses a pre-recorded track, or a live band. When he told him that he uses a pre-recorded track, Mr. Kile asked Sewell if he would like to use his band for a pit. After discussing the details, they decided that Mr. Kile would let his band members sign up for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Zephyrus: How many pieces did you play for him and what were they?

Paul Kile: We played eight different pieces for the ‘Band It’ portion of the ballet.

Zephyrus: How did you determine who would play in the pit?

P.K.: I basically asked for volunteers. I laid out the performance schedule and then I started asking who might be interested. I also I went and tapped kids on the shoulder and said I’d really like you to do this, because I was also trying to pay attention to the instrumentation that I needed.

Zephyrus: What is some background on the ballet your band played in?

P.K.: James Sewell used to sit on the board of the American Composers Forum. About 15 years ago they started to commission young composers to write for young high school bands. When James was on that committee, he thought “I really should choreograph some ballet to fit these pieces because they are really cool.” When I got his phone call to borrow some equipment, that’s when the conversation started. I asked him, “well what are you doing for music?” and he replied “well, we’ll probably just use some recordings.” When he said that I immediately said “If you’re going to use some recordings, I’ll be happy to play for you.”

Zephyrus: What do you think your students have gained through this experience?

P.K.: first of all, I think that at the high school and at the district we really value partnership, real world experiences and collaboration and I think this really did it. It wasn’t just a concealed feel of the classroom where we ask students to play the stock and bonds game with pretend money, this was real. There are people that paid big dollars for these tickets, such as Target Corporation, so I think the pressure of what it’s like to be a live performer was real for the students. They had to deliver; we couldn’t just go in there and just blow it off like it was a band concert for our moms and dads. I also think the collaboration experience was really good because we couldn’t go in there and just do our own thing. We had to work with the ballet dancers – if they said “that tempo is too fast!” Well then we have to go slower. We had to adhere to it, and the pit was also small enough that I feel like the students really knew that independently “I have to deliver. Every pass I throw has to be a touchdown.” I think that this helped raise all of their level of playing individually, but we got to do that together and have fun. Another element is that they got to do it at the Cowles Center, live, and in the pit they were paid professionals. It was a real brush of what it was like to be a professional musician even though most of them were doing it for the fun and the experience. Finally, I think that the exposure to the ballet was great for them, because some of these kids had never really seen ballet before. James Sewell is not a modern dance company, it’s real classical ballet.   

        The EHS band playing as a part of James Sewell Ballet was them backing up their statement to go out and show other people what music is like here at Edina.