Skerzo presents: Reverie and Revelry

Dance music was once purely practical, written to keep feet moving in ballrooms and village squares. In the 19th century, Romantic composers began breaking the rules. They valued emotion, imagination and personal expression over function, so they stretched old forms into new shapes and created new genres. The humble dance was transformed. Chopin's waltzes and mazurkas were never meant for dancing, and folk rhythms became a proud voice of national identity. Once off the dance floor, these pieces grew bolder, richer and more virtuosic, becoming stylised works of art made for listening.

The program begins with fiery national flavours: the passionate Hungarian Dances of Brahms, and the rustic charm of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances. Rachmaninoff's lush, dreamlike Suite No. 1 carries the program onward before Ravel's La valse takes the floor. It starts as an elegant Viennese waltz that spins, swirls and finally falls apart into thrilling chaos. Join Skerzo for this exciting celebration of two piano repertoire, and prepare to be swept off your feet!