In 2004, in Eureka, CA, Ryan had the good fortune to sit in for one of his mentors, pianist Jerry Moors, as a dance class accompanist. What was originally to be a six-month gig with North Coast Dance working for ballet master Danny Furlong became a six-year relationship that yielded a great deal of knowledge, creativity, and fulfillment. He learned the fundamentals of, and fell in love with, the vast world of playing piano for a ballet class.
Very quickly, Danny and Ryan forged a strong creative partnership, and were endlessly producing new work. Ryan composed, arranged, and performed music for many performances, including two full-length original ballets. Along the way, he even picked up some dance training, performing character roles in The Nutcracker and Birds, Ballerinas, Cossacks and Crazy Czars, a Furlong work. Ryan also got some exposure to the administrative aspect of the arts, helping the company to earn a grant for a production. The creative staff of North Coast Dance was hard at work in 2010 producing another original ballet in tribute to local, internationally recognized folk artist Romano Gabriel, when the show’s funding was unexpectedly cut short. Everyone in the local dance theater troupe made the collective commitment to see their task through – from music to costumes to choreography – on their own dime and effort. For Ryan, this included renting an accordion and taking lessons, as the Italian-inspired music was based around the instrument. Everyone was rewarded for their sacrifice when the James Irvine Foundation Grant was conferred upon the company to produce the show the following year on a larger scale – and Ryan left California as a newly minted accordionist.
Soon after arriving in Albuquerque in 2010, Ryan began playing for ballet classes at the University of New Mexico, as well as for the Albuquerque outreach program of National Dance Institute of New Mexico. He would move on to be the Musical Director of that program from 2012 to 2014. Ryan’s tenacity on the administrative side paid off again in 2014 with NDI – always an advocate of artists’ proper recompense, he was responsible for raising salaries of the musicians who had been playing for the same rate for nearly two decades.
These experiences have given Ryan the tremendous gift of working side by side with teachers and performers of international acclaim. However, his true passion lies in the daily development of dancers studying to move on to professional careers. The collective commitment from the teacher, students, and musician to the consistency and focus required to be in the moment and on the music together is a powerful force when attained in a class, and a joy to help create. Currently Ryan is playing for ballet and modern dance classes at Texas State University.
The craft of setting music to dance is a world of its own – one that Ryan very much enjoys. The collaboration between the composer, choreographer, and dancers is fascinating as well as demanding, down to each eight-count. For one with such a vivid imagination and meticulous mind as Ryan’s, it’s a good fit.