playing with aplomb

Sometimes it takes an outside view to nail an idea. Here's a view of theremin playing from the world of electronic music...

[i]Everyone loves the idea of using a Theremin, but frankly it's soo darn hard to pull it off with any aplomb.[/i] (source (http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2009/01/28/wnamm09-moog-etherwave-plus-theremin-equals-control/))

APLOMB. There's a neat word, thought I, so I looked up its definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplomb), and found it had a meaning I was not aware of, particular to the world of ballet:

[i]The French ballet master Jean-Étienne Despréaux defined it in 1806 as a specific kind of dynamic balance fundamental to all positions and movements of (classical) ballet.[/i]

I'm not quite sure how this applies to theremin playing, but "dynamic balance" sounds right, and I am darned sure that one should always seek to play with aplomb.

Just a thought.

Aplomb ? Impossible, try a banana.

HEY That's Amos!
He fixed my theremins with great aplomb,
and TLC.

In French "aplomb" has another meaning:

First it is a plumb line

and doing something with "aplomb" means plumb-vertical or in a more figurative sense: very precise(ly).

I think the latter is meant when speaking about theremin playing.

that explains my nick name plumb bob.
thanks Thierry!

"The French ballet master Jean-Étienne Despréaux defined it in 1806 as a specific kind of dynamic balance fundamental to all positions and movements of (classical) ballet."

I would dare say no one can play this instrument without a certain dynamic balance, especially in regards to position and movement. Technically speaking, the theremin PLAYER, sans aplomb, might be an atrocity!!