DESCRIPTION:
Performed by Brendan Ko age 17

Astral Dance by Gordon Stout is a difficult work for four mallet marimba solo, based on a single theme and its variations. Most frequently,Stout performs this work with the Two Mexican Dances as a set titled "Three Dances for Marimba". It is a marimba dance in his mind because it combines melody and harmony through the rhythmic alternation of the two hands. He couldn't determine a nationality for the piece, as Warren Benson did with the Two Mexican Dances, so the "astral" in the title implies of a different world.