City Ballet The Podcast
126 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 137 ratingsWelcome to City Ballet The Podcast, an exploration of New York City Ballet where we'll journey through our history, delve into our new and existing repertory, and reveal insider tidbits.
Each season of City Ballet The Podcast features episodes that span three topics: New Combinations hosted by Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, Hear the Dance hosted by dance educator and former NYCB dancer Silas Farley, and See the Music hosted by Music Director Andrew Litton.
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Episodes
Episode 110: The Rosin Box: Partnering
March 18, 2024 09:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBThis week at The Rosin Box, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz are joined by NYCB dancers and "real-life" couple Emily Kikta and Peter Walker to talk about partnering—onstage and off. Peter and Aarón share their memories of learning from legendary former Principal Dancer Jock Soto, who taught partnering at the School of American Ballet when they were students, while Claire and Emily reflect on the ways in which pas de deux challenge their stamina while offering opportunities to ...
Episode 109: The Rosin Box: Wellness
March 11, 2024 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.9 MBHosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are back at The Rosin Box, joined by Corps de Ballet Member and Get Golden founder Jenelle Manzi. Jenelle describes her journey to the stage and how struggles with injuries and food allergies inspired her to start crafting her own anti-inflammatory recipes. As she shares, a stray comment from a colleague on the tour bus to the Kennedy Center sparked the formation of her business, which she runs alongside performing full-time with the Company. (40:49) ...
Episode 108: The Rosin Box: Costume Shop
March 04, 2024 10:00 - 43 minutes - 40.5 MBThe Rosin Box returns for another round of candid conversations with hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz. This week, they're joined by NYCB Director of Costumes Marc Happel to talk all things tutus and beyond. Happel shares his journey to the Company's storied costume shop, where decades ago Co-Founder George Balanchine collaborated with Barbara Karinska on the innovative powderpuff tutu, and artisans fit and craft costumes for today's dancers under Happel's direction. (43:32) ...
Episode 107: See the Music: Symphony in Three Movements
February 05, 2024 10:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBIn this week's See the Music episode, we revisit a 2013 live presentation with host and Associate Music Director Andrews Sill, exploring Igor Stravinsky's 1945 composition Symphony in Three Movements, the score for the George Balanchine ballet of the same name. With help from the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Maestro Sill highlights the musical "nuts and bolts" of this galvanizing piece, and outlines some of the cinematic and real-world inspirations for its taut construction and powerful i...
Episode 106: Hear the Dance: Liebeslieder Walzer
January 29, 2024 10:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBSilas Farley is back with another deep dive into the Company's repertory in this week's Hear the Dance episode, devoted to George Balanchine's Liebeslieder Walzer. Farley is joined by former Principal Dancers Bart Cook and Maria Calegari, who share their memories of watching the ballet's iconic interpreters in its initial incarnations; learning individual parts within the challenging but "sublime" work; and coaching Liebeslieder in its entirety. As they describe, the ballet was like a "gift ...
Episode 105: New Combinations: Tiler Peck
January 22, 2024 10:00 - 37 minutes - 35.2 MBIn the latest New Combinations episode, Associate Artistic Director and host Wendy Whelan chats with Principal Dancer Tiler Peck about memories from their time dancing together and Tiler's upcoming choreographic debut with the Company. Tiler describes how her internal sense of musicality drives her choreographic practice as much as her work as a performer, and shares that this commission from New York City Ballet came at exactly the right time—the dancers' happiness and enthusiasm in the stu...
Episode 104: Hear the Dance: In the Night
January 15, 2024 10:00 - 46 minutes - 43.7 MBCity Ballet The Podcast launches this season with a new Hear the Dance conversation, guest hosted by Silas Farley, who is joined by three generations of dancers who are well acquainted with Jerome Robbins' In the Night. Former Principal Dancer Kay Mazzo originated the lead role in the ballet's first movement, about "young love"; Repertory Director Christine Redpath took over coaching the ballet from colleague Victor Castelli; and Principal Dancer Unity Phelan is performing the lead role in t...
Episode 103: The Rosin Box: Pointe Work
November 27, 2023 10:00 - 46 minutes - 43.3 MBThis week, Soloist Sara Adams joins hosts Claire Kretzschmar and fellow Soloist Aarón Sanz at The Rosin Box to talk pointe shoes, from the first dancer to popularize dancing en pointe to all the sewing, banging, and prepping required to get this iconic footwear ready for a performance. Sara discusses her own history with pointe shoes and shares an array of tips and tricks, revealing just how often she changes to a fresh pair during a run of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®. (46:37) Edit...
Episode 102: The Rosin Box: NYCB Education Programs
November 20, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBJoin us this week for another conversation around The Rosin Box with hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz, who are joined by Senior Manager of School Programs Colleen Megley and Corps de Ballet Member Kristen Segin. They talk about the Company's many educational and public program offerings, from Family Saturdays and Student Matinee performances to Access Programs and adult-friendly Workshop Weekends—the last of which Segin lovingly describes as "dance camp" for grown-ups. As Coll...
Episode 101: The Rosin Box: Conducting Ballet
November 13, 2023 10:00 - 50 minutes - 47.4 MBJoin us for another round of cozy conversations at The Rosin Box, beginning with Associate Music Director Andrews Sill. Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz chat with Sill about how he came to this role with NYCB, why he prefers conducting for the ballet over symphonic performances, and which Balanchine work made him fall in love with the art form. With preparations for the return of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker® under way, Sill shares how he keeps familiar music fresh—and t...
Episode 100: Hear the Dance: Jennifer Homans (Part 2)
October 16, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBThis week, the two-part conversation between Hear the Dance host Silas Farley and dance historian Jennifer Homans continues. They discuss Lincoln Kirstein’s essential role as a collaborator with Balanchine, the creation of Serenade, and some of the key personal and artistic moments in the ongoing history of the New York City Ballet. Homans traces the development of the Company’s ethos through the individual dancers’ devotion to Balanchine's vision and to the art form; Balanchine’s presence, ...
Episode 99: Hear the Dance: Jennifer Homans (Part 1)
October 09, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 88.6 MBIn this first part of a special Hear the Dance episode, host and former NYCB Dancer Silas Farley is joined by dance scholar Jennifer Homans to discuss her recently published biography, "Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century.” Homans describes how her own background as a dancer—including as a student at the School of American Ballet in the 1970s—and a return to Balanchine’s works while facing personal loss inspired her lasting interest in the Company’s founding choreographer. Farley and Hom...
Episode 98: See the Music: Serenade
October 02, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBIn this week’s See the Music episode, Associate Music Director Andrews Sill provides a taste of history and context for Tschaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, the score of the first ballet George Balanchine choreographed in the United States. Sill discusses the way the composition’s symmetries represent an homage to Mozart, and how Tschaikovsky marries "classical forms, folk tunes, and extroverted romantic expression” in the piece, which, combined with Balanchine’s choreography, resulted in th...
Episode 97: Hear the Dance: Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
September 25, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 139 MBThis week’s episode is a special Hear the Dance reunion: former NYCB Dancer Silas Farley hosts a wide-ranging conversation between legendary former Principal Dancer Merrill Ashley and current Principal Dancer Tiler Peck on George Balanchine’s Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. As Peck shares, her first exposure to this daunting lead role was in a coaching session with Ashley, long before it became a mainstay in her repertory. Ashley describes the thrilling challenge of taking it on as a new-...
Episode 96: See the Music: Rubies
September 18, 2023 09:00 - 21 minutes - 20 MBNew York City Ballet’s Music Director Andrew Litton returns to host this week’s See The Music episode, devoted to Igor Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, the score for the Rubies section of George Balanchine’s Jewels. Litton describes the captivating details of this composition from 1929, a prime example of the uniquely symbiotic relationship between Balanchine and Stravinsky, with a little help from Solo Pianist Stephen Gosling, who demonstrates some of the most challenging exc...
Episode 95: New Combinations: Alexei Ratmansky
September 11, 2023 09:00 - 36 minutes - 49.9 MBCity Ballet The Podcast returns in the run-up to our 75th Anniversary Season, which begins by celebrating The Foundation of the Company. Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan checks in with Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, who has been in the studios for three weeks, leading company class and observing as the dancers prepare for a Fall devoted to the works of George Balanchine. As he shares, “I’m learning as much as I’m teaching… Balanchine ballets give you different information in t...
Episode 94: Bonus: 22-23 Season Wrap-Up
July 03, 2023 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBThis week, City Ballet The Podcast wraps up the 22-23 Season with Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, who celebrate a year of discovery, change, and renewal. Highlights include a powerful corps de ballet, shaped in part through the growing culture of mentorship throughout the Company; Justin Peck’s momentous new work, Copland Dance Episodes; the return to international tours, including a wildly successful visit to Spain; and more. With performanc...
Episode 93: The Rosin Box: Ask the Dancers
June 26, 2023 09:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBIt’s time for the annual Ask the Dancers episode of The Rosin Box! Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Corps de Ballet Member Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara to dig into questions submitted by listeners, from strategies for learning new choreography to secrets for staying motivated all season long. Listen in to find out what it’s like to work alongside dancers who’ve known each other since childhood and which step Meaghan describes as “delicious.” (54:07) Edited by Emilie Silvestri...
Episode 92: The Rosin Box: Ballet in the Age of Social Media
June 19, 2023 09:00 - 37 minutes - 34.9 MBThis week, Soloist Olivia MacKinnon joins Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz at The Rosin Box to talk all things social media. Olivia shares how time away from the stage during the pandemic inspired her to pursue an amped up presence on Instagram, and the group discusses the importance of taking everything on social media with a grain of salt, while embracing the possibilities for new connections and opportunities. (37:19) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Mar...
Episode 91: The Rosin Box: Dance on Film with Sean Suozzi
June 12, 2023 09:00 - 47 minutes - 44.3 MBAarón Sanz is back from NYCB’s first tour in Madrid to join fellow host Claire Kretzschmar and guest Sean Suozzi for a chat around The Rosin Box. Suozzi, a former Soloist with Company, shares how his focus shifted to filmmaking, from his role as an Executive Producer on the 2010 film NY Export: Opus Jazz to his recent projects as a director, including 2019’s Sleeping Beauty trailer. He describes the creative process behind latest directorial effort for NYCB, the 75th Anniversary film, which ...
Episode 90: See the Music Live: Agon
May 15, 2023 09:00 - 10 minutes - 9.82 MBThis week’s episode features a special live presentation of See the Music, hosted by Associate Music Director Andrews Sill and Resident Conductor Clotilde Otranto. With a little help from the New York City Ballet Orchestra, they explore the combination of old and new, romantic and acrobatic in Igor Stravinsky’s commissioned score for George Balanchine’s Agon. As Otranto notes, Agon displays Stravinsky’s creativity in “full bloom.” (10:39) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Symphony in Th...
Episode 89: New Combinations: Christopher Wheeldon
May 08, 2023 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.4 MBHost and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another New Combinations episode, chatting with long-time friend, former ballet partner, and Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. He describes his journey from Royal Ballet dancer to New York City Ballet to Broadway and back again, with first new work for the Company in six years premiering on May 4. As Wheeldon shares, the “turbulent beauty” of artist Kylie Manning’s work was a major inspiration in the studio a...
Episode 88: Hear the Dance: Allegra Kent (Part 2)
May 01, 2023 09:05 - 41 minutes - 38.9 MBOur special two-part episode of Hear the Dance continues with former Principal Dancers Allegra Kent and Jared Angle exploring Kent’s career at New York City Ballet, zeroing in on two key roles: the Sleepwalker in La Sonnambula, and the lead in Agon. Kent shares that she was coached extensively by Balanchine for La Sonnambula—the first ballet Kent saw onstage, and immediately fell in love with—but perhaps learned most from an impromptu session with originating dancer Alexandra Danilova at a b...
Episode 87: Hear the Dance: Allegra Kent (Part 1)
May 01, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.8 MBIn part one of this week’s special Hear the Dance episode, legendary former Principal Dancer Allegra Kent joins host and fellow former Principal Jared Angle to discuss her beginnings as a dancer. From joining Bronislava Najinska's intermediate class full of GIs fresh from World War II at the age of 11, to entering the School of American Ballet at 14, to premiering in the corps of Symphony in C as an apprentice a year later, Kent describes the whirlwind of her early years with the Company—cap...
Episode 86: New Combinations: Alysa Pires
April 24, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 42.5 MBHost and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another intimate and insightful New Combinations conversation. Choreographer Alysa Pires joins Wendy between rehearsals for her first NYCB stage commission, discussing her childhood and training in Canada, the uniquely collaborative relationship she has developed with composer Jack Frerer, and the challenges—and rewards—of balancing motherhood and her artistic career. Alysa says of her time with the Company so far that she is lik...
Episode 85: See the Music: Square Dance
April 17, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBFor the latest See the Music episode, host and Associate Music Director Andrews Sill do-si-dos with George Balanchine’s Square Dance. Sills demonstrates with recordings of traditional square dance calls and excerpts from the Vivaldi and Corelli score the ways in which the fiddlers of the former connect with the solo violins of the latter, and how this 1957 ballet contributed to the choreographer’s efforts to build a trusting American audience for the classical art form. (15:14) Edited by E...
Episode 84: Hear the Dance: Kammermusik No. 2
April 10, 2023 09:00 - 33 minutes - 31.4 MBHost Jared Angle returns for this season’s first Hear the Dance episode, focusing on 1978’s Kammermusik No. 2. Jared is joined by Soloist Daniel Applebaum and Corps de Ballet Member Lars Nelson to discuss the only Balanchine work with an all-male corps and the communal feeling they share when performing this challenging ballet. They describe the ways in which certain hieroglyphic moments give them the sense of being a vessel for a larger, “inhuman" architecture in what originating dancers re...
Episode 83: The Rosin Box: Promotions
April 03, 2023 09:00 - 54 minutes - 51 MBThis week, The Rosin Box host Claire Kretzschmar talks with Principal Dancers Megan Fairchild and Isabella LaFreniere about promotions within the Company and their experiences moving up the ranks. Megan shares the struggles she faced after being promoted to principal less than five years after joining as an apprentice, while Isabella describes the lessons she learned and gratitude she felt during her earlier years as a corps de ballet member. They both highlight the unique pressures and resp...
Episode 82: The Rosin Box: Winter Season Highlights
March 27, 2023 09:00 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBJoin us at The Rosin Box for a winter highlights chat with host Claire Kretzschmar and Corps de Ballet Members Mary Elizabeth Sell and Anna Snellgrove. Mary, who has been dancing with NYCB for 18 years, describes the unique challenges and joys of performing in The Sleeping Beauty while in her third trimester; Anna remarks on the full-circle experiences of her first year in the Company, including debuting in Donizetti Variations with a day’s notice; and the trio reflect on the most recent wor...
Episode 81: The Rosin Box: Intimacy Director
March 20, 2023 09:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBThe Rosin Box is back with host Claire Kretzschmar discussing one of the newest roles at the Company with Intimacy Director Leigh Zimmerman. Prior to joining NYCB, Zimmerman trained in ballet, then went on to an award-winning career on Broadway and London’s West End. She brings her wide-ranging stage experience, a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Performance Psychology, and extensive training in Intimacy Direction to her work with dancers, choreographers, artistic sta...
Episode 80: New Combinations: Alexei Ratmansky (Re-release)
February 06, 2023 10:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBChoreographer Alexei Ratmansky joins Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan to discuss Voices, his most recent ballet for NYCB, which premiered at the Company’s annual New Combinations evening on January 30, 2020. Ratmansky describes his early career as a dancer in Kiev, the importance of watching bootleg VHS dance recordings in his early development as a choreographer, and how he came to set a ballet to Peter Ablinger’s complex, avant-garde composition, Voices & Piano. (34:06) Originally...
Episode 79: Hear the Dance: Fancy Free
January 30, 2023 10:00 - 54 minutes - 51.1 MBThree sailors walk into a podcast studio… and chat with Hear the Dance host and Principal Dancer Jared Angle about Jerome Robbins’ first ballet, Fancy Free, choreographed on the American Ballet Theatre in 1944. Fellow Principal Dancers Tyler Angle, Daniel Ulbricht, and Andrew Veyette describe the importance of developing their individual characters—the “shy” midwestern farm boy, the short-fused “tough guy,” and the “cool” know-it-all, respectively—and the camaraderie they share, recalling th...
Episode 78: New Combinations: Keerati Jinakunwiphat
January 23, 2023 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBIn this week’s New Combinations episode, host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan talks fearlessness and phoenixes with choreographer Keerati Jinakunwiphat, whose first commission for the Company premieres this winter. Keerati traces her path from growing up in Chicago, to studying at SUNY Purchase, to dancing with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, and choreographing for NYCB; as she shares, the Company dancers’ openness to and hunger for the new movement style she brings to the studio has bee...
Episode 77: Hear the Dance: Allegro Brillante
January 16, 2023 10:00 - 35 minutes - 33.3 MBHear the Dance host and Principal Dancer Jared Angle dives into the unique challenges and special rewards of dancing George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante with Principal Dancer Tiler Peck. Tiler shares memories of learning the work from the late legendary Repertory Director and former Soloist Susie Hendl and reveals why she feels as though this ballet, which she describes as one of the hardest to dance in the repertory, was made for her. (35:58) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Concert...
Episode 76: New Combinations: Copland Dance Episodes
January 09, 2023 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.8 MBA fresh season of City Ballet The Podcast kicks off with New Combinations host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan in conversation with Repertory Director Craig Hall, Company Pianist Craig Baldwin, and Principal Dancer Chun Wai Chan. Each is intimately involved in the development of Justin Peck’s Copland Dance Episodes, NYCB’s first non-narrative, evening-length work since Balanchine’s 1967 piece Jewels. As Baldwin, Chan, and Hall relate, the experience of taking part in this moment...
Episode 75: The Rosin Box: The New York Choreographic Institute
November 21, 2022 10:00 - 57 minutes - 53.2 MBFor the concluding conversation of this season of The Rosin Box, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by NYCB Principal Dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring, who also serves as the artistic director for the New York Choreographic Institute. The three share memories of their individual experiences with Institute sessions since its launch in 1999, reflecting on the importance of time and space to experiment both for the burgeoning choreographers involved (whose ranks include Justin Peck,...
Episode 74: The Rosin Box: Repertory Directors
November 14, 2022 10:00 - 49 minutes - 45.9 MBThis week’s conversation around The Rosin Box explores the way ballets are passed from generation to generation at New York City Ballet, and the artists who are responsible for carrying on that oral tradition: the Company’s repertory directors. Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Kathleen Tracey, who danced with NYCB for 15 years before becoming a repertory director. Tracey talks about her process—from preparing for rehearsals, to whether she refers to notes, and the essent...
Episode 73: The Rosin Box: Shoes
November 07, 2022 10:00 - 37 minutes - 35.1 MBThis week, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Shoe Room Supervisor Daniel Wong around The Rosin Box to talk all things footwear at NYCB. Daniel shares how his time as a dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and as a merchandiser informs his current position, a role that’s all about balancing the art and science of fitting, ordering, and managing over 400 pointe shoes a month—in addition to all the other shoes the Company members use, all of which are housed in the theater's...
Episode 72: The Rosin Box: Retirement
October 31, 2022 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBThis week we return to The Rosin Box, with co-hosts Aarón Sanz and Claire Kretzschmar in cozy conversation about retirement—a topic fresh on Claire’s mind, following her own farewell to performing with the Company this past fall. We join them behind the scenes of her final dress rehearsal and in the wings before she performed the Episodes pas de deux on an emotional yet triumphant night. As Claire shares, she closes the chapter of dancing on the NYCB stage with plenty of wonderful memories t...
Episode 71: Hear the Dance: Vienna Waltzes
October 03, 2022 09:00 - 58 minutes - 80.9 MBOn the newest Hear the Dance episode, host Jared Angle leads us through the five fasntasy-filled movements of Balanchine’s crowd- and dancer-pleasing Vienna Waltzes. He and Repertory Director Rebecca Krohn share recollections of learning the principal roles in the first Tales from the Vienna Woods and fourth Merry Widow movements from former principal dancer Karin von Aroldingen, describing the strikingly different moods of these two sections and the challenges of their romantic ballgowns. T...
Episode 70: Hear the Dance: Symphony in Three Movements
September 26, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 86.1 MBHear the Dance host and Principal Dancer Jared Angle explores George Balanchine’s bombastic and infinitely complex Symphony in Three Movements on this week’s episode. Jared speaks with two generations of the ballet's dancers: former NYCB dancer and current School of American Ballet faculty member Susan Pilarre, who originated one of the “five couple” roles in the ballet’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival premiere and who has staged the work for several companies; and current Soloist Ashley Laracey, ...
Episode 69: New Combinations: Gianna Reisen
September 19, 2022 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBFor this week’s New Combinations episode, Host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan caught up with choreographer Gianna Reisen between rehearsals to talk about her third Fall Fashion Gala commission for the Company. This year’s world premiere follows 2017’s Composer’s Holiday, created when she was still a student at the School of American Ballet and in collaboration with the iconoclastic late designer Virgil Abloh; and 2018’s Judah, set to a “challenging” score by John Adams. This fa...
Episode 68: See the Music: Concerto DSCH
September 12, 2022 09:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBCity Ballet The Podcast returns for another season of deep dives and candid conversations, beginning with an episode of See the Music devoted to the score for Alexei Ratmansky’s 2008 ballet Concerto DSCH. Musical Director Andrew Litton takes us on a tour through the many in-jokes, historical references, and musical cryptograms in Dmitri Shostakovich’s “uncharacteristically cheerful” Piano Concerto No. 2. As he demonstrates in various excerpts, the piece is a powerful yet playful love letter ...
Episode 70: Bonus: 21-22 Season Wrap-Up
June 20, 2022 09:00 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBIn a special 21-22 Season wrap-up, Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan reflect candidly on the many challenges, surprises, and inspiring successes of the Company’s return to the stage. From making 126 new costumes for the older students in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, to the countless debuts of a jam-packed Spring, Stafford and Whelan note the dancers’ remarkable resiliency—and what it promises for the Season to come, with repertory reviva...
Episode 69: The Rosin Box: Ask the Dancers
June 13, 2022 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.6 MBThe fan-favorite Q&A episode of the Rosin Box is back. Hosts and Soloists Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz respond to listener questions covering costumes, composers, and more. Tune in to find out: Is Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream score a bop? How do Claire and Aarón approach personal growth… and disappointment? And, most appropriately, what do you do if you don't have rosin? (43:57) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Marti...
Episode 68: The Rosin Box: Behind the Midsummer Scenes
June 06, 2022 09:00 - 44 minutes - 82.4 MBHosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are back for another cameo-filled conversation around The Rosin Box. On a typically drama-filled performance night of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the wings are like a "zoo," filled with fairies, dogs, young dancers from the School of American Ballet, a donkey-headed danseur, plenty of sparkles, and costumes fit for the ballet's "cape-ography." (44:53) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtes...
Episode 67: See the Music: A Midsummer Night's Dream
May 16, 2022 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBIn this special episode of See the Music recorded live at our Lincoln Center theater, NYCB Music Director Andrew Litton dives into the history of the Felix Mendelssohn score for Balanchine's enchanted ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. Litton shares excerpts from the music—written 173 years ago, when Mendelssohn was just 17 years old—that encapsulate the young composer's prodigious talent, even in the face of religious persecution in his native Germany where the score was banned for a time, d...
Episode 66: Hear the Dance: The Four Seasons
May 09, 2022 09:00 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBHear the Dance returns with guest host Jared Angle in conversation with former NYCB Principal Dancer Kyra Nichols. Nichols shares how having a dancer mother (former Company Member Sally Streets) has influenced her career; what it was like enrolling at the School of American Ballet at age 11; and the ways in which what she learned as a performer shapes her current work as a Professor at Indiana University. Her words of wisdom for this spring's dancers in the lead Spring role she originated in...
Episode 65: See the Music: Orpheus
May 02, 2022 09:00 - 16 minutes - 22.5 MBAssociate Music Director Andrews Sill voyages into the beguiling score of George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky's Orpheus in the latest See the Music episode. As Stravinsky describes, in a 1949 radio interview, Orpheus is a "long, sustained, slow chant," that utilizes ancient modes and inspirations without directly imitating ancient music. With select excerpts and piano demonstrations, Sills describes Stravinsky's use of a "rare form of kleptomania" to create an undeniably modern yet timeles...
Episode 64: New Combinations: Silas Farley and David K. Israel
April 25, 2022 09:00 - 38 minutes - 52.9 MBHost and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another New Combinations episode of City Ballet The Podcast. This week she's joined by choreographer, former NYCB dancer, and current Dean of the Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute Silas Farley and composer David K. Israel, who are creating a new work for this spring's 50th anniversary Stravinsky Festival. Farley and Israel describe the gift exchange between George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky that provides the inspi...