Conversations on Dance

This week we are going back into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival this past summer, for another episode with a festival favorite.  Today we talk Calvin Royal III,  American Ballet Theatre Soloist.  Calvin started his formal ballet training at the age of 14 in St. Petersburg, Florida.  In April of 2006 he was a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Scholarship Comeptition in Ne...

This week we are heading into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival this past summer, where we spoke with many of the festival’s amazing and talented artists.  Today we talk with Lauren Lovette, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer who was not only dancing at the festival, but also choreographing a new piece. Lauren began dancing at the age of 11 at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Ca...

This week we are joined by Allynne Noelle, Suzanne Farrell Ballet First Soloist.  Allynne started her training at the age of five in Southern California and began her professional career at age 15 with Ballet Pacifica.  In 2003 she joined Miami City Ballet where she would dance as a soloist until leaving the company in 2010.  After battling some serious injuries, she recovered and joined Los Angel...

Welcome to Live From The Kennedy Center: Mariinsky Ballet Director Yuri Fateev and Dancer Timur Askerov.  A few weeks ago we were in Washington, DC to cover a busy weekend of ballet at the Kennedy Center.  While we were there, the Mariinsky Ballet was in town performing La Bayadère .  We had the pleasure of sitting down with the acting director of the Mariinsky, Yuri Fateev and one of their star d...

Welcome to Live From the Kennedy Center: Damian Woetzel & Tiler Peck on Jerome Robbins. Two weeks ago we were in Washington, DC to cover a busy weekend of ballet at the Kennedy Center.  We arrived on Friday night just in time to watch an exceptional performance entitled “DEMO: Jerome Robbins- An American Dance Genius.”  These DEMO programs are curated by former New York City Ballet Principal,...

Today on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we have a very special episode in store.  We are offering a preview of this weekend’s Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Tanaquil Le Clercq’s ‘The Ballet Cook Book,' a 50th Anniversary Celebration.  In 1967, ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq published The Ballet CookBook, a fascinating compilation of ballet history, food stories, and recipes from o...

This week we have the pleasure of being joined Kevin McKenzie, American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director.   A native of Vermont, McKenzie recieved his ballet trianing from the Washington School of Ballet.  He was a leading dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and the National Ballet of Washington before joining American Ballet Theatre in 1979 as a soloist.  He would go on to dance with the company as a...

This week we are joined by Isabella Boylston, American Ballet Theater Principal Dancer.  Isabella was born in Sun Valley Idaho and started dancing at the age of 3.  In 1994 she began training at a small studio, and by the age of 12 was commuting to Denver every day to study at the Academy of Colorado Ballet.  After winning gold at the Youth America Grand Prix finals in New York City in 2001, she m...

This week we are joined Patricia Delgado, Former Miami City Ballet Principal Dancer.  Patricia was born and raised in Miami and joined MCB in 2000 at the age of 18.  For 17 years she danced in the majority of the company’s repertoire, moving quickly through the ranks.  This past April, Patricia retired from the stage and has since moved to New York City to explore other creative and artistic oppor...

Today we are joined by Gonzalo Garcia, New York City Ballet Principal. Born in Spain, Mr. Garcia began studying ballet at the age of eight at Maria Avila's school. In 1995 he came to the U.S. to study at the San Francisco Ballet School’s summer intensive.  He then went on to become the youngest dancer to ever win a gold medal in the Prix de Lausanne.  He returned to San Francisco Ballet School to...

This week we are joined by New York City Ballet soloist, Unity Phelan. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Unity began her training at the age of 5 at the Princeton Ballet School. In 2008 and 2009 she attended the School of American Ballet for the summer, becoming a year-round student in the fall of 2009. In December 2012 she was asked to become an apprentice with the New York City Ballet, and was prom...

This week we are joined by distinguished Balanchine ballerina, Heather Watts.  Immediately noticed for her stunning physicality and the individuality of her interpretations, Watts was one of the last ballerinas to inspire Balanchine, having roles created for her in ballets like ‘Walpurgisnacht' and danced many of his existing masterpieces such as ‘Concerto Barocco,’ ‘Symphony in C,’ and ‘The...

This week we are joined by Susan Pilarre, esteemed teacher at the School of American Ballet, repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust, and former New York City Ballet soloist. Suzy, as her students, friends and family call her, joined the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine’s direction at the age of 15. She spent 16 years there, premiering in many of his most important works and eventually ris...

This week we are joined by Zoe Zien, repetiteur and former Miami City Ballet dancer.  Zoe was born and raised in New York City and received her training from the School of American Ballet.  After graduating, Zoe joined the Miami City Balle.  Zoe remained in the company until her retirement from the stage, dancing a bulk of the company’s expansive Balanchine repertoire.  Since leaving the company,...

This week we are joined by Jared Angle, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer.  Jared was born in Altoona Pennsylvania and began dancing at the age of six.  In 1996, he moved to New York City to continue his training at the School of American Ballet.  The following year he received  the Rudolph Nureyev Scholarship to continue his training at SAB.  Jared joined New York City Ballet in 1998 as a cor...

Welcome to Conversations on Dance, our final bonus episode from the Vail Dance Festival with Damian Woetzel, Lil' Buck, and Janet Eilber.  This episode is quite special because we have a guest host, Vail Dance Festival Artistic Director, Damian Woetzel.  After we had left, there was one final live event to give audiences an inside look at the artists and the performance.  In this episode, Damian i...

This week we are joined by Ron “Prime Tyme” Myles: Jookin dancer and ambassador. Originally from Memphis, Ron is a dancer, choreographer, and an ambassador for his dance form called “Jookin.”   He is now based in Los Angeles, is a Bessie Award winner, and has appeared in numerous commercials including some for Pepsi and Adidas, and was a part of Beyonce’s epic visual album, “Lemonade.”  Memphis-bo...