Conversations on Dance

The Vail Dance Festival is almost here! If you are going to be at the festival, please join us for our in-person events. Ticket and more information available here: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/. If you can't be with us, please subscribe to the Conversations on Dance podcast wherever you get your podcasts to be notified as we are publishing episodes daily from the festival. Episode...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by award winning ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan. We cover her meteoric rise, from entering San Francisco Ballet as a soloist at 18 directly from her schooling, a nearly unheard of feat, to anchoring the company as a principal for nearly three decades, and finally becoming a leader in the arts, most recently as the artistic director for the...

This is Part Two of our episode with Bart Cook. If you missed Part One, please check back in our feed. On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by legendary New York City Ballet dancer and repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust Bart Cook. Bart was a favorite of both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, prized for his versatility and chameleon like ability to inhabit the inner wo...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by legendary New York City Ballet dancer and repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust Bart Cook. Bart was a favorite of both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, prized for his versatility and chameleon like ability to inhabit the inner worlds of the ballets he danced. Bart goes into detail with us about these experiences, both onstage as a...

Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/ Today it's just us as we catch up on the past few weeks: Miami City Ballet's recent announcement of Gonzalo Garcia as the new Artistic Director, Michael's time in Amsterdam, the Clive Barnes awards, and we go through all our events that are coming up at the 2025 Vail Dance F...

Since 1933, Jacob's Pillow has been a beacon for dancemakers, movers, scholars, students, and audiences. Located in Becket, Massachusetts, and founded by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn, "the Pillow" (as it has affectionately come to be called) was the first dance site to be designated as a National Historic Landmark, and the first presenting organization to receive the National Medal of the Arts....

Rebecca here to share some big news!!! Join us on Monday June 9th for the 15th Anniversary Clive Barnes Awards! The Clive Barnes Foundation will honor outstanding theater and dance professionals at the 15th Anniversary Clive Barnes Awards, Monday, June 9 at 5:30pm at the National Arts Club in New York City. Carrying on the legacy of legendary dance and theater critic Clive Barnes and his enco...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by Sarah Lane, former ballerina with American Ballet Theatre, teacher, coach and ally to furry, four legged friends everywhere. Sarah takes us through her illustrious career as a principal dancer who spent two decades with American Ballet Theater, to her present day passion working to find rescue animals homes. On Monday, June 2nd at Sy...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by Stanton Welch, Artistic Director of Houston Ballet and choreographer of the company's upcoming premiere of the full length classic "Raymonda". Stanton talks about his deep love of the glorious Glazunov score, his approach to creating full length narrative works, and how he sculpts these ballets in a years long process. Hous...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by Abigail Simon, ballerina, dancer agent, mother, wife and survivor extraordinaire. Abigail takes us on her journey as a baby ballerina at the School Of American Ballet, through to her professional career at American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey, and finally her exploration of musical theater. Her incredible strength and resolve will...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO of Ballet Hispánico. In our first conversation with Eduardo in five years, we catch up him about how the company weathered the COVID years, how the dance landscape has changed since then, and the company's upcoming 55th anniversary gala and City Center engagement, featuring performances of t...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by the legendary dancer, founder of Acosta Danza and director of Birmingham Royal Ballet Carlos Acosta. We hear from Carlos about the mission of unifying Cuban art forms under the umbrella of Acosta Danza, how he came to run the Birmingham Royal Ballet just months before COVID changed the world, why taking big risks, like...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by internationally acclaimed choreographer Arthur Pita and Royal Danish Ballet dancer Isabella Carroll. They take us through Arthur's process creating a new full length production of "The Great Gatsby" for the Royal Danish Ballet in the centennial year of the novel, touching on how the idea for the project came to fruition, how the...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by two dancers currently on tour with Twyla Tharp, Renan Cerdeiro and Alex Peters. They take us through their journey with Twyla, first as principal dancers with the Miami City Ballet performing her repertoire, then to the creative process for both her new work and a challenging revival, and finally through the experience of taking thes...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we welcome internationally acclaimed choreographer Akram Khan. He shares with us his unorthodox path to a career as a dancer and choreographer, from spending grueling hours in his garage teaching himself dance to his path to university, his process while working with dancers new to his style of movement, and how rewarding it has been to unite artists...

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance, we are joined by Dani Rowe, choreographer and Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre and composer Shannon Rugani. The two artists are collaborating on "Marilyn", a world premiere production centered on the life of immortal cinema icon Marilyn Monroe. They take us through their collaborative process and give us a sneak peak into what audiences can e...

Today on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Paloma Herrera. Paloma is an Argentinian ballerina who, at the age of 19, became the youngest Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre in the company's history. We talk with Paloma about what drew her to ballet, her teachers who shaped her as a dancer, her incredible career with American Ballet Theatre, and where life has taken her since her ret...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by the Artistic Director of the National Ballet Of Portugal, Fernando Duarte. Fernando takes us through ballet's cultural history in Portugal, his own connection to the company as a former principal dancer, ballet master and choreographer, how this led to his appointment as director and his future plans for the company. To learn more abo...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by editor at the George Balanchine Foundation, Shane Horan. Shane tells us about how the Balanchine Foundation impacted his life as a ballet student, how he was brought on board as an editor learning the craft and the work the foundation is doing to expand its scope in preserving the Balanchine legacy.  Apply to view Balanchin...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by former Chief Dance Critic of the New York Times and performing arts historian Alastair Macaulay to discuss the legacy of composer Maurice Ravel around the corner from his 150th birthday. We talk about Ravel's major commissions for dance, how dance influenced his compositions outside of those meant for the concert dance stage, and his...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by street dancer, creator and teacher YungChris. Chris tells us about his early beginnings in dance, how stepping away during college refueled his desire to perform, and how traveling extensively feeds his creative impulses. The first artist to receive this commission twice, Chris is the creative mind behind one of three upcoming premier...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by esteemed teacher and repetiteur Darla Hoover. Darla tells about how her early training at CPYB including teaching regularly, her time working with Balanchine at the School of American Ballet and later as a member of the New York City Ballet, her process to prepare for her stagings of Balanchine's work and how she tailor makes a sylla...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by New York City Ballet dance legend and trailblazer Debra Austin. Debbie, as she liked to be called, takes us through her time as a native New Yorker training locally before entering the New York City Ballet, her experiences working with Balanchine, charting new territory leading full lengths as a principal dancer at the Pennsylvan...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by Elizabeth Yntema the president and founder of Dance Data Project, an organization that promotes gender equity through its research and analysis. Dance Data Project has just released its Artistic and Executive Director compensation report and Elizabeth helps us comb through the data to explore things like the remaining gender pay...

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by choreographer Helen Pickett. We talk to Helen about her time working with William Forsythe at Ballett Frankfurt, how she began her own choreographic journey and the process creating "Crime and Punishment", the first full-length ballet choreographed by a woman at American Ballet Theatre. "Crime and Punishment" will be performed at the...