Ballet & Dance Podcast

Argentinian-born Herman Cornejo  joined the American Ballet Theatre almost two decades ago, rising through the ranks to principal dancer in 2003. His stellar career has seen him dance all the major roles, working with an impressive roster of choreographers and artists, receiving multiple nominations, awards and distinctions. And he’s just about to add another award to the collection, with th...

Les Ballets  Trockadero   de  Monte Carlo –  the multi-award winning all-male, comedy ballet company – is set to tour UK/Ireland from September to October. Although a comic ballet company, the dancers are serious trained artists. In this podcast, Italian born ballet dancer Alberto Pretto gives us an insight into the life in this company that’s steeped in histo...

It is inspiring to see young dancers taking their futures into their own hands, creating their own companies and creating their own work. Australian born  Briar Adams is one of those inspiring ballet dancers. She left her home country to embark on a dance career in London – one of the toughest dance centres in the world – and alongside a successful 15 year career, Briar also creat...

Katie McCann is a  former ballet dancer, a performer and dance teacher. She is also the founder of the innovative dance company and dance event ‘ Dance in the Parks ‘ , which presents dance in parks throughout the Chicago. Katie is committed to showcasing dance across Chicago and giving the community the chance to see professional dancers on stage in their local area. Dance In The Park...

American choreographer, dancer, filmmaker and artist Juel D. Lane was voted Dance Magazine Top 25 To Watch and made history as the first black local independent choreographer from Atlanta to have a work commissioned by  Atlanta Ballet . In this podcast, Juel talks about growing up with severe anxiety as a child in Atlanta, Georgia and how dance gave him the confidence and creative outlet for his e...

London contemporary dance artist Valerie Ebuwa’s work incorporates Hip Hop, African, Dancehall, Jazz and other movement forms such as Yoga and Capoeira. Growing up in a family of lawyers, she carved out her own parth in pursuit of her passion for dance, which led her to performing internationally and being awarded  the ‘Young Stoff’ award at Stockholm Fringe Festival. Woman SRSLY by Henry Go...

Italian ballerina Alice Mariani grew up in the rolling hills of Tuscany and went on to study at the prestigious La Scala Ballet School in Milan. After a visit from Semperoper Ballett Aristic Director  Aaron S. Watkin , Alice was invited to join the company in Dresden, Germany. In 2011 she joined the corps de ballet and has risen through the ranks to First Soloist. She is currently preparing to per...

Spanish born Jón Vallejo is a principal dancer with Semperoper Ballett  (Dresden, Germany), a company with a long history with the acclaimed choreographer William Forsythe . In this podcast, Jón shares his experience of working with Forsythe over his 12 year career with the company, and gives us an insight into how Forsythe breathes new life into his revered pieces to keep them fresh for the...

Alyssa Lisle is a 24 year old contemporary dancer born in the north east of England. She graduated with  a 1 st class BA (Hons) in Professional Dance Practise at Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne. In this podcast episode, Alyssa shares her experience of forging a career in the north east of England as a dancer and a dance teacher.  Alyssa talks about touring with Fertile Ground – the North Eas...

Jinyeob Cha is a household name in Korea, after she was propelled to celebrity status as a judge on the Korean version of Dancing with the Stars. And while that has made Jinyeob a famous personality, it’s her incredible choreography and celebrated career that has firmly established her as a pioneering Korean dance artist. She was prestigiously chosen to choreograph the 2018 PyeongChang Winte...

New technologies like virtual reality and social media are opening up new ways of presenting and interacting with dancers, creators and performances. It is definitely an exciting and interesting time for the art-form and choreographer and former Birmingham Royal Ballet dancer Alexander Whitley, is pioneering the tech dance space with the launch of a dance virtual reality (VR) App. Alexander Whitle...

Breakin’ Convention is the award-winning, critically acclaimed international  hip hop festival and this year marks  15 sensational years of bringing hip hop culture into the theatre. Jonzi D , MC, dancer and spoken word artist is the Founder and Artistic Director of Breakin’ Convention and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, the home of this ground breaking hip hop festival.   Jonzi D gives...

World Dance for Parkinson’s Day sees 23 dance organisations and individual teaching artists from 16 countries offering classes for people with Parkinson’s throughout April, in honor of Parkinson’s Awareness Month and International Dance Day. Dance is scientifically proven to help people who suffer from Parkinson’s, with dance classes and programs offering more than just les...

Daria Klimentová , prima ballerina, dance teacher and photographer, is one of the most acclaimed dancers of our times. After a glittering career as a senior principal dancer with the English National Ballet, she is now moulding the future dance stars at the Royal Ballet Upper School. Listen to Daria share her experience of deciding to hang up her pointe shoes and step off the stage and her transit...

Charlotte Darbyshire is the co-Artistic Director (along with Ben Wright ) of Candoco Dance Company – a contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers in the UK that’s made up of highly trained and passionate dancers from around the world. The company is presenting work across the UK and we’ve just reviewed their Double Bill at London’s Sadler’s Wells, which our wo...

Neon Dance Artistic Director and Choreographer Adrienne Hart is bringing an exciting evening of curated contemporary dance celebrating international Piano Day to  Sadler’s Wells on 22 & 23 March . The Wild Card evening starts with a photographic exhibition in the foyer, features flowers being pollenated by a piano tuning fork, and there’s two pieces created by Adrienne showcasing N...

Choreographer Ben Wright’s personal journey reads like a real-life Billy Elliot. Growing up he experienced bullying at school for not being the sporty type and he incredibly only started to learn to dance at the age of 19, after being spotted and nurtured into an accomplished dancer. Ben has most famously danced the lead role as the Prince in Matthew Bourne’s male Swan Lake. He’s...

Ballet British Columbia , Canada’s leading contemporary dance company, is heading to the UK for their first tour in 2018. Founded in 1986, Ballet British Columbia has been under the artistic directorship of Emily Molnar since 2009. Emily was recently appointed to the Order of Canada for her artistic leadership of the company and its contribution to advancing contemporary dance in Canada. In this p...

21 year old ballet dancer Tala Lee-Turton is only the third ever British female to break through the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In this podcast interview, Tala tells us about her life as a ballet student growing up in North England and discovering and falling in love with the Russian ballet technique. After successfully auditioning, Tala moved from the UK to Russia to train with the infamous Bolshoi...

Brogan McKelvey is young, fresh, fearless and switched on! Brogan recently joined Birmingham Royal Ballet and talks to fellow dancer and ballet friend Lydia Holt – our new podcast host for The Wonderful World of Dance – about his experiences at Elmhurst Ballet School, company life and his choreographic dreams. From starting in street dance, Brogan hasn’t had the smoothest jo...

Dance Umbrella is London’s largest dance festival and the 2017 programme showcases some of the world’s best choreography and dancers over 3 weeks. Dance Umbrella 2017 runs from 11 to 28 October with works being presented in unique locations across London. Artistic Director and CEO Emma Gladstone sees over 200 shows a year in order to curate the festival. In this interview Emma Galdston...

Lauren Lovette is lovely. Not only is she an inspirational dancer with an enviable ballet career, a massive social media following and is an upcoming choreographer, but she’s genuinely a lovely lovely person. In this podcast episode, Lauren talks about being homeschooled before her natural talent being discovered in a local ballet store and receiving a life changing scholarship that led her...

Often dancers grow up wanting a career with a top ballet or dance company, but for many as they grow older this either becomes unattainable or undesirable. However, this doesn’t have to be the end of the road for a dancer. There are so many different options in the dance world that gives dancers a career in dance that they love and fulfill them both creatively and financially. In this podcas...

Zarely is the gorgeous dance wear company founded by former ballet dancer Mateo Klemmeyer. After a stellar career on stage, Mateo is now a hugely successful serial entrepreneur, who owns 4 companies across manufacturing and the arts industries, turning over more than $15million and employing 130 people. Mateo shares how he went from dancing on stage to creating multi-million dollar companies and b...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe is celebrating their 70th Anniversary of showcasing norm defying performance. With over 140 dance shows, we’ve asked The Place’s Senior Producer, Christina Elliot to give us the low down on the hottest dance at the Festival. The Place is London’s leading contemporary dance training, creation and performance house, home to the London Contemporary Dance Sc...