Conversations on Dance

Today we are joined by Amy Brandt, Pointe Magazine Editor-in-Chief.  Amy invited us to the Pointe headquarters in New York City and gave us a tour of their beautiful offices before we sat down to chat.  Amy dance professionally with Milwaukee Ballet and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet among others.  During her ballet career, she pursued her college degree part-time, while also beginning to write for Po...

Today we are joined by two of our close friends, former Miami City Ballet Principal Dancer, Patricia Delgado, and current MCB Principal, Renan Cerdeiro.  Patricia has been on our podcast quite a few times in the past, so to hear more from Pat, visit our past catalog of episodes.  Renan was born in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and started dancing at a young age.  In 2008, he was named a finalist at the P...

Today we have a wonderful bunhead episode in store, with one of our favorite guests, The Chief Dance Critic of the New York Times, Alastair Macaulay. Alastair and Michael are together in Michael’s New York City apartment, while I call in to join the conversation. Today we are focusing on two of the most important choreographers of the 20th century: George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton. If you li...

Today we are bringing you another episode from Next Generation Ballet in Tampa.  We sit down with esteemed New York City Ballet Principals Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar who were performing as guest artists for NGB’s “Nutcracker” this past December.   Sara has been on the pod before, so if you haven’t heard our interview with her, check out episode 24.  Amar and Sara have been dancing together since...

This week on the podcast we are tackling a subject that we find of immense interest to students and parents in our travels to schools across the country: does having a career in ballet mean forgoing college?  Our guest this week is a Harvard Graduate and an Los Angeles Ballet Soloist who shows that it’s possible to do both.  This week we talk with Elizabeth Claire Walker, who always dreamed of a c...

This week we continue our coverage of Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker by speaking with Philip Neal, Artistic Director of Next Generation Ballet.  Philip began his training at the age of 11 at the School of Richmond Ballet, where he was recognized by Edward Villella and offered a scholarship to the School of American Ballet.  He joined the New York City Ballet in 1987 becoming a Principal in 19...

Today we talk with Ivonne Lemus: Ballet Mistress at Next Generation Ballet & Former Soloist with National Ballet of Cuba. We took a quick break over the holiday from our regularly scheduled programming, but while we were on our break, we went to Tampa to teach master classes, host a lecture, and record interviews with the dancers, staff, and guest artists of Next Generation Ballet. Today we ta...

Welcome to a special episode of Conversations on Dance.  We are in Tampa, Florida this week covering Next Generation Ballet and their Nutcracker run at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.  In the coming weeks we will be releasing content with the staff including Director Philip Neal and Ballet Mistress Ivonne Lemus and their guest artists performing this weekend.  So stayed tuned for that. ...

Welcome to a special episode of Conversations on Dance.  We are in Tampa, Florida this week covering Next Generation Ballet and their Nutcracker run at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.  In the coming weeks we will be releasing content with the staff including Director Philip Neal and Ballet Mistress Ivonne Lemus and their guest artists performing this weekend.  So stayed tuned for that. ...

  As our final episode of 2017, we are saluting this year’s biggest ballet celebration, 50 years of George Balanchine’s “Jewels.” Today we take an in depth look at Balanchine's ‘Jewels' with Bob Gottlieb: author, editor, and dance critic. Bob has been editor-and-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and the New Yorker. Gottlieb is widely considered to be one of the gr...

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...