Conversations on Dance

This week we are joined by Jessica Tong, Associate Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Jessica received her formal training at The Ballet School in Salt Lake City and University of Utah. Tong danced with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech in New York, and Hubbard Street 2 before dancing with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for 11 years. Jessica was named one of Dance...

This week we welcome back Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin, founders of the Final Bow For Yellowface. We first spoke with Gina in 2017 in episode 52 and with Phil in May of 2020 in episode 186. This dynamic duo shares with us some background on their organization and their advocacy efforts. We chat about what they have been up to over the past year and what they are working towards in the years to...

This week on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Martha Graham Dance Company Principal Dancer, Xin Ying. Ying was born in China and began dancing at the age of 6 taking classes in Chinese folk dance. At just 15 she entered college and after graduating, she went on to teach dance at the Sichuan University of Culture and Arts. After years of teaching, she decided that she wanted to...

Today we are joined by our friends Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung. Reid and Harriet are exceptionally talented costume designers working with many of the dance world's most prolific choreographers. The duo come on the pod this week for their third time to share with us what this past year has been like for them, how they participated in virtual works in the summer of 2020, starting to get back to...

Today we are re-joined by friend of the pod, Gavin Larsen, former principal dancer with Oregon Ballet Theatre. We first spoke with Gavin in May 2020 in episode 185 about her career and the then timely topic, teaching ballet on Zoom. Today, Gavin returns to talk with us about her book that is officially being released on April 27, 2021. We got advanced copies of the book, which is truly so wonderfu...

Today, on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Christopher Charles McDaniel, dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Christopher was born in East Harlem and started his formal training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, later going on to train at LaGuardia School of Performing Arts and Ballet Academy East. Christopher has danced professionally with Los Angeles Ballet and Ballet Sa...

This week we are joined by National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancer, Jillian Vanstone. A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Jillian trained at the Kirkwood Academy of the Performing Arts and Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1999 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2011. We talk to Jillian all the way from Australia about her career, break out rol...

Today we are joined by Andrea Renee Long-Naidu, Former Principal with Dance Theatre of Harlem and current Boston Ballet School Faculty Member. Andrea began her ballet training at the Pennsylvania Ballet School, accepting an apprenticeship position with the company at just 14 years-old. After a year working with the company, she went on to continue her training at the School of American Ballet, the...

This week we are re-joined by our very special co-host and friend, Evelyn Kocak. Recently, there was an article in the New York Times surrounding “What is a ballet body?” We decided, that as these kinds of conversations continue about how to evolve our art form, we thought we would sit down and talk about creating a fantasy company of our own. How could we change things for the better? What would...

Today we are joined by Tamisha Guy, dancer with Kyle Abraham's A.I.M. Tamisha is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and began her formal dance training at Ballet Tech, under the direction of Eliot Feld. She went on to attend SUNY Purchase College as a double major in dance and arts management. In 2013 she graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase College and joined the Martha Graham Dance Company shor...

It's just Rebecca and Michael this week on the pod. We do a check in on what we have been up to (Michael got the vaccine!), we take a couple detours, then share a few books we are looking forward to getting our hands on. Thank you to Yumiko for their continued support of the pod. Shop online at Yumiko.com and connect with them on Instagem: @yumiko. Links: Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5...

This week we are joined by Craig Hall, New York City Ballet Repertory Director. Craig was born in Maywood, Illinois. At age 14, he began studying at the Chicago Academy of the Arts and entered the School of American Ballet full time in the fall of 1997. In October 1999, Craig became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in February 20...

Today we chat with our friend and former Miami City Ballet dancer, Adriana Pierce. We last spoke with Adriana in episode 44 from May 2017. Since that episode, she has since left Miami City Ballet and is now a freelance dancer and choreographer in New York City. She tells us about some of the projects she has been a part of since moving, what the pandemic has been like as a freelance artist, and ab...

This week we are joined by celebrity ballet coach and former NYCB dancer, Kurt Froman. Kurt danced senior corps de ballet and soloist parts for over seven years at the New York City Ballet before venturing off to Broadway when he was cast in the leading role of James in the Twyla Tharp/Billy Joel show,  Movin' Out .  He amassed numerous Broadway credits before being presented with the op...

Today on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Lorenzo Pagano, Soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company. A native of Torino, Italy, Lorenzo moved to the US as a teenager and trained as a scholarship student at The School at Jacob’s Pillow and The Martha Graham School. He joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2012 and dances lead roles in a broad range of the company's repert...

This week we are pleased to bring you a special behind the scenes look at some of the Works & Process creation that has been happening safely throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. Today we are joined by Ephrat Asherie, New York City-based b-girl, and Duke Dang, General Manager of Works & Process. We hear about Ephrat's career and her recent work developed at a Works and Process Bubble Residenc...

Welcome to the second part of our interview with Balanchine Ballerina, Gloria Govrin. If you are tuning in and haven't heard part one, we hope that you will go back in your feed to episode 212 for our chat with Gloria about her career. Today in Part II, Gloria tells us about where her career took her after retiring from the stage. She has since gone on to a prolific teaching career, being consider...

Today we are joined by Balanchine Ballerina, Gloria Govrin. Gloria danced with New York City Ballet from 1959 to 1974 and was promoted to soloist in 1963. An unusually tall dancer, she inspired Balanchine to choreograph several distinctive roles on her. Roles such as Hippolyta in  A Midsummer's Night Dream , Coffee in  Nutcracker , the Princess in  Firebird , and La Bonne Fee in  Harlequinade  wer...

Happy New Year and welcome to our first episode of 2021! Today we are joined by a very special co-host and friend, Evelyn Kocak, to chat about the Disney+ series streaming now, ‘On Pointe.' Evelyn is a former NYCB dancer, Staatsballett Berlin dancer, and former soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet. Links: instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondan...

This week we are joined by Laurie Kanyok, founder of the Kanyok Arts Initiative. Laurie has performed on Broadway, television and film. She played the lead roles in Twyla Tharp's COME FLY AWAY and MOVIN OUT. Her other Broadway credits include FOSSE, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, and IN YOUR ARMS. She was the ballet casting consultant for Tony Award winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's An AMERICAN...

Today we are joined by choreographer Andreas Heise. Born in Germany, Andreas began his formal ballet training at the age of 16. In 1998, he joined his first company, Leipziger Ballett, and in 2003, he joined the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo where he performed many leading roles. In 2006 Andreas started to choreograph regularly for the Norwegian National Ballet and has since choreographed for...

Today we sit down with BalletCollective's Artistic Director, Troy Schumacher. Troy first came on the podcast in episode 17, back in 2016, where we chat with him about his career at New York City Ballet, his choreography, and his company, BalletCollective. Today, Troy returns to the pod to tell us about his current project, ‘The Nutcracker at Wethersfield.' In the age of COVID, Troy has taken...

We are back! It's been a minute, but unfortunately some work obligations took us away from the pod last month. Now, we are back and ready to get back to it! Today we catch up and go through our Conversations on Dance Best of 2020. Brought to you by Yumiko (Yumiko.com.) “YUMIKO’s holiday collection, comprised of festive ready-to-wear options, will be available in-stores and online this month! ...

Today we are joined by Leslie Andrea Williams, chorus dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Leslie was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She received her BFA from The Juilliard School. Ms Williams has danced in the Martha Graham Dance Company for six seasons. She performs numerous featured roles in iconic Graham ballets such as The Woman in White in  Div...

This week we are joined by one of our former colleagues, Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg. Jennifer is a former Principal Dancer with the Miami City Ballet and is now the co-artistic director of Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami. Jennifer began her dance training in her hometown of Queens, New York, before going on to study at the School of American Ballet. From there, she was spotted by Edward Villell...