Conversations on Dance

This week we are joined by our friend, Jovani Furlan, soloist with New York City Ballet. Born in Joinville, Brazil, Jovani started dancing at the age of 11 at The Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil. In 2010 he participated in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and was offered a full scholarship to attend the Miami City Ballet School by Edward Villella. He began his trainin...

In January and February we put together a higher education series to explore dance programs in schools across the country. Today we are adding to this distinguished list of programs as we talk with the Juilliard School's Director of the Dance Division, Alicia Graf Mack. Alicia enjoyed a distinguished career as a leading dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has also been a principal da...

Today, Rebecca and Michael connect via Skype from quarantine. We discuss some options of ballet related content to consume while the world is social distancing during the Coronavirus Pandemic. We list some online class options, resources for dancers who are out of work, and our favorite dance related books, movies, and much more. This list was put together based on internet research and content th...

In light of the impact that the Coronavirus is having on the arts community, not to mention the world, we are shining some light on one of the ways that you can stay in shape during these times of social distancing. Today we are talking with friends of the pod, Francis Veyette and Lauren Fadeley Veyette, founders of Veyette Virtual Ballet School. We catch up with them to hear about their personali...

This week we bring you our final episode from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival! Today we speak with Gil Boggs, Colorado Ballet Artistic Director. Gil began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet and he joined American Ballet Theatre in 1982. In 1991 he was promoted to Principal Dancer and danced with the company for 17 years. Boggs also performed with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and C...

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Michael Montgomery, dancer with Alonzo King LINES Ballet from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Michael was born in Long Beach, CA, trained at the Orange County High School of the Arts and studied at the Alvin Ailey School in the Certificate program. In 2011 he graduated from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of Calif...

This week we are happy to bring you our full conversation with celebrated Choreographer, Pam Tanowitz, from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival.  We spoke with Pam from a Live panel event at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center in  episode 140  and we were thrilled to be able to get some time to speak with her more in depth about her career and work.  As a choreographer, Pam Tanowitz is known for her abstract...

This week we are joined by our friend, Kate Penner. Kate received her early dance training from Arlington Center for Dance, now BalletNova, in Arlington, VA   and participated in the Kennedy Center's Dance Theatre of Harlem Residency Program and Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell.  She attended and graduated from Harvard University, where she worked with Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel, perfor...

Over the past few weeks we have been examining different college dance programs including Indiana University and St. Mary’s College’s LEAP Program. This week we are concluding our higher education series on Conversations on Dance, with an in depth look at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. We are joined, for a second time, by the program's vice dean a...

This week we are continuing our higher education series on Conversations on Dance by introducing you to an incredibly unique program.  Today we chat with Stephanie Miller, the Associate Director at St. Mary’s College's LEAP Program.  Stephanie began dancing at the age of three, and received her BA in Dance from Saint Mary's College, as well as an MFA in Choreography and Performance...

Last week, in episode 168, we talked about Michael's coming out of retirement for Nutcracker guesting. Unfortunately due to scheduling, this episode was cut short, so in a BONUS episode this week, we are finishing that chat, and taking a few detours along the way! The post BONUS: Rebecca and Michael: Nutcracker Gigs, Part Deux appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com . LINKS: Website: conversati...

Welcome to the Conversations on Dance higher education series.  Over the next few weeks, we will be talking with individuals from different college  dance programs across the country.  This week we are joined by Carla Körbes, former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer and Associate Professor of Music in ballet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.  Carla was born in Brazil and in...

Nutcracker may be over, but this week Rebecca and Michael sit down to catch up and discuss Michael's Nutcracker gigs. Rebecca asks Michael about coming out of retirement for his return to the Nutcracker this past December. We chat about how he prepared, what the rehearsal process was like, and we get nostalgic over other Nutcracker memories from years past. This week we are happy to welcome a new...

This week, for our first episode of 2020, we are joined by Hope Boykin, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Dancer, from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Hope is from Durham North Carolina, and attended Howard University. She was a student and intern at the Ailey School before going on the join the company. She was an original member of Complexions, was a member of Philadanco, and recei...

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival by Joseph Gordon, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer.  Joe was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and began his dance training at the age of five at The Phoenix Dance Academy. He began studying at the School of American Ballet during the 2006 summer course and enrolled as a full-time student that fall. In August of 2011, Mr. Gordon became an appr...

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival last summer by Charlotte Landreau, dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company.   A  native of France, she trained first as a rhythmic gymnast, where she was the third in France.  With her sights set on the Olympics, an injury forced her career  trajectory to shift.   She attended the Béjart School in Switzerland, studying acting and dance, bef...

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival this past summer, by Christopher Grant, New York City Ballet dancer.  Christopher was born in Jamaica, Queens. He began his dance training at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in 2002.  In August 2015, he became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in August 2016.  We talk with Chris about his...

This week we are sharing with you a live podcast recording from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Here we speak with Visual  Artist Kenneth Parris III and dancer Melissa Toogood on Tuesday July 30th, 2019.   Kenneth had many of his Merce Cunningham paintings and drawings featured throughout the festival this year, and many of these pieces feature Cunningham dancer and his wife, Melissa Toogood. We sit...

This week on Conversations on Dance, we talk with dancer turned photographer, Erin Baiano from the Vail Dance Festival. If you follow Vail Dance Festival on social media, it is Erin's beautiful photos that tell the story of the festival, from rehearsals to performances.  Erin grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attended the School of American Ballet before joining American Ballet Theat...

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival by Adji Cissoko, dancer with Alonzo King LINES Ballet.  Adji grew up in Munich, Germany where she trained at Ballet Academy Munich. She attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre on full scholarship, before joining the National Ballet of Canada in 2010. In 2014, she joined LINES Ballet. We talk with Adji about...

This week, on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director of Ballet Hispánico. Eduardo recounts his early years adjusting to New York City life as a Cuban immigrant, what it was like building his first company from the ground up, and how Ballet Hispánico has carved out an identity for itself that is unique in the dance world. Ballet Hispánico, America's leading Latin...

This week on COD, we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer India Bradley. With a history of dance in her family, India began her training in her home state of Michigan. After training at DTH and SAB, India was accepted into NYCB. After just one year in the company, she has proven to be an in demand talent elsewhere, with a spate of additional performing opportunities that have included the Ash...

Today we are joined by Houston Ballet Principal Dancer, Connor Walsh. Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Connor began his training at the age of seven under the direction of his mother Constance Walsh. He has trained at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. In 2004, Walsh joined Houston Ballet’s company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was q...

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer Preston Chamblee. Preston hails from North Carolina, where he began his dance training. After dancing at the School of American Ballet, Preston was accepted into the New York City Ballet and shortly after began to dance featured roles in ballets like ‘Morgen', ‘Rodeo' and ‘Year of the Rabbit'. Prest...

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival by Julian MacKay, first soloist at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.  Born in Montana, he quickly discovered his passion for ballet as a young boy, moving to Russia to train at just 11 years old.  He went on to train at the Moscow State Ballet Academy for six years, graduating top of his class. He danced for 8 months at the Royal Ballet before retu...