Conversations on Dance

This week we are happy to be sharing with you a recording of our live event at SF MOMA last month.   We were pleased to be able to sit down and talk with San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer, Sofiane Sylve, as a part of a live lecture put together by the San Francisco Based organization, “Words on Dance.” We talk with Sofiane about launching her career at only 14, her time dancing with New York C...

This week on ‘Conversations On Dance', we are joined by esteemed choreographer Trey McIntyre, whose second work for the San Francisco Ballet recently premiered in the company's Unbound Festival. Trey's rise to prominence as a choreographer began when Ben Stevenson, then director of the Houston Ballet, created the position of choreographic apprentice for him. He has gone on to choreograph wor...

Welcome to another live podcast from San Francisco Ballet.   In this episode we are joined by festival choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.   This episode is a recording of a live “Meet the Artist” event that took place   before a performance of the Unbound festival on April 22nd.   For more live content like this from other San Francisco Ballet performances, please check out San Francisco Ballet’...

This week we are joined by choreographer and dancer, Myles Thatcher, LIVE from San Francisco Ballet's Unbound Festival, and his collaborators for his new ballet ‘Otherness’, costume designer Sylvie Rood, and nonbinary artist, Kersh Branz .   This episode was recorded from a live “Meet The Artist” event before the opening of Myles’ ballet at the Unbound festival at San Francisco Ballet.   For more...

This week we are with Justin Peck, LIVE from San Francisco Ballet's Unbound Festival in a live “Meet The Artist” event before the opening night of San Francisco Ballet's Unbound Festival.   We talk about his career, his process, and about the concept behind his new ballet for SFB, “Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.”   Stay tuned this week for more from the festival coming soon! The post (89) Justin Peck,...

Today we are bringing you the first of a series of podcasts recorded live in San Francisco. San Francisco Ballet is kicking off its ‘Unbound’ Festival tonight, an event that will span 17 days and feature the world premieres of 12 choreographers. Our first guest is Dores Andre, a principal dancer here with the company, who is to be featured in 4 of the premieres. The post BONUS: Dores André from SF...

Shelby Williams, Biscuit Ballerina.  On this week's podcast, our guest is Shelby Williams, dancer at the Royal Ballet Of Flanders, and creator of internet sensation Biscuit Ballerina. Shelby began her career with Houston Ballet II, before shortly moving on to several major companies in Europe. In addition to the Royal Ballet Of Flanders, she has danced with Dresden Ballet, Barcelona Ballet and Bal...

It’s just Rebecca and Michael this week, together from New York City, as they return to discuss some of the feedback received after last week’s episode.   They also discuss a recent article on dancers' and negativity (10:30), and how a dancer’s perspective on their career changes post retirement (16:29).   They return to their interview format next week, and the following week will be reporting fr...

It's just Rebecca and Michael this week as they sit down to discuss some of the stories that have been making news recently.  We talk about Misty Copeland's epic and graceful response to a Twitter troll last week (7:55) and discuss Avichai Scher's article for the Huffington Post , “The Me Too Moment Is Ballet's Chance for a Turning Point” (16:15).  We will be going to San Francisco April 20-25th t...

This week we welcome Caitlin Trainor, Artistic Director of Trainor Dance and Founder of Dancio.  Named one of the 25 to watch in 2016 by Dance Magazine, Caitlin is a performer, choreographer, and a member of the faculty at Barnard College.  Caitlin fell in love with dance and choreography during her time in college at Skidmore, where she became determined to carve out a career for herself in the f...

This week we welcome back costume designer duo, Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.  We first had them on the pod in 2016 in episode 21, where we talk with them about how they became interested in fashion, how they met each other, and about their work.  This time we met up with them in person back in January at the Guggenheim Museum, the site of their newest project.  We talk with them about what they...

This week we head back in our archives to our time at The Kennedy Center in October of 2017.  With this episode we are delighted to share an inside look into the world of arts administration.  We are speaking with Meg Booth, Director of Dance Programming at The Kennedy Center.  Meg attended the University of Notre Dame where she recieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She began her work in the ar...

This week it is just Michael and Rebecca, taking some time to catch up.  Rebecca has a big announcement to make, we talk changes happening at New York City Ballet and what it means for ballet as a whole (30:10), and we discuss what is coming up for Conversations on Dance (44:07). This episode is sponsored by Sudio headphones. Start listening to Conversations on Dance today with Sudio headphones. ...

This week we are presenting our final episode recorded from the Vail Dance Festival in August 2017.  Today we sit down with Matthew Neenan, PA Ballet Choreographer in Residence & Co-founder of BalletX.  Matthew began his dance training at the Boston Ballet School, later continuing his studies at the School of American Ballet.  From 1994-2007 Neenan danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet.   In 200...

This week we are joined by Reid Bartelme and Jack Ferver, hosts of the podcast “What’s Going on With Dance and Stuff.”  We have had Reid on the podcast before to discuss his work as a costume designer, so tune into episode 21. Today we get to know Jack a little more when he tells us about his acting career, his choreography, and how ballet and other art forms inform his work.  The two are close fr...

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...