Conversations on Dance

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 Ashley Bouder Project, Vail Dance Festival and BalletCollective. We talk to India about her early experiences at NYCB, her experiences with a multitude of side projects and what the leadership transition at NYCB has been like for the newest generation of dancers. This episode is generously supported by Yumiko (yumiko.com), Vail Dance Festival, and BalletCollective.   Conversations On Dance would like to take this opportunity to invite you to an evening of dance and music that finds NYCB soloist Troy Schumacher’s trailblazing BalletCollective collaborating with the groundbreaking orchestral collective The Knights. Comprised entirely of dancers from the New York City Ballet, and featuring world premieres by two of its dancers, Schumacher and Preston Chamblee, the evening will build on BalletCollective’s tradition of creating forward-thinking, collaboration driven art that reflects the world we live in. Hailed by the New York Times as being ‘unforced, experimental and refreshing’, BalletCollective has been at the forefront of collaborative art for nearly a decade. Don’t miss their performances at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center in Brooklyn, this Oct 23, 25 and 26. You can purchase tickets at www.balletcollective.com/tickets.  

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 quickly promoted to soloist in 2006 and then to principal dancer in 2007. Connor talks with us about how his mother influenced his early dance training, his experience looking for the right school for him, Houston Ballet’s director transition when he was just a student, and what it is like dancing in Houston. If you are in the New York City area, catch Connor and his fellow dancers onstage later this month at City Center. From October 24 through 26, 2019, Houston Ballet will celebrate its 50th Anniversary Season at New York City Center with a program of contemporary works showcasing the Company’s diverse talents. Seldom seen on the East Coast, this performance marks the Company’s largest engagement in New York since 2013 and their first program at City Center since 1986. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko.  Shop now at yumiko.com.

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’. Preston has recently branched out into the world of choreography and was selected as BalletCollective’s 2019 choreographer in residence. We talk to Preston about his experiences as a NYCB dancer, what inspires him as a choreographer, and how he balances his dual roles. This episode is sponsored by Vail Dance Festival and BalletCollective. This episode is sponsored by Yumiko (yumiko.com), Vail Dance Festival, and BalletCollective. Don’t miss Ballet Collective’s performances at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center in Brooklyn, this Oct 23, 25 and 26, 2019. You can purchase tickets at www.balletcollective.com/tickets.

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 returning to Russia to join the Mikhailovsky as a soloist at just 20 years old.  We talk with Julian about his fascinating journey through ballet curriculums in Russia, how the schools and companies work there, about his debut in the full-length Swan Lake with two weeks to prepare, and his first time at the Vail Dance Festival. Conversations on Dance is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com) and The Town of Vail.

This week it’s just Rebecca and Michael.  We sit down to go through the responses from our listener survey.  We talk about some of the statistics that came to light from our questionnaire, go through some of the guest requests, talk about the ins and outs of creating the podcast, and go through your feed back.  If you have not yet taken our survey, it’s not too late: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9XVM5KJ. If you wish to request a guest or put us in touch with a potential guest, email us at info@conversationsondancepod.com This episode is brought to you by Yumiko, yumiko.com.

This week we are joined by Christine Shevchenko, Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre.  Christine was born in Ukraine, where she was chosen to train in rhythmic gymnastics and ballet at an Olympic school.  At eight years of age, she moved with her family to the United States where she trained for nine years at Pennsylvania Ballet’s Rock School.  In 2003, Christine became the youngest recipient of the Princess Grace Award. She won a Bronze Medal in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and a Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition. She joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in August 2006 and moved through the ranks, being promoted to Principal in September 2017.   We talk with Christine from the Vail Dance Festival about her intense early training in Ukraine, dancing at the Rock School, her career at ABT, and her first time at the Vail Dance Festival.  This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and by the Town of Vail, a sponsor helping to host the Vail Dance Festival in our community.  Please take a moment to fill out our 9 question listener survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9XVM5KJ

This week we are joined by Yumiko Takeshima, founder of dance wear company, Yumiko.  Yumiko began dancing at the age of four in Sapporo Japan.  At the age of 14, she moved to San Francisco to study at San Francisco Ballet School.  Yumiko went on to dance with various companies, before ultimately ending up at Dutch National Ballet where she danced for over a decade.  While at Dutch National, out of neccessity, she started to design her own leotards in 2002.  Soon, word of her designs spread and the orders were pouring in.  She would rehearse all day, then return to her apartment and sew throught the night to fulfill orders.   After retiring from the stage, in April 2014, Yumiko has continued to grow her massive dance brand by focusing on designing and developing new styles and products for the company.   This episode is brought to you by Yumiko.  Our listener survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9XVM5KJ

It’s just Rebecca and Michael this week, breaking down everything that happened surrounding Lara Spencer’s comments on Prince George studying ballet on Good Morning America.  We are guessing that this story may have made it on your radar over the past few days, but we are here to break down the dance community’s reaction, why it was important, and how Good Morning America reacted on Monday morning. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko.  Please take a moment to fill out our 9 question listener survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9XVM5KJ

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Lauren Lovette.  We catch up on what she has been up to since we saw her last summer, talk about her choreography, and her position of Artist in Residence this year at the festival.  Unfortunately, we again had a technology glitch during this episode and are bringing you an iphone audio recording of the event.  As you know, this audio is not up to our usual quality, but Lauren’s chat with us was just too good not to bring to the masses.  Thank you for your understanding.  This episode was recorded live on August 4th, 2019.  This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and The Town of Vail.

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with Jookin superstar, Lil Buck.   Charles “Lil Buck” Riley is an dancer, actor and model from Memphis, Tennessee who specializes in a style of street dance called jookin. He gained popularity after director Spike Jonze used his cell phone to record an interpretive performance of “The Dying Swan” by Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma.  Li’ Buck has been a long time favorite of the festival since 2011.  Lil Buck is the founder of Movement Art Is, an organization focused on using movement artistry to inspire change in the world.  This episode was recorded live on July 31st, 2019.  Watch the video of this live event here: https://bit.ly/2MRqcNs This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and The Town of Vail.  This live podcast was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with Festival Artistic Director Damian Woetzel and Janet Eilber, Martha Graham Dance Company Artistic Director.   The pair talks with us about the Graham legacy, their roles as artistic directors of their respective organizations, and what audiences can expect to see from the Martha Graham Dance Company this year in Vail.  This episode was recorded live on August 8th, 2019.  This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and the Town of Vail.  This episode was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with New York City Ballet Principal Tiler Peck. In her 11th year at the Vail Dance Festival, Tiler continues to explore her work as a choreographer with a revival of last year’s premiere ‘Lincoln Square’ and new premiere to Caroline Shaw’s ‘Thousandth Orange’. We talk to her about her choreographic inspirations, and the thought process behind her latest work. This episode was recorded on August 6, 2019. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and the Town of Vail.  This episode was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

Today we sit down with choreographer Pam Tanowitz from the Vail Dance Festival.  We spoke with Pam from a Live event at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center in episode 140 and today we get to chat with her about her new creation for Vail.  This is a small excerpt of a longer conversation on her work that we will be publishing in the coming weeks.  In this bonus episode, Pam gives us some insight into her new piece she is creating here at Vail Dance Festival that will premiere on Monday August 5, 2019 for NOW Premieres. This is  book Pam references Pas de Deux: A Textbook on Partnering. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and the Town of Vail.  This episode was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

New York City Ballet up-and-coming corps member, Roman Mejia, sits down with us from the Vail Dance Festival.  We talk about his year of dance since we last saw him in Vail, working with Edward Villella, and on performing Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘Fandango’ here at Vail Dance Festival on August 2nd, 2019. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and the Town of Vail.  This episode was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, Herman Cornejo, sits down with us from the Vail Dance Festival.  We talk about his year of dance since we last saw him in Vail, his 20th anniversary with ABT, and about what he is dancing this year at the festival.  You will want to listen to the end where he shares some BIG news with us! This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and the Town of Vail.