Conversations on Dance

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 arts at North Carolina Dance Theatre before joining IMG Artists as an Associate.  She went on to work with Twyla Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov before landing at The Kennedy Center as the Marketing Manager.  After 4 years in that  position, in 2007, Meg would become responsible for all the dance seen on Kennedy Center stages.  Hear her talk about her journey, how she decides what companies and works to bring to Kennedy Center audiences, and the puzzle of logistics she goes through to bring these world class performances to fruition. As a note, we wanted to bring this episode to you in conjuction with the announcement of The Kennedy Center’s 18-19 season of dance.  Since this was recorded in October, it was before the final performances of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet.  Since Meg is the administrative Director of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, we talk at length about the company and what was expected from the final performances.  For more on what is coming to the Kennedy Center in their new season, visit tkc.com/newseason.

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.  We are happy to be able to offer our listeners 15% off any purchase when you use promocode DANCE at checkout.  To take advantage of this offer, go to https://goo.gl/fAH3D6.    

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 2006, Matthew received the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute’s Fellowship Initiative Award, and in 2007 was named Choreographer in Residence at Pennsylvania Ballet. His work has been performed at the Washington Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, and many others.  In 2005, Matthew co-founded BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox. BalletX has toured and performed Neenan’s choreography in New York City at The Joyce Theater and The Skirball Center, at the Vail Dance Festival, and at Jacob’s Pillow.  Today we talk with Matthew about his dancing career, his choreography, how the evolution of Pennsylavnia ballet has changed his work, the founding of BalletX while still dancing, and the hopes and dreams he has for the company going forward.

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 friends and they talk about how they met, how they collaborate, and how they decided to start their podcast “What’s Going on With Dance and Stuff.”  After recording this episodes, Reid and Jack turned the tables on us and interviewed us for their pod.  Dance podcast worlds collide this week on Conversations on dance. If you have yet to tuned into “What’s Going on With Dance and Stuff” we highly reccommend you check them out.  New episodes go live on Fridays, and you can even go back and find the episode when they had us as guests. Find them on iTunes and subscribe today!

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 Pointe Magazine, starting with her advice column, “Ask Amy.”  Amy graduated summa cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in English and World Literatures, and currently serves on its advisory board.  She has been the editor in chief since 2014.  Today we talk with Amy about getting a college degree while dancing full time, what she sees as her responsibility as the editor of the ballet world’s most widely read publication, and some of the tough issues facing ballet today.

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 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, and was awarded a scholarship to train at Miami City Ballet School.  He joined MCB in 2010, and was promoted to Principal in 2013.  Patricia and Renan often danced together at Miami City Ballet, and became one of the company’s most beloved onstage couples.  We caught up with the pair when they were guesting as The Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavelier in Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker this past December.  Hear them talk about their first time dancing together, what makes their partnership so special, their experience dancing Romeo and Juliet together, and what it feels like to reunite here in Tampa with Next Generation Ballet.

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 listen to the pod, you have heard us speak of Balanchine, and are likely a fan yourself, but we haven’t covered Ashton much, until today. Mr. Macaulay has been preparing for a lecture he will be presenting at the New York Public Library on February 5th on the subject of these two choreographers.  Alastair offers us a wonderful preview of the content he will cover, tells stories of the two choreographic greats, and compares and contrasts their work. Alastair will be presenting the annual Lincoln Kirstein Lecture, “Ashton and Balanchine: Parallel Lives” at the New York Public Library on February 5th at 6pm. This event is co-presented by The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.  For more information, visit NYPL.org.

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 they joined the company in 2000 and 2003 respectively.  They have had works created on them and surrounding their partnership by countless choreographers including Justin Peck, Peter Martins, Chris Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky to name a few.  Today we talk with them about what makes a successful partnership, how they worked through some difficult times, why they work so well together, and they share with us some of their favorite onstage moments together.

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 career in ballet, and had parents who strongly valued her education.  She trained as a teenager at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.  After being accepted at Harvard, she pushed on with her ballet career, attending company auditions and being discovered by Los Angeles Ballet in their inagural season.  Liz defered college and headed to LA to start her career.  An experimental summer-school stint in Cambridge in 2007 made Walker fall in love with Harvard and gave her the push she needed to pursue her degree. She continued dancing while attending college, suffering an injury that made her hesitant to re-enter the world of professional ballet so soon.  After graduating, she was re-hired at LA Ballet, and was recently promoted to soloist.  We talk with Liz as a part of our time at the Vail Dance Festival in August of last year.  We have such an enlightening talk with Liz that we truely reccommend for all parents with children who wish to pursue a career in ballet.

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 1992.  He went on to dance lead roles in the vast majority of the company’s rep,  and was invited to guest with many companies including the Kirov Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet.  After a 23- year tenure with City Ballet, 17 of those years as a Principal, Philip was invited by The George Balanchine Trust and The Jerome Robbins Rights Trust to become a Repetiteur, staging the ballets of both legendary choreographers throughout the world.  From 2010-2013, he directed developmental efforts in  Palm Beach County on behalf of Miami City Ballet before being appointed the Artistic Director of Next Generation Ballet & Dance Dean of the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center in Tampa FL, one the largest performing arts center in the United States.  Today we talk with Philip about his career, how he discovered his talent for arts development, get some teaching pointers, and learn more about the great work he is doing at Next Generation Ballet.

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 talk with NGB’s Ballet Mistress, Ivonne Lemus. Ivonne trained at the National School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba, where she graduated in 1986. She then went on to join the National Ballet of Cuba where she danced under the direction of Alicia Alonso for a decade. After her promotion to soloist in Cuba, she went on to join the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. After her dancing career, she has gone on to teach all over the country, joining Next Generation Ballet’s full-time teaching staff in 2007. We talk with Ivonne about what he training was like in Cuba, about dancing for Alicia, how she defected and ended up in Canada, and how she is now producing the next generation of professional dancers.

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.  But today, we will be talking with some of the students who will be featured in the production: Stephen Myers, Audra Cockrell, Virginia Archer, Avery Jarrard, and Abigail White.

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.  But today, we will be talking with some alumni of the Next Generation Ballet: Jordan Martinez of the Royal Ballet School and Alexandra de Roos of the School of American Ballet.

  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 greatest editors of the second half of the 20th century.  For many years he was associated with the New York City Ballet during Balanchine’s time, often contributing to programming and serving on the Board of Directors.  He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of Miami City Ballet.  We always enjoy talking with Bob, and sometimes veer off topic, and in this case, around 45 minutes into this episode, our bun-head sides take over.  Today we talk extensively with Bob about Balanchine’s process, the premier of Jewels, the original cast, and how the ballet is being danced today. This will be our last full-format episode of 2017. Over this past year, our podcast has grown more than we could have ever fathomed, with 110,000 listens last month alone.  We want to thank all of our listeners for your support and we wish you a very happy holidays and a happy New Year. Though we won’t be releasing any more full episodes until January, this week we will be in Tampa, Florida at Next Generation Ballet teaching master classes, hosting a live lecture, and recording content surrounding their Nutcracker performancers.  We will be chatting with New York City Ballet Principals Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar who will be dancing the Sugar Plum pas de deux, as well as former Miami City Ballet Principal Patricia Delgado, and current MCB Principal Renan Cerdeiro, who will also be guesting with Next Generation Ballet.  We will be releasing bonus content later this week to celebrate the ballet that consumes us all right now, “The Nutcracker.”  So stay tuned!  We have posted ticket information for Next Generation Ballet on our Facebook page.  

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 New York City, and joined ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis School a few months later.  He joined ABT II (now the ABT Studio Company) in 2007, and joined the main company in 2010.  Royal was a 2014 winner of a grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund.  He was promoted to soloist just this past summer.  We talk with Calvin about how he got his start in ballet despite being 14, how he quickly caught up with his peers, what the Fellowship Fund grant has afforded him, and what he looks forward to as a new soloist.