Conversations on Dance

Today we are joined by Esteban Hernandez, principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Esteban talks to us about training with his father and siblings, moving abroad at a young age to study ballet, and how he found his dream company in San Francisco Ballet.  Esteban will be making his return to the stage on August 13th and 14th at the Frost Amphitheater for Stanford University’s Stanford Live series. Tickets are available at live.stanford.edu. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com). Links: Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondance conversationsondancepod.com Photo: Sasha De Sola and Esteban Hernandez in Balanchine’s Tarantella // Choreography by George Balanchine © The Balanchine Trust; Photo © Erik Tomasson

LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, we are joined by choreographer, Cleo Parker Robinson. Cleo is the found of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. She gives us background on her career, coming, and her choreography. She also tells us about the work that she created for the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 8, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival’s closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF’s YouTube Channel. More information on VDF’s social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode. Photo by Christopher Duggan

In our next installment of LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, we are joined by New York City Ballet principal dancer, Lauren Lovette, and Memphis Jookin star, Lil Buck. We chat with the pair about what this past year has been like for them, how they continued to find inspiration, about their friendship, and their new work they have created just for the festival. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 9, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival’s closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF’s YouTube Channel. More information on VDF’s social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode. Photo by Christopher Duggan

In our next installment of LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, we are joined by New York City Ballet pianist, Cameron Grant. Cameron has played for the ballet for nearly 40 years, and shares with us some of his wealth of experiences and stories. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 6, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival’s closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF’s YouTube Channel. More information on VDF’s social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

We are joined today by Jamar Roberts, dancer and Resident Choreographer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival. We talk with Jamar about his origins in dance, his love for visual art, how he got into choreography, and about his world premiere coming to the Vail Dance Festival this year. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 5, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival’s closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF’s YouTube Channel. More information on VDF’s social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

We are joined today by Tiler Peck, principal dancer with New York City Ballet and Herman Cornejo, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. The pair tell us about their partnership here at the festival and Justin Peck’s newest work. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 4, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival’s closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF’s YouTube Channel. More information on VDF’s social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

Today we are joined by Kate Penner, social media manager for the Vail Dance Festival. Kate tells us how her role has evolved since her first year at the festival, how the marketing team works with photographers and videographers, and we delve into how rights and permissions work. Then she announces that the NOW Premieres performance on August 9th will be available to livestream for FREE on Vail Dance Festival’s YouTube channel. Be sure to follow VDF on social media for more information. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Special thanks to Bruce Wilson for his generous support of our new sound equipment. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com.

We are joined today by Christine Cox, Artistic & Executive Director of BalletX. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, where BalletX is the resident company. We chat with Christine about her career, founding the company, her ambitious programming, and her entrepreneurial approach to building the company from the ground up. This episode was recorded on August 1, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

LIVE from Vail Dance Festival, today we chat with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer and Vail Dance Festival Artist in Residence, Calvin Royal III. We hear from Calvin about his beginnings in dance, his promotion to principal, how he stayed inspired during the pandemic, and being artist in residence at this year’s festival. This episode was recorded on July 31, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode. Photo by Chris Kendig.

Welcome to our first live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival. First up, we chat with New York City Ballet Artistic Director, Jonathan Stafford. We talk with Jon about his pathway to NYCB, some of the leadership roles he held while he was still dancing, the NYCB Interim Transition Team, his role as Artistic Director, leading the company through this past unprecedented year, and what comes next. This episode was recorded on July 30th, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings.  This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance is proud to have YUMIKO as a continued partner in 2021. yumiko.com Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

We have been off this month, but on Thursday we head to Vail for the Vail Dance Festival. So we hopped on our last zoom before we are back together in person recording episodes and live podcast recordings at the festival, just for a check in. Links: Tickets for live events July 30 – August 10 Master Classes August 2 & 3 This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).

We are off this week as we work to prepare for our live podcast events at the 2021 Vail Dance Festival later this month, so we are taking this opportunity to re-release an old episode. As we continue to highlight great summer dance reads, enjoy this chat with former American Ballet Theatre dancer and author Michael Langlois from May 2019. (Fortunately, as you will be able to tell, our technology and sound quality has improved over the past 2 years.) Today we are joined by Michael Langlois. Michael began studying ballet at the age of 10 and once he began getting more serious with his training, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the School of American Ballet in New York. He was offered a job at American Ballet Theatre by Mikhail Baryshnikov the year he took over the company. In his 16 years as a professional dancer, he went on to dance with Feld Ballet and Ballet du Nord. In 2018 he wrote a memoir, “B Plus: Dancing for Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre,” where he gives an intimate look at the upper echelons of the dance world. In our conversation with Michael, we talk about his training at SAB, being hired into Baryshnikov’s ABT, the unique challenges of being in the corps de ballet, and he talks openly and honestly about struggling with an eating disorder. The Vail Dance Festival is returning to live performances and we will be there to cover all the action. From July 30 – August 9th, 2021, we will be conducting live podcast events with incredible festival artists, getting an inside look at their careers and the works they will be a part of during the festival. If you will be in Vail for the festival, we hope you will join us for these live events. Tickets are available now at valiance.org. If you will not be there in person, be sure to subscribe to Conversations on Dance through your favorite podcast app, and follow us on social media, so you don’t miss a moment from Vail. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com). Links: Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondance conversationsondancepod.com

Rebecca pops in today to share some COD updates, including live events and master classes at Vail Dance Festival, and publishing schedule this month. Links: Live events: https://vaildance.org/festival-forums-2021/ Master classes: https://vaildance.org/master-class-series-2021/ Thank you to Yumiko for their continued support of COD. Shop online at Yumiko.com. Follow us on social media @conversationsondance

Today we are joined by Emily Meisner, the Director of National Dance Institute Collaborative for Teaching & Learning. We have a wonderful chat with Emily about the beginnings of National Dance Institute, founder Jacques d’Amboise’s vision for NDI, how she became involved in the organization, and the amazing work that NDI Collaborative is doing. NDI Collaborative is a professional development program for teaching artists, dance educators, musicians, and organizations worldwide. Their incredible offerings are now available online and can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Learn more about NDI and NDI Collaborative at nationaldance.org. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com). Links: Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondance conversationsondancepod.com

As we all know, over the past year businesses and organizations have had to get creative in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arts organizations are no exception. Today we get to hear about how Joffrey Ballet found a unique way to get their dancers involved in the company’s day-to-day operations. We speak with Joffrey Company Artist, April Daly, and Annie Lyonswright, Joffrey’s Director of Annual Giving about their new initiative, Company Artist Partner Program. Annie spearheaded this program, working closely with April. We chat with the pair about what the last year was like from the artist side and the administration side, and about how they all came together for a common goal. This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com) and Gavin Larsen’s ‘Being a Ballerina’ (gavinlarsen.com). Links: Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondance conversationsondancepod.com