City Ballet The Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Join us around the Rosin Box for our annual listener-contributed "Ask the Dancers" episode. Our intrepid hosts Claire and Aarón and special guest Corps de Ballet Member Lars Nelson answer your questions about rehearsal wear, dancing with Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, remembering steps, and more—including, "Explain dogs at New York City Ballet." (39:06)

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

Hosts Claire and Aarón are back at the Rosin Box, joined this week by Principal Dancers Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia to talk about the relationship between choreographer and dancer in the creation of new works—especially in the case of Tiler's Concerto for Two Pianos from 2024, which featured Roman. As they share, the process is like a conversation between artists on both sides of the studio and relies heavily on trust. Tiler highlights the necessary balance between celebrating individual dancers' strengths with making a timeless work, while Roman describes feeling deeply invested in the success of her ballet's premiere. (34:11) 

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

We're back at the Rosin Box for another candid conversation with hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz. This week, they're joined by Corps de Ballet Member and budding choreographer Laine Habony to talk about NYCB's First Steps program. This singular initiative gives current company dancers the opportunity to create new works on their peers, providing a professional cast and environment for first-time or early-career dancemakers. As Laine shares, this eye-opening experience provided both an education in what it takes to move to the front of the room and the validation that accompanies seeing the steps she'd envisioned come to life. (43:04) 

Edited by Gus Reed

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

Host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another intimate New Combinations conversation, joined this week by Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky. They discuss the origins—both within history and in Ratmansky's own career—of the Petipa ballet Paquita, excerpts of which provide the foundations for his newest ballet for the company. Ratmansky explains his use of Balanchine's Minkus Pas de Trois in revisiting this "feast of classical dancing," and the ways in which his work brings extensive research into conversation with the vocabulary of today's dancers. (30:45)

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird
Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co.

Hear the Dance host Silas Farley is joined by Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan and former Soloists Repertory Director Jean-Pierre Frohlich and Repetiteur Diana White for a conversation about Jerome Robbins' The Cage. From its "empowering" choreography to the manners in which the relationship between the Mother and the Novice mimic that of senior and newer members of the company, they describe the unique qualities of this ballet beloved by dancers and audiences alike. (59:01

Written by Silas Farley 
Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
Concerto in D for String Orchestra, "Basler" (1946) by Igor Stravinsky
Performed by New York City Ballet Orchestra

Reading List:
1. Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins by Amanda Vaill
2. Jerome Robbins, by Himself: Selections from His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, and an Unfinished
Memoir by Jerome Robbins, Edited by Amanda Vaill
3. Jerome Robbins: A Life in Dance by Wendy Lesser
4. Stravinsky: A Creative Spring: Russia and France, 1882-1934 by Stephen Walsh
5. Stravinsky: The Second Exile, France and America, 1934-1971 by Stephen Walsh
6. The Stravinsky Festival of the New York City Ballet by Nancy Goldner

In this episode of New Combinations, host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is joined by Resident Choreographer Justin Peck in the lead-up to the world premiere of his latest work for the company, Mystic Familiar. Peck shares the thematic underpinnings of this "younger brother" to his 2017 ballet The Times Are Racing, which brings together many of the same artists as that earlier work. They discuss the ways in which Mystic Familiar celebrates the dancers' communal energy in an anthem-like The Four Temperaments for the 21st Century. (35:23) 

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird
Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

City Ballet The Podcast returns with a new Hear the Dance episode exploring George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco. Host Silas Farley is joined by three former NYCB dancers whose engagement with this foundational ballet continues today: SAB Senior Faculty Chair Suki Schorer, Balanchine Repetiteur Victoria Simon, and SAB Faculty Member Meagan Mann. Together they trace the highlights and unique demands of Barocco's four distinct movements, describing how the apparent simplicity of the ballet demands plenty of hard work and helps build community amongst the dancers. (1:00:28)

Written by Silas Farley 
Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, B.W.V. 1043
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra
Kurt Nikkanen and Arturo Delmoni, Violin Soloists

Aria with Variations in G, BWV 988 (1742), "The Goldberg Variations"
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Susan Walters, Pianist

Reading List: 
1. Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet by Nancy Reynolds, with an
Introduction by Lincoln Kirstein
2. Thirty Years: Lincoln Kirstein’s The New York City Ballet by Lincoln Kirstein
3. Balanchine and Kirstein’s American Enterprise by James Steichen
4. Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique by Suki Schorer and Russell Lee
5. Balanchine Pointework by Suki Schorer
6. Balanchine Then and Now Edited by Ann Hogan
7. Balanchine’s Ballerinas: Conversations with the Muses by Robert Tracy with Sharon DeLano
8. Balanchine the Teacher: Fundamentals That Shaped the First Generation of New York City Ballet
Dancers by Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
9. Balanchine Variations by Nancy Goldner
10. Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner

Claire and Aarón are joined at The Rosin Box this week by Sandra Jennings, a former NYCB dancer who is now a repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust, for a conversation about staging ballets on current performers. As Sandra shares, she travels the world to coach companies of various ballet backgrounds in Mr. B's works, acting as a bridge between the choreographer's vision and the artists of today; as she explains, these ballets are "living, breathing works of art" that are brought to life by the individual dancers. (59:26) 

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz take the podcast from The Rosin Box to the barre for a conversation about company class, joined by Corps de Ballet Member Christina Clark and former NYCB dancer and current class teacher Amanda Edge. They talk all things real estate, fashion, and Destiny's Child vs. Ludwig Minkus, highlighting the importance of this daily ritual for building a sense of community as well as personal growth. (53:40) 

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

The Rosin Box returns! Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz are back with another candid conversation, joined this time by Principal Dancer Unity Phelan and Corps de Ballet Member Naomi Corti. They break down some of the most common myths about ballet and Company culture, from whether performers are like the characters in Black Swan to the pros and cons of dating other dancers, and what the perfect "ballerina pedicure" entails. (49:12)

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
"Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records