City Ballet The Podcast

City Ballet The Podcast returns in the run-up to our 75th Anniversary Season, which begins by celebrating The Foundation of the Company. Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan checks in with Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, who has been in the studios for three weeks, leading company class and observing as the dancers prepare for a Fall devoted to the works of George Balanchine. As he shares, “I’m learning as much as I’m teaching… Balanchine ballets give you different information in the different phases of your life." (36:11)  Edited by Gus Reed Music: "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

This week, City Ballet The Podcast wraps up the 22-23 Season with Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, who celebrate a year of discovery, change, and renewal. Highlights include a powerful corps de ballet, shaped in part through the growing culture of mentorship throughout the Company; Justin Peck’s momentous new work, Copland Dance Episodes; the return to international tours, including a wildly successful visit to Spain; and more. With performances beginning in just over three months, Stafford and Whelan share what they are most looking forward to in the coming 75th Anniversary year. (23:05) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48 (1880) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky

It’s time for the annual Ask the Dancers episode of The Rosin Box! Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Corps de Ballet Member Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara to dig into questions submitted by listeners, from strategies for learning new choreography to secrets for staying motivated all season long. Listen in to find out what it’s like to work alongside dancers who’ve known each other since childhood and which step Meaghan describes as “delicious.” (54:07) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week, Soloist Olivia MacKinnon joins Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz at The Rosin Box to talk all things social media. Olivia shares how time away from the stage during the pandemic inspired her to pursue an amped up presence on Instagram, and the group discusses the importance of taking everything on social media with a grain of salt, while embracing the possibilities for new connections and opportunities. (37:19) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

Aarón Sanz is back from NYCB’s first tour in Madrid to join fellow host Claire Kretzschmar and guest Sean Suozzi for a chat around The Rosin Box. Suozzi, a former Soloist with Company, shares how his focus shifted to filmmaking, from his role as an Executive Producer on the 2010 film NY Export: Opus Jazz to his recent projects as a director, including 2019’s Sleeping Beauty trailer. He describes the creative process behind latest directorial effort for NYCB, the 75th Anniversary film, which will premiere this August. (47:23) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week’s episode features a special live presentation of See the Music, hosted by Associate Music Director Andrews Sill and Resident Conductor Clotilde Otranto. With a little help from the New York City Ballet Orchestra, they explore the combination of old and new, romantic and acrobatic in Igor Stravinsky’s commissioned score for George Balanchine’s Agon. As Otranto notes, Agon displays Stravinsky’s creativity in “full bloom.” (10:39) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky Agon (1953-56) by Igor Stravinsky All music performed by New York City Ballet Orchestra

Host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another New Combinations episode, chatting with long-time friend, former ballet partner, and Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. He describes his journey from Royal Ballet dancer to New York City Ballet to Broadway and back again, with first new work for the Company in six years premiering on May 4. As Wheeldon shares, the “turbulent beauty” of artist Kylie Manning’s work was a major inspiration in the studio as he wrestled with the Schoenberg score; their collaboration, along with that of the dancers, helped bring From You Within Me to the stage. (43:24)  Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

Our special two-part episode of Hear the Dance continues with former Principal Dancers Allegra Kent and Jared Angle exploring Kent’s career at New York City Ballet, zeroing in on two key roles: the Sleepwalker in La Sonnambula, and the lead in Agon. Kent shares that she was coached extensively by Balanchine for La Sonnambula—the first ballet Kent saw onstage, and immediately fell in love with—but perhaps learned most from an impromptu session with originating dancer Alexandra Danilova at a bus stop. Beginning as an understudy for Principal Dancer Diana Adams, Kent performed Agon, which she describes as “astonishing,” with Arthur Mitchell and other partners for many years. (41:47) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky Agon (1953-56) by Igor Stravinsky Based on themes from operas by Vincenzo Bellini, including La Sonnambula, Il Puritani, Norma and I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830-1835) by Vittorio Rieti The Unanswered Question (1908) by Charles Ives Symphony No. 1 in C major (1855) by Georges Bizet All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra

In part one of this week’s special Hear the Dance episode, legendary former Principal Dancer Allegra Kent joins host and fellow former Principal Jared Angle to discuss her beginnings as a dancer. From joining Bronislava Najinska's intermediate class full of GIs fresh from World War II at the age of 11, to entering the School of American Ballet at 14, to premiering in the corps of Symphony in C as an apprentice a year later, Kent describes the whirlwind of her early years with the Company—capped off with the first featured role created for her: that of the lead in Balanchine’s The Unanswered Question from Ivesiana. (40:37) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky Agon (1953-56) by Igor Stravinsky Based on themes from operas by Vincenzo Bellini, including La Sonnambula, Il Puritani, Norma and I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830-1835) by Vittorio Rieti The Unanswered Question (1908) by Charles Ives Symphony No. 1 in C major (1855) by Georges Bizet All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra

Host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back with another intimate and insightful New Combinations conversation. Choreographer Alysa Pires joins Wendy between rehearsals for her first NYCB stage commission, discussing her childhood and training in Canada, the uniquely collaborative relationship she has developed with composer Jack Frerer, and the challenges—and rewards—of balancing motherhood and her artistic career. Alysa says of her time with the Company so far that she is like the coloring book; "the way that that’s colored in, maybe going outside the lines here and there, is really up to the dancers.” (45:48)  Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music:  "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co