City Ballet The Podcast

For the concluding conversation of this season of The Rosin Box, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by NYCB Principal Dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring, who also serves as the artistic director for the New York Choreographic Institute. The three share memories of their individual experiences with Institute sessions since its launch in 1999, reflecting on the importance of time and space to experiment both for the burgeoning choreographers involved (whose ranks include Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, among many others) and for the dancers cast for each creatively-rewarding and educational two-week period. (57:26) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week’s conversation around The Rosin Box explores the way ballets are passed from generation to generation at New York City Ballet, and the artists who are responsible for carrying on that oral tradition: the Company’s repertory directors. Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Kathleen Tracey, who danced with NYCB for 15 years before becoming a repertory director. Tracey talks about her process—from preparing for rehearsals, to whether she refers to notes, and the essential assessments she makes whenever entering the studio—and the joy she feels from learning something new about the repertory and the dancers every day. (49:35) 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 Aarón Sanz are joined by Shoe Room Supervisor Daniel Wong around The Rosin Box to talk all things footwear at NYCB. Daniel shares how his time as a dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and as a merchandiser informs his current position, a role that’s all about balancing the art and science of fitting, ordering, and managing over 400 pointe shoes a month—in addition to all the other shoes the Company members use, all of which are housed in the theater's “pointe shoe candy shop.” (37:41) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week we return to The Rosin Box, with co-hosts Aarón Sanz and Claire Kretzschmar in cozy conversation about retirement—a topic fresh on Claire’s mind, following her own farewell to performing with the Company this past fall. We join them behind the scenes of her final dress rehearsal and in the wings before she performed the Episodes pas de deux on an emotional yet triumphant night. As Claire shares, she closes the chapter of dancing on the NYCB stage with plenty of wonderful memories to cherish, and much to look forward to—including continuing her role on City Ballet The Podcast. (48:17) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records Der Rosenkavalier (arranged 1944) by Richard Strauss Music Tales from the Vienna Woods, Op. 325 (1868) by Johann Strauss II Five Pieces, op. 10 (1911-13) by Anton von Webern Ricercata in 6 Voices from Bach's Musical Offering (1935) Arranged by Anton von Webern

On the newest Hear the Dance episode, host Jared Angle leads us through the five fasntasy-filled movements of Balanchine’s crowd- and dancer-pleasing Vienna Waltzes. He and Repertory Director Rebecca Krohn share recollections of learning the principal roles in the first Tales from the Vienna Woods and fourth Merry Widow movements from former principal dancer Karin von Aroldingen, describing the strikingly different moods of these two sections and the challenges of their romantic ballgowns. Then, Jared is joined by Principal Dancer Sterling Hyltin, who describes rehearsing the second Voices of Spring and third Explosions Polka movements with former principal dancer Sara “Sally” Leland, and how she has begun to learn the principal role in the final movement following a dreamed premonition, and just in time for her retirement. (58:45) Written by Jared Angle Music:  Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky Music Tales from the Vienna Woods, Op. 325 (1868), Voices of Spring, Op. 410 (1885) and Explosions Polka, Op. 43 (1848) by Johann Strauss II Gold and Silver Waltz (1905) by Franz Lehar First sequence of waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier (arranged 1944) by Richard Strauss All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra

Hear the Dance host and Principal Dancer Jared Angle explores George Balanchine’s bombastic and infinitely complex Symphony in Three Movements on this week’s episode. Jared speaks with two generations of the ballet's dancers: former NYCB dancer and current School of American Ballet faculty member Susan Pilarre, who originated one of the “five couple” roles in the ballet’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival premiere and who has staged the work for several companies; and current Soloist Ashley Laracey, who debuted the lead role in the pas de deux, or what she calls a pas de quatre, just a week after learning she was pregnant with twins. (1:02:26) Written by Jared Angle Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra

For this week’s New Combinations episode, Host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan caught up with choreographer Gianna Reisen between rehearsals to talk about her third Fall Fashion Gala commission for the Company. This year’s world premiere follows 2017’s Composer’s Holiday, created when she was still a student at the School of American Ballet and in collaboration with the iconoclastic late designer Virgil Abloh; and 2018’s Judah, set to a “challenging” score by John Adams. This fall, she is working with Spanish designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo on Swarovski-studded costumes, and Solange Knowles who's composed a newly-commissioned score, on what she describes as a powerful “show-stopper.” (48:16) Music: "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

City Ballet The Podcast returns for another season of deep dives and candid conversations, beginning with an episode of See the Music devoted to the score for Alexei Ratmansky’s 2008 ballet Concerto DSCH. Musical Director Andrew Litton takes us on a tour through the many in-jokes, historical references, and musical cryptograms in Dmitri Shostakovich’s “uncharacteristically cheerful” Piano Concerto No. 2. As he demonstrates in various excerpts, the piece is a powerful yet playful love letter between father and son. (21:46) Music: Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 (1957) by Dmitri Shostakovich

In a special 21-22 Season wrap-up, Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan reflect candidly on the many challenges, surprises, and inspiring successes of the Company’s return to the stage. From making 126 new costumes for the older students in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, to the countless debuts of a jam-packed Spring, Stafford and Whelan note the dancers’ remarkable resiliency—and what it promises for the Season to come, with repertory revivals, a roster rich with potential, and, among several world premieres, Resident Choreographer Justin Peck’s first full-length ballet for NYCB. (30:20) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48 (1880) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky

The fan-favorite Q&A episode of the Rosin Box is back. Hosts and Soloists Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz respond to listener questions covering costumes, composers, and more. Tune in to find out: Is Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream score a bop? How do Claire and Aarón approach personal growth… and disappointment? And, most appropriately, what do you do if you don't have rosin? (43:57) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t’aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records