City Ballet The Podcast

39:52

Episode 143: Bonus: 24-25 Season Wrap-Up

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/06/23

As we shift gears to prepare for the upcoming season, Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan take a moment to reflect on our just-concluded 76th year, from two strikingly unique and unforgettable world premieres—from Resident Choreographer Justin Peck and Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky—to the return of cherished repertory works, the invaluable presence of coaches Suzanne Farrell and Merrill Ashley in the rehearsal studios, and much, much more. They

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39:06

Episode 142: The Rosin Box: Ask the Dancer

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/06/16

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

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34:11

Episode 141: The Rosin Box: Choreographers and their...

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/06/09

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'

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37:47

Episode 140: The Rosin Box: Center Stage

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/06/02

The Rosin Box is back with hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz delivering insiders' insights into the lives and times of today's NYCB dancers. This week they're joined by Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild, who will be retiring next spring, and Corps de Ballet Member Dominika Afanasenkov, who joined the company just over two years ago. They share what it's like to take center stage, from the nerves and coaching that accompanied their earliest lead roles to taking on a "diva" persona—and

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33:38

Episode 139: New Combinations: When We Fell

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/05/12

Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is back for another exciting New Combinations conversation. This week, she's joined by choreographer Kyle Abraham, whose When We Fell makes its onstage debut this spring after premiering as a dance film in 2021. Abraham shares how this fourth work for NYCB represents both the culmination of relationships he's built with company artists over the years, as well as a departure, in that the score is four minimal, "poetic" piano pieces that encourage a "focused

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11:42

Episode 138: See the Music: Divertimento from 'Le...

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/05/05

Music Director Andrew Litton invites us to See the Music in this enlightening introduction to the score for George Balanchine's 1972 ballet, Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée.' With superlative accompaniment from Solo Pianist Elaine Chelton, Litton demonstrates the many ways in which Igor Stravinsky's "homage to Tschaikovsky" took inspiration from 16 different piano pieces by the legendary composer to weave an undeniably Stravinskian—and danceable, in Balanchine's word—orchestral suite

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56:31

Episode 137: Hear the Dance: Sonatine

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/28

Silas Farley returns with another Hear the Dance conversation, focusing this week on the George Balanchine pas de deux Sonatine, choreographed in 1975 as the opening ballet for the company's Ravel Festival. Repertory Director Christine Redpath shares memories of performing in that festival and of watching Sonatine's original dancers Violette Verdy and the late Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, commemorated in this episode by former Principal Dancer Peter Boal, while Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild describes

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56:31

Episode 137: Hear the Dance: Sonatine

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/28

Silas Farley returns with another Hear the Dance conversation, focusing this week on the George Balanchine pas de deux Sonatine, choreographed in 1975 as the opening ballet for the company's Ravel Festival. Repertory Director Christine Redpath shares memories of performing in that festival and of watching Sonatine's original dancers Violette Verdy and the late Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, commemorated in this episode by former Principal Dancer Peter Boal, while Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild describes

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42:49

Episode 136: Hear the Dance: A Suite of Dances (Part 2)

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/22

In this second part of our Hear the Dance journey into Jerome Robbins' A Suite of Dances, Cellist Hannah Holman joins host Silas Farley to provide a deep-dive introduction to the Bach Cello Suites that provide the ballet's exquisite score. As Holman explains, the music is a seminal work for every cellist, with complex challenges and varied delights throughout—all of which are complicated and enriched when performed onstage with the work's solo dancer. (42:48) Written by Silas Farley Edited by

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01:05:11

Episode 135: Hear the Dance: A Suite of Dances (Part 1)

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/22

This week, Hear the Dance host Silas Farley leads us on a wide-ranging exploration of Jerome Robbins' 1994 ballet A Suite of Dances. First, he's joined by Repertory Director Jean-Pierre Frohlich, who coaches the work; Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht, who initially learned the tour-de-force role in 2019; and former Principal Dancer Peter Boal, who worked with Robbins on the development of the ballet. They walk through the creation and performance of the four movements, highlighting the ways in which

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01:05:12

Episode 134: The Rosin Box: Students on Stage

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/14

This week around the Rosin Box, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz are talking about students on stage, with the help of two dancers at either end of that journey: 12-year-old (soon to be 13!) Theo Rochios, a current student at the School of American Ballet, and Soloist Harrison Coll, who is a substitute teacher at SAB. They share some of the challenges, thrills, and lessons dancers take on while at the School, and trade stories about the ultimate students-on-stage ballet: George

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48:12

Episode 133: The Rosin Box: Dance Pop Culture

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/07

The chat around the Rosin Box this week is all about dance in pop culture, with hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Soloist Aarón Sanz joined by Corps de Ballet Members Naomi Corti and Grace Scheffel. From Center Stage and web series like city.ballet and Strictly Ballet—featuring, among others, NYCB's own Mimi Staker and Alec Knight—to memoirs by legends like Margot Fonteyn, the dancers share the media that inspired their earliest interest in the art form, as well as all the pop moments they've enjoyed

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43:05

Episode 132: The Rosin Box: First Steps

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/04/01

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

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30:46

Episode 131: New Combinations: Paquita

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/02/03

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

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59:01

Episode 130: Hear the Dance: The Cage

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/01/27

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

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35:23

Episode 129: New Combinations: Mystic Familiar

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/01/20

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

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01:00:28

Episode 128: Hear the Dance: Concerto Barocco

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2025/01/13

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

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59:27

Episode 127: The Rosin Box: Re-mounting Ballets

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2024/11/25

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

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53:41

Episode 126: The Rosin Box: Company Class

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2024/11/18

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

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49:12

Episode 125: The Rosin Box: Ballet Myths

City Ballet The Podcast ·

2024/11/11

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"

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