Conversations on Dance

This week we are joined by New York City Ballet soloist, Unity Phelan. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Unity began her training at the age of 5 at the Princeton Ballet School. In 2008 and 2009 she attended the School of American Ballet for the summer, becoming a year-round student in the fall of 2009. In December 2012 she was asked to become an apprentice with the New York City Ballet, and was promoted to soloist just this past February.  Today we talk with Unity from the Vail Dance Festival back in

This week we are joined by distinguished Balanchine ballerina, Heather Watts.  Immediately noticed for her stunning physicality and the individuality of her interpretations, Watts was one of the last ballerinas to inspire Balanchine, having roles created for her in ballets like ‘Walpurgisnacht' and danced many of his existing masterpieces such as ‘Concerto Barocco,’ ‘Symphony in C,’ and ‘Theme in Variations.’ She has devoted her life after the stage to keeping Balanchine's works alive, whether

This week we are joined by Susan Pilarre, esteemed teacher at the School of American Ballet, repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust, and former New York City Ballet soloist. Suzy, as her students, friends and family call her, joined the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine’s direction at the age of 15. She spent 16 years there, premiering in many of his most important works and eventually rising to the rank of soloist. She has remained a keeper of the Balanchine flame ever since, officially

This week we are joined by Zoe Zien, repetiteur and former Miami City Ballet dancer.  Zoe was born and raised in New York City and received her training from the School of American Ballet.  After graduating, Zoe joined the Miami City Balle.  Zoe remained in the company until her retirement from the stage, dancing a bulk of the company’s expansive Balanchine repertoire.  Since leaving the company, Zoe has gone on to work as a repetiteur setting pieces for our former podcast guest, Justin Peck.  Today

This week we are joined by Jared Angle, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer.  Jared was born in Altoona Pennsylvania and began dancing at the age of six.  In 1996, he moved to New York City to continue his training at the School of American Ballet.  The following year he received  the Rudolph Nureyev Scholarship to continue his training at SAB.  Jared joined New York City Ballet in 1998 as a corps member and was promoted to Principal in 2005.  Today we talk with Jared about his early career, his

Welcome to Conversations on Dance, our final bonus episode from the Vail Dance Festival with Damian Woetzel, Lil' Buck, and Janet Eilber.  This episode is quite special because we have a guest host, Vail Dance Festival Artistic Director, Damian Woetzel.  After we had left, there was one final live event to give audiences an inside look at the artists and the performance.  In this episode, Damian is joined by Jookin dancer, Lil’ Buck and Janet Eilber, the Artistic Director of Martha Graham Dance

This week we are joined by Ron “Prime Tyme” Myles: Jookin dancer and ambassador. Originally from Memphis, Ron is a dancer, choreographer, and an ambassador for his dance form called “Jookin.”   He is now based in Los Angeles, is a Bessie Award winner, and has appeared in numerous commercials including some for Pepsi and Adidas, and was a part of Beyonce’s epic visual album, “Lemonade.”  Memphis-born street dance prodigy and world-famous jooker, Charles “Lil Buck” Riley is Myles’ cousin, and together