Dancers

This week on Conversations on Dance we are joined from the Vail Dance Festival by Stella Abrera, Principal with American Ballet Theatre. Stella began her training in her home town of Pasadena, California. Her family moved to Sydney, Australia where she spent three years studying the Royal Academy of Dancing (or RAD). After returning to the States, Abrera joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1996 and was appointed a Soloist in 2001. After almost 20 years with the company and returning to the stage after dealing with a severe injusry, she was promoted to Principal Dancer in August 2015. Today we talk with Stella about her early training, how she came to join American Ballet Theatre, and some of the challenges and triumphs of her 22 years with the company.

Today on Conversations on Dance, we welcome Theresa Ruth Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, and Katlyn Addison, principal dancer with Ballet West. We first had Katlyn on the podcast in February of 2024 in episode 383, where we talk all about her career. We are happy to welcome Katlyn back on to talk about the upcoming "Pathways to Performance: Exercises in Reframing the Narrative" performance at the Kennedy Center. Theresa was the guest curator of "Reframing the Narrative" at the Kennedy Center for it's inaugural season in 2022 and Theresa is returning again this year with her hand-picked group of dancers coming together from all across the country to feature a newly commissioned ballet and excerpts of recently premiered works by Black choreographers. Katlyn was selected by Theresa in 2022 to be a part of this project and is returning again this year. The pair tell us about "Pathways to Performance: Exercises in Reframing the Narrative," how the project came about, what was so special about the experience in 2022, and how they will be expanding upon the work now in 2024. Don't miss "Pathways to Performance: Exercises in Reframing the Narrative" July 2 and 3 at the Kennedy Center. Tickets are available at kennedy-center.org.WATCH:Reframing the Narrative: Blacks in Ballet | A Kennedy Center Digital Stage Original (2022 documentary)Donald Byrd's "From Other Suns" | A World Premiere Ballet from The Kennedy Center

On today's episode of 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Katlyn Addison, principal dancer with Ballet West. Katlyn takes us on the journey through her early training days in Canada, the decision to take a risk by leaving her first major company for new terrain, and how that risk paid off through years of hard work and steady promotions. Katlyn will be making her premiere as Odette/Odile in Ballet West's upcoming performances of 'Swan Lake', which is having its run this February 9th through the 17th. If you are in the Salt Lake City area and would like to purchase tickets, visit balletwest.org.

Today on Conversations on Dance we are joined by Dominika Afanasenkov from the Vail Dance Festival. Dominika is a ballerina with the New York City Ballet. She talks to us about how growing up in cities all over the world impacted her training, how shes approached the breakthrough opportunities shes received so far, and what her first experience at the Vail Dance Festival was like. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival.

This week we are joined by our friend, Tricia Albertson, Principal dancer with Miami City Ballet. Raised in Santa Cruz, CA, she began her ballet training at The Studio School of Classical Ballet. She attended summer programs at San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet (SAB) before joining SAB for the year-round program in 1995. In 1997 she joined Miami City Ballet as a corps member and was promoted to Principal in 2006. In her 22 years with Miami City Ballet, Tricia has danced most of the corps, soloist and principal roles in the companys repertoire. We talk with Tricia about her time at SAB, her early years at Miami City Ballet, how the company has changed in 22 years, and even as she has now been with the company longer than any member in Miami City Ballet history, she is still being pushed and growing as an artist.

This week we head back into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival last summer. Today we speak with former Miami City Ballet Principal dancer, Patricia Delgado, and New York City Ballet Principal, Jared Angle. Even though they have never danced in the same company, many gigs have brought them to dance together, especially at the Vail Dance Festival. So we sat down with them to talk about what makes their special partnership work. This year they danced the central pas de deux of Justin Pecks new work created at the festival Rise Wait Climb Through, with music created by Caroline Shaw. We chat about what we would like to see them dance together next year in Vail, about dancing Year of our Lord from Year of the Rabbit together, and about the process of Justins new work that had it's premier later that night.

This week on Conversations On Dance, we talk to Daniel Applebaum, dancer with the New York City Ballet. Daniel joined the company in 2005, and quickly became one of the most depended upon dancers, regularly dancing triple bills, morphing into varied choreographic styles, and keeping dozens of ballets ready to go in his mind and body. Noted for his intelligence, elegance, musicality, and full out movement quality, Daniel continues to be an onstage force and promises to be a mind that will shape the dance world in the years to come.

Today we are joined by one of our former colleagues, Nathalia Arja, principal dancer with Miami City Ballet. Nathalia was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she began taking dance classes at the age of five at her mother's ballet school. As a young dancer she competed in and won several dance competitions, where she was offered scholarships to various prestigious schools. At her mother's suggestion, she auditioned for Miami City Ballet School at 15, receiving a full scholarship to attend the year-round program. She joined Miami City Ballet as an apprentice in 2009. In March 2020, during the company's last performances before the pandemic hit, Nathalia was promoted to Principal. We talk with Nathalia about her career, how she became aware of Miami City Ballet, navigating the company's change direction early in her tenure, her promotion to principal, and the company's upcoming streaming of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream.' Since its premiere in 2016, Miami City Ballets reimagining of Balanchines A Midsummer Nights Dream has been beloved by audiences and acclaimed by critics. Now, enjoy the online premiere of this shimmery, shadowy, magical jewel box of a show from the comfort of your home. Midsummer's virtual premiere is available online from October 14-31, 2021. Tickets are $20 and are available on their website, miamicityballet.org/midsummer.

Welcome to Live From The Kennedy Center: Mariinsky Ballet Director Yuri Fateev and Dancer Timur Askerov. A few weeks ago we were in Washington, DC to cover a busy weekend of ballet at the Kennedy Center. While we were there, the Mariinsky Ballet was in town performing La Bayadre. We had the pleasure of sitting down with the acting director of the Mariinsky, Yuri Fateev and one of their star dancers, Timur Askerov. Mr. Fateev graduated from the Leningrad Academic Vaganova Choreography School in 1982 and joined the Mariinsky Ballet the same year. In 1996 he became a coach with the Mariinsky and has been a guest coach with the Royal Ballet in London, ABT, and Russias Bolshoi Theatre. He has been Acting Head of the Mariinsky Ballet since 2008. Mr. Askerov was born in Azerbaijan and graduated from the Baku School of Dance in 2008. From 20092011 he danced in Ukraine before joining the Mariinsky in 2011. He has danced lead roles in the majority of the companys repetoire and has toured with the Mariinsky to Europe, Asia, and America. Timur prefered to answer our questions in Russian, so Yuri was nice enough to translate for us. In this version of the interview we have done a voice over to translate for Timur. If you would like to listen to Timurs complete answers in Russian, we have tacked that interview on in its entirety to the end of this episode. To listen to that version, please fast forward to 50 minutes and 30 seconds in the time stamp now. We really enjoyed chatting with these two to get a better idea of what is happening at the Mariinsky, so we hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did.

This episode was recorded live on August 1, 2024 from the Vail Dance Festival. Today we are joined by: India Bradley (New York City Ballet), Mayfield Myers (Philadelphia Ballet), Olivia Bell (New York City Ballet), Philip Duclos (Royal Danish Ballet), and Spencer Lenain (freelance artist).Every year at the Vail Dance Festival, new budding talents from companies all over get the first opportunities to take the stage with the world class dancers who populate the cast list of VDFs performances. Watching young dancers cut their teeth in some of their early major opportunities has become as thrilling to Vail audiences as seeing its international stars. Come watch Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden interview some of these stars-in-the-making about their experiences at Vail before you catch them making career breakthroughs in the evenings performance. Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Welcome to our final bonus episode from San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. Just as with last episode, today we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and about their experience at the Unbound festival. These episodes were recorded in the first few days of the festival around April 20th. First up today, we talk with Lauren Strongin. Next we are joined by Principal Ulrik Birkkjaer who just finished his 1st year with the company. Finally we sit down with soloist Julia Rowe.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with New York City Ballets exciting new generation of principal dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Mira Nadon, and Gilbert Bolden III. These dynamic artists are shaping the future of classical ballet with their exceptional talent, artistry, and fresh perspectives. Hear about their paths to principal status, experiences dancing with NYCB, and their aspirations both on and off the stage. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2025.

This week we are joined by New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Ashley Bouder. It has been over 4 years since we last had Ashley on the pod, so we have a lot of catch up on. We talk about what this last year has been like for her, about her college courses and teaching career, her advocacy efforts including her association with Dancers Amplified, and what she will be performing at this year's Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. The Lake Tahoe Dance Festival returns to in person performances this July 27 30. See Ashley and other world-renowned dancers, including friend of the pod, Christopher Charles McDaniel of Dance Theatre of Harlem, onstage in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tickets and more information available here: https://bit.ly/3mGM51U. We will be returning to the Vail Dance Festival this year. From July 30th August 9th we will be conducting nine live events with festival artists, recording bonus interviews, and teaching master classes. If you are planning on being in Vail for the festival, tickets for our live events go on sale on June 16th, 2021 at 11am Mountain Time.

This week, for our first episode of 2020, we are joined by Hope Boykin, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Dancer, from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Hope is from Durham North Carolina, and attended Howard University. She was a student and intern at the Ailey School before going on the join the company. She was an original member of Complexions, was a member of Philadanco, and received a New York Dance and Performance Award, or Bessie Award. We talk with Hope about her journey with dance as a youth, the challenges she faced, her now 20 years with Ailey, her work as a choreographer, and her personal podcast. Hope brings such light and optimism to this chat, and we cant wait to share her with you!

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a special live recording with American Ballet Theatre principal ballerinas Isabella Boylston and Chloe Misseldine. Powerhouses on the international stage and here at home, Boylston and Misseldine will share their journeys to principal status, their experiences performing with ABT, and their artistic perspectives as leading women in classical ballet today. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 30, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Today, on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are sharing our chat with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancers, Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside, that was recorded as a part of the 2020 Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition. Through August 15th, you can watch our Zoom chat with James and Bella on the Vail Dance Festival Facebook page or on their YouTube Channel. While you are there, we encourage you to explore the incredible 8 evenings of content that truly highlights what makes this festival so special! But hurry, videos are only available through August 15th.

On this week's episode of Conversations On Dance, we are thrilled to be joined once again by American Ballet Theatre principal Isabella Boylston. We caught up with her at the Vail Dance Festival, where we talked about her most recent season at the Met with ABT, how her second year running the Ballet Sun Valley Festival differed from the first, and her preparations for her first performances dancing Justin Peck's In Creases'.

This week we are joined by Isabella Boylston, American Ballet Theater Principal Dancer. Isabella was born in Sun Valley Idaho and started dancing at the age of 3. In 1994 she began training at a small studio, and by the age of 12 was commuting to Denver every day to study at the Academy of Colorado Ballet. After winning gold at the Youth America Grand Prix finals in New York City in 2001, she moved to Florida to study at the Harid Conservatory. After attending a summer course at American Ballet Theater, she joined the studio company in 2005, and joined the main company a year later. She was then promoted to Principal Dancer in 2014. She has danced many lead roles with the company, most noteably Giselle, Odette/Odile, Kitri in Don Quixote, and the lead in George Balanchines Theme and Variations. Recently she appeared as a guest star with the Royal Danish Ballet, and the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. Today we chat with Bella ahead of the opening of ABTs Fall Season at the Koch Theater in New York City starting this Wednesday and going through October 29th. We talk today about the path that brought her to ABT, what her first big opportunities in the company were like, about her time as Artistic Director of this summers Ballet Sun Valley festival, and get a preview of what she is dancing this week in New York. Get tickets now: abt.org.

This episode was recorded live on August 1, 2024 from the Vail Dance Festival. Today we are joined by: India Bradley (New York City Ballet), Mayfield Myers (Philadelphia Ballet), Olivia Bell (New York City Ballet), Philip Duclos (Royal Danish Ballet), and Spencer Lenain (freelance artist).Every year at the Vail Dance Festival, new budding talents from companies all over get the first opportunities to take the stage with the world class dancers who populate the cast list of VDFs performances. Watching young dancers cut their teeth in some of their early major opportunities has become as thrilling to Vail audiences as seeing its international stars. Come watch Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden interview some of these stars-in-the-making about their experiences at Vail before you catch them making career breakthroughs in the evenings performance. Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

This week we talk with New York City Ballet dancer, India Bradley, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival this past summer, before the company returned to work. India last appeared on the podcast at the Vail Dance Festival prior to beginning her first season at NYCB as a member of the corps de ballet. You can listen to our chat with her in episode 159. Today, India talks about giving herself grace during the pandemic to step away from dance, how she has found her way back, and what she has most enjoyed about returning to the studio and stage. Photo credit: Christopher Duggan __________________________________

This week on COD, we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer India Bradley. With a history of dance in her family, India began her training in her home state of Michigan. After training at DTH and SAB, India was accepted into NYCB. After just one year in the company, she has proven to be an in demand talent elsewhere, with a spate of additional performing opportunities that have included the Ashley Bouder Project, Vail Dance Festival and BalletCollective. We talk to India about her early experiences at NYCB, her experiences with a multitude of side projects and what the leadership transition at NYCB has been like for the newest generation of dancers. This episode is generously supported by Yumiko (yumiko.com), Vail Dance Festival, and BalletCollective. Conversations On Dance would like to take this opportunity to invite you to an evening of dance and music that finds NYCB soloist Troy Schumacher's trailblazing BalletCollective collaborating with the groundbreaking orchestral collective The Knights. Comprised entirely of dancers from the New York City Ballet, and featuring world premieres by two of its dancers, Schumacher and Preston Chamblee, the evening will build on BalletCollective's tradition of creating forward-thinking, collaboration driven art that reflects the world we live in. Hailed by the New York Times as being unforced, experimental and refreshing', BalletCollective has been at the forefront of collaborative art for nearly a decade. Don't miss their performances at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center in Brooklyn, this Oct 23, 25 and 26. You can purchase tickets at www.balletcollective.com/tickets.

BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 1. Welcome to our 1st of two bonus episode wrap ups of San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. In each episode we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and abo

This week we are joined by choreographer and dancer, Myles Thatcher, LIVE from San Francisco Ballet's Unbound Festival, and his collaborators for his new ballet Otherness, costume designer Sylvie Rood, and nonbinary artist, Kersh Branz. This episode was recorded from a live Meet The Artist event before the opening of Myles ballet at the Unbound festival at San Francisco Ballet. For more live content like this from these events, please check out San Francisco Ballets podcast network on iTunes. Stay tuned to Conversations on Dance as we continue to bring more content to you directly from the festival.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by internationally acclaimed choreographer Arthur Pita and Royal Danish Ballet dancer Isabella Carroll. They take us through Arthur's process creating a new full length production of "The Great Gatsby" for the Royal Danish Ballet in the centennial year of the novel, touching on how the idea for the project came to fruition, how the dancers developed the iconic characters and what role production design has in bringing this classic American story to life. If you are in the Copenhagen area, "The Great Gatsby" premieres May 3rd and runs through May 31st. Tickets.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by two dancers currently on tour with Twyla Tharp, Renan Cerdeiro and Alex Peters. They take us through their journey with Twyla, first as principal dancers with the Miami City Ballet performing her repertoire, then to the creative process for both her new work and a challenging revival, and finally through the experience of taking these works across America. They continue their tour with Twyla through April 20th.

Today we are joined by two of our close friends, former Miami City Ballet Principal Dancer, Patricia Delgado, and current MCB Principal, Renan Cerdeiro. Patricia has been on our podcast quite a few times in the past, so to hear more from Pat, visit our past catalog of episodes. Renan was born in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and started dancing at a young age. In 2008, he was named a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, and was awarded a scholarship to train at Miami City Ballet School. He joined MCB in 2010, and was promoted to Principal in 2013. Patricia and Renan often danced together at Miami City Ballet, and became one of the companys most beloved onstage couples. We caught up with the pair when they were guesting as The Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavelier in Next Generation Ballets Nutcracker this past December. Hear them talk about their first time dancing together, what makes their partnership so special, their experience dancing Romeo and Juliet together, and what it feels like to reunite here in Tampa with Next Generation Ballet.

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer Preston Chamblee. Preston hails from North Carolina, where he began his dance training. After dancing at the School of American Ballet, Preston was accepted into the New York City Ballet and shortly after began to dance featured roles in ballets like Morgen', Rodeo' and Year of the Rabbit'. Preston has recently branched out into the world of choreography and was selected as BalletCollective's 2019 choreographer in residence. We talk to Preston about his experiences as a NYCB dancer, what inspires him as a choreographer, and how he balances his dual roles.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with New York City Ballets exciting new generation of principal dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Mira Nadon, and Gilbert Bolden III. These dynamic artists are shaping the future of classical ballet with their exceptional talent, artistry, and fresh perspectives. Hear about their paths to principal status, experiences dancing with NYCB, and their aspirations both on and off the stage. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2025.

Today we are returning to our time at San Francisco Ballet last April for the companys Unbound Festival. This week we talk with Frances Chung, Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet. Frances was born in Vancouver, Canada and received her training at Goh Ballet Academy. She joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2001 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2009. Frances has danced countless major roles in the companys vast repertoire as she worked her way through the ranks. Frances received the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Individual Performance for the 2013 Repertory Season and the silver medal at the 2000 Adeline Gene Awards. Today we talk with Frances about her training, how she became a bunhead later in life, some of the most challenging ballets she has danced, and about the companys Unbound, a festival of new works.

It's that time of year again! Get ready for daily drops from Conversations on Dance all throughout the 2025 Vail Dance Festival through August 3rd. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a moment.Today we are joined by four dancers from LINES Ballert: Adji Cissoko, Lorris Eichinger, Ilaria Guerra, and Shuaib Elhassan. In this mornings conversation, explore the companys return to the Vail Dance Festival with a program that includes Ode to Alice Coltranea tribute to the legendary spiritual jazz iconand Mother Goose, a mesmerizing reimagining of Ravels beloved 1912 suite, Ma mre lOye. Hear behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process behind these visionary works and get to know the artists shaping them. The conversation will be followed by an open audience Q&A. This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 26, 2025.

While artistic gifts can often run in the family, they are seldom able to cross forms in collaboration as searingly as Adji Cissoko and Youba Cissokho did at last years Vail Dance Festival. Adji is a ballerina with the LINES ballet (and last years VDF Artist-In-Residence) and Youba is a 72nd generation kora player. The two will join Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden in a discussion about their familys deep artistic roots, what their first collaboration meant to them and how they look forward to creating this year at the Vail Dance Festival. Stream the closing night performance, 'NOW Premieres,' from the 2024 Vail Dance Festival from August 5-13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU1-Yq_0Alc

Adji Cissoko is an artist of striking elegance and daring, whether as a performer or choreographer. With Cissokos selection of 2023s Artist-in-Residence, Festival audiences will be treated to ample amounts of both. For this live recording of the Conversations On Dance podcast, Adji will talk about her years at the Vail Dance Festival past and what the opportunities as Artist-in-Residence mean for her creative output this year.This episode was recorded live on August 1st, 2023 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by the Town of Vail.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL IS GOING ON NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival by Adji Cissoko, dancer with Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Adji grew up in Munich, Germany where she trained at Ballet Academy Munich. She attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre on full scholarship, before joining the National Ballet of Canada in 2010. In 2014, she joined LINES Ballet. We talk with Adji about her training, her long audition process to find the right company for her, how she shifted her goals for her career, and why LINES Ballet is the perfect place for her.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by American Ballet Theatre ballerina Zimmi Coker. Zimmi recounts how, as a former dance herself, her mother gently guided her through her initial training, how she fell in love with ABT and began to receive plum roles in major full length works, and, most harrowingly, how she overcame a devastating injury that had her pulling out of performances and in searing pain for more than a year and a half. Zimmi will be performing featured roles in ABT's upcoming seasons at the Koch Theater and the MET in New York City; follow her on instagram at @zimmi9 for further updates on her casting.

This episode was recorded live on Monday, July 29th, 2024 at the Vail Dance Festival. At the vanguard of American modern dance since its inception, Limn Dance Company returns to the Vail Dance Festival after making their debut in 2022. The companys first performance at the festival earned rave reviews and now they return to celebrate the incredible dance legacy of this beloved and historic company. Join Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden as they sit down with Limn Dance Company Artistic Director, Dante Puleio, and company artist Joey Columbus, to dig into the legacy of Limn and what audiences can expect to see from the company.Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

The Vail Dance Festival is just around the corner and our coverage starts now! Today we are joined by American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer and friend of the pod, Herman Cornejo. Herman joins us in the midst of ABTs season where he is celebrating 25 incredible years with the company. We catch up with Herman about this season, what it means to be celebrating such an important milestone, what his plans are for the future, and what he will be dancing this year at the Vail Dance Festival. As a festival favorite, we are so looking forward to seeing him soon on the VDF stage.The Vail Dance Festival returns July 26 August 5:The Vail Dance Festival returns July 26 August 5 with THIRTEEN performances featuring dance luminaries from across the United States and around the world. This summer they welcome Dance Theatre of Harlem, Limn Dance Company, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Colorado Ballet, and DanceAspen, as well as artists from Alonzo King LINES Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, BalletX, New York City Ballet, and so much more. Conversations on Dance will be bringing you a behind-the-scenes look at all the action. Join us in person for 8 live events featuring incredible festival artists including Catherine Hurlin, Sara Mearns, Robert Garland, Adji Cissoko and many more. If you are not able to join us in person, be sure to subscribe to Conversations on Dance wherever you get your podcasts to listen to the live episodes after the events.Get your tickets now for festival performances and vaildance.org. And claim your tickets for COD events at vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance.

We are joined today by Tiler Peck, principal dancer with New York City Ballet and Herman Cornejo, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. The pair tell us about their partnership here at the festival and Justin Peck's newest work. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 4, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival's closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF's YouTube Channel. More information on VDF's social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, Herman Cornejo, sits down with us from the Vail Dance Festival. We talk about his year of dance since we last saw him in Vail, his 20th anniversary with ABT, and about what he is dancing this year at the festival. You will want to listen to the end where he shares some BIG news with us!

The Vail Dance Festival has announced their dates for their 2019 festival and to celebrate, we are diving into our archives from our time last year at the festival. Today we are joined by festival favorite, Herman Cornejo. Herman was born in Argentina and began his ballet studies at the age of eight. At the age of 14 he attended the School of American Ballet, and upon returning home he joined Ballet Argentino under the direction of Julio Bocca. In 1999 he joined American Ballet Theatre, was promoted to Soloist in 2000 and to Principal Dancer in 2003. Cornejo has performed as a guest artist with numerous companies around the world, La Scala Ballet, Universal Ballet of Korea, National Ballet of Japan, Kremlin Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, and many others. We talk to Herman about his time as a young dancer being mentored by Julio Bocca, what his early years in American Ballet Theatre were like, and what keeps bringing him back to the Vail Dance Festival.

As we all know, over the past year businesses and organizations have had to get creative in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arts organizations are no exception. Today we get to hear about how Joffrey Ballet found a unique way to get their dancers involved in the company's day-to-day operations. We speak with Joffrey Company Artist, April Daly, and Annie Lyonswright, Joffrey's Director of Annual Giving about their new initiative, Company Artist Partner Program. Annie spearheaded this program, working closely with April. We chat with the pair about what the last year was like from the artist side and the administration side, and about how they all came together for a common goal.

This week we are joined by San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer, Sasha De Sola. Born in Winter Park, Florida, Sasha trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. on a full merit scholarship. In 2004, Ms. De Sola received a scholarship for studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School. At the age of 17, Sasha joined San Francisco Ballet where she rose through the ranks and was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer in 2017. Today we talk with Sasha from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC while the company was there last week on tour.

Today on 'Conversations On Dance' we are joined by Evelyn Cisneros-Legate, director of the Ballet West Academy, and Allison DeBona, principal of the Ballet West Academy Park City location and founder of artmotion. Both women take us through how their careers as professional ballerinas impacted the work they do today as educators, how they are actively growing Ballet West's training programs and why Ballet West Academy is an ideal landing spot for students of all interest levels and abilities. If you're a parent or student looking for summer programs in the 2024 season, visit academy.balletwest.org.

This week we head back into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival last summer. Today we speak with former Miami City Ballet Principal dancer, Patricia Delgado, and New York City Ballet Principal, Jared Angle. Even though they have never danced in the same company, many gigs have brought them to dance together, especially at the Vail Dance Festival. So we sat down with them to talk about what makes their special partnership work. This year they danced the central pas de deux of Justin Pecks new work created at the festival Rise Wait Climb Through, with music created by Caroline Shaw. We chat about what we would like to see them dance together next year in Vail, about dancing Year of our Lord from Year of the Rabbit together, and about the process of Justins new work that had it's premier later that night.

This episode was recorded live on Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at the Yumiko New York Flagship Boutique. We sit down with dancer and actress, Juliet Doherty. Juliet comes from a family of dancers, spending her entire childhood in the studio. Always active in musical theater, Juliet toured the world playing the coveted role of Clara alongside the renowned Radio City Rockettes in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and would later go on to dance alongside Tiler Peck in Susan Stromans Little Dancer musical. Most recently she has stared in the film On Pointe and the movie High Strung, Free Dance. In her professional dance career she danced with San Francisco Ballet.

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance, we are joined by principal ballerina with the Royal Danish Ballet, Holly Dorger. Holly shares her experience growing up as a highland dancer, accepting a contract with Royal Danish straight out of SAB, the change in style and technique that accompanied her new job and how she continues to grow and adapt in full length roles she revisits. If you are in the Copenhagen area, you can catch Holly's performance as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake' this coming March.

This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2024. In this final live recording of the Conversations on Dance podcast, hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden, chat with internationally renowned ballroom dancers: Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina. A staple of the Vail Dance Festival for a few years now, the duo delights audiences with their dazzling dancing. This conversation will center around how they came to ballroom dance, their early careers, how they came to partner together, and their collaborative, DNA.

This episode was recorded live on August 1, 2024 from the Vail Dance Festival. Today we are joined by: India Bradley (New York City Ballet), Mayfield Myers (Philadelphia Ballet), Olivia Bell (New York City Ballet), Philip Duclos (Royal Danish Ballet), and Spencer Lenain (freelance artist).Every year at the Vail Dance Festival, new budding talents from companies all over get the first opportunities to take the stage with the world class dancers who populate the cast list of VDFs performances. Watching young dancers cut their teeth in some of their early major opportunities has become as thrilling to Vail audiences as seeing its international stars. Come watch Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden interview some of these stars-in-the-making about their experiences at Vail before you catch them making career breakthroughs in the evenings performance. Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

This week on 'Conversations on Dance' we are joined by Philip Duclos, corps de ballet dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet. We talk with Philip about his training at the School of American Ballet and his first year in a company. He gives us a preview of what he will be dancing this year at the Vail Dance Festival, and tells us how he first came to be invited to the festival in 2021 while he was still a student at SAB.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

It's that time of year again! Get ready for daily drops from Conversations on Dance all throughout the 2025 Vail Dance Festival through August 3rd. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a moment.Today we are joined by four dancers from LINES Ballert: Adji Cissoko, Lorris Eichinger, Ilaria Guerra, and Shuaib Elhassan. In this mornings conversation, explore the companys return to the Vail Dance Festival with a program that includes Ode to Alice Coltranea tribute to the legendary spiritual jazz iconand Mother Goose, a mesmerizing reimagining of Ravels beloved 1912 suite, Ma mre lOye. Hear behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process behind these visionary works and get to know the artists shaping them. The conversation will be followed by an open audience Q&A. This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 26, 2025.

It's that time of year again! Get ready for daily drops from Conversations on Dance all throughout the 2025 Vail Dance Festival through August 3rd. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a moment.Today we are joined by four dancers from LINES Ballert: Adji Cissoko, Lorris Eichinger, Ilaria Guerra, and Shuaib Elhassan. In this mornings conversation, explore the companys return to the Vail Dance Festival with a program that includes Ode to Alice Coltranea tribute to the legendary spiritual jazz iconand Mother Goose, a mesmerizing reimagining of Ravels beloved 1912 suite, Ma mre lOye. Hear behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process behind these visionary works and get to know the artists shaping them. The conversation will be followed by an open audience Q&A. This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 26, 2025.

Today we are joined by New York City Ballet principal dancer, Megan Fairchild. Megan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and began her dance training at the age of four. She went on to train at Ballet West Conservatory, where she was also a Ballet West trainee. In 2000, Megan continued training at the School of American Ballet and in November 2001, she became an apprentice with New York City Ballet. In October 2002 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet, was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, she was promoted to principal dancer. Megan made her Broadway stage debut playing the role of Ivy Smith in the 2014 revival of On the Town, which opened on October 16, 2014 at the Lyric Theatre. She received the 2015 Theatre World Award for her performance. We chat with Megan about her origins in dance, her early years with the company, receiving featured opportunities at a young age, a quick rise through the ranks, dealing with performance anxiety, and returning to dance after having children. In 2021, Megan published a book, The Ballerina Mindset: How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence. Megan tells us about how the idea for this book came about and what she hopes that readers will take away. Get The Ballerina Mindset at book retailers nationwide and on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tV6LbW. ___________________________

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with Three of Vail’s most beloved returning artists: Lauren Lovette, Unity Phelan and Robbie Fairchild.Fairchild, a former NYCB Principal Dancer, became a Tony-nominated Broadway star originating the role of Jerry Mulligan in An American in Paris before going on to film, acting, and an ever-evolving performance life. Lovette, also a former NYCB principal, continues to grace the stage and is currently serving as Resident Choreographer of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and earning commissions from ABT, Vail, and beyond. Unity Phelan continues her extraordinary career as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and international guest artist!Stay tuned for more episodes coming from the Vail Dance Festival 2026.Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by The Town of Vail.

Today we are sharing with you our final LIVE event recording from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. In this episode, we are joined by New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer, Justin Peck, and dancer and actor, Robbie Fairchild. These two have been friends since they were students at the School of American Ballet, working together throughout their time with New York City Ballet. They talk about how they first became inspired by the theatre, their aspirations for Broadway, and their forays into film. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival on August 7, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Please note, we did have some technical difficulties with the sound on one of the microphones during this recording. We apologize in advance. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

On today's episode of 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Chyrstyn Fentroy, principal ballerina with Boston Ballet. We talk to Chyrstyn about how she built her work ethic during her training years, dancing under Virgina Johnson in the newly revived Dance Theater Of Harlem and what it was like to make the move to a larger company in the middle of her career. If you'd like to see Chyrstyn perform, stay tuned to the Boston Ballet website at bostonballet.org.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording featuring BalletX dancers Savannah Green and Francesca Forcella. Known for their innovative artistry and bold performances, these talented dancers bring fresh energy and perspective from one of Americas leading contemporary ballet companies. Join us for an engaging conversation about their artistic journeys, creative process, and what it means to be part of BalletXs groundbreaking repertoire. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 2, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 1. Welcome to our 1st of two bonus episode wrap ups of San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. In each episode we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and about their experience at the Unbound festival. These episodes were recorded in the first few days of the festival around April 20th. To start off this episode, we sit down and chat with Principal Dancer, Luke Ingham. Next, we welcome Benjamin Freemantle who was just promoted to soloist. And lastly, we talk with Principal Dancer Jennifer Stahl.

This week we are joined by Mathilde Froustey, Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet. Mathilde started dancing at the age of 9 in the South of France before going on to study at the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1999. In 2002 she joined The Paris Opera Ballet where she would dance numerous Principal roles for over a decade. In January 2013 she accepted an offer from Helgi Tommasson to join the San Francisco Ballet as a Principal. News of her leaving Paris Opera made waves, as she was the first top-notch dancer to leave the company in years. Today we talk with Mathilde about her career and her time dancing with both Paris Opera and San Francisco Ballet. She offers us especially interesting insight into Paris Opera and how the company is run, which is a stark contrast to companies in the United States.

In his first year at VDF, New York City Ballet soloist Jovani Furlan is set to take Vail audiences by storm. Joining the Conversations On Dance podcast, Furlan will discuss his dance upbringing in his native Brazil, the leap to american stages and what dancing at VDF for the first time has been like. Please note: Conversations On Dance co-host, Rebecca King Ferraro, will be on maternity leave this summer. These live events will be hosted by Michael Sean Breeden with special guest hosts throughout the festival. This episode was recorded on August 9, 2022 with special guest host, Mira Nadon. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of Conversations on Dance and the Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Photo by Christopher Duggan.

This week we are joined by our friend, Jovani Furlan, soloist with New York City Ballet. Born in Joinville, Brazil, Jovani started dancing at the age of 11 at The Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil. In 2010 he participated in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and was offered a full scholarship to attend the Miami City Ballet School by Edward Villella. He began his training at the MCB School in 2011 and joined Miami City Ballet in 2012. He was promoted to soloist in 2015 and was named an MCB principal dancer in 2017. Jovani joined NYCB as a soloist in August 2019. We talk with Jovani, who we both danced with for many years in Miami, about his origins with ballet, why he had his eye on coming to dance in the US, joining MCB during the directorship transition, and how his new position at New York City Ballet came about.

This week we are joined by Tara Ghassemieh, Principal dancer with Golden State Ballet. Tara talks with us as she discovers her place within the world of ballet and uncovers a forgotten piece of Iranian history. She tells us about her film 'Persian Swan' which is her tribute to the Iranian National Ballet and how this mission has evolved onto the stage with 'The White Feather.' If you are in the Southern California area, see 'The White Feather, A Persian Ballet Tale' June 29th at The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Tickets are available on EventBrite.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://bit.ly/3NQwoDjPerformance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

Today we check in with Houston Ballet to hear about their upcoming performances of Stanton Welch's Sylvia.' We are joined by Houston Ballet Artistic Director, Stanton Welch, and Principal dancers who will be performing the leads in the ballet, Connor Walsh and Karina Gonzlez. We first spoke with Stanton Welch on the podcast in 2018 in episode 98, had Connor on in 2019 in episode 158, and are welcoming Karina on for the first time. Today we speak with this trio about what lead them each to Houston Ballet, getting back onstage this season for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, their work and process of creating Sylvia,' and what audiences can expect from this original full length production. Houston Ballet's Sylvia' is on stage March 10-20, 2022 at the Brown Theater in Houston, TX. For tickets and more information about Houston Ballet's 2021-2022 season, visit houstonballet.org. _________________________

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival this past summer, by Christopher Grant, New York City Ballet dancer. Christopher was born in Jamaica, Queens. He began his dance training at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in 2002. In August 2015, he became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in August 2016. We talk with Chris about his training, the struggles of moving from student life to company life, how he hopes that he can set an example for students coming through the school, and his second year at the Vail Dance Festival.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording featuring BalletX dancers Savannah Green and Francesca Forcella. Known for their innovative artistry and bold performances, these talented dancers bring fresh energy and perspective from one of Americas leading contemporary ballet companies. Join us for an engaging conversation about their artistic journeys, creative process, and what it means to be part of BalletXs groundbreaking repertoire. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 2, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Savannah Green, dancer with BalletX. Savannah was born and raised in New York City, receiving her initial dance training from Manhattan Youth Ballet. In 2017 she graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Political Science. She has been a member of BalletX since 2020. Savannah has been going to the Vail Dance Festival since she was about 11, and has now participated in the festival as an artist and a member of BalletX for the past several years. We chat with Savannah about her training, her love for dance, discovering her home with BalletX, and her years of experience at the Vail Dance Festival. See Savannah and BalletX onstage at the Vilar Performing Arts Center on August 6th at 6pm. Ticket available here. VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

It's that time of year again! Get ready for daily drops from Conversations on Dance all throughout the 2025 Vail Dance Festival through August 3rd. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a moment.Today we are joined by four dancers from LINES Ballert: Adji Cissoko, Lorris Eichinger, Ilaria Guerra, and Shuaib Elhassan. In this mornings conversation, explore the companys return to the Vail Dance Festival with a program that includes Ode to Alice Coltranea tribute to the legendary spiritual jazz iconand Mother Goose, a mesmerizing reimagining of Ravels beloved 1912 suite, Ma mre lOye. Hear behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process behind these visionary works and get to know the artists shaping them. The conversation will be followed by an open audience Q&A. This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 26, 2025.

Today we are joined by Tamisha Guy, dancer with Kyle Abraham's A.I.M. Tamisha is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and began her formal dance training at Ballet Tech, under the direction of Eliot Feld. She went on to attend SUNY Purchase College as a double major in dance and arts management. In 2013 she graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase College and joined the Martha Graham Dance Company shortly after. In 2016 Tamisha was selected as one of Dance Magazine' Top 25 to Watch and received the 2016 Princess Grace Award. Tamisha currently dances with A.I.M, under Artistic Direction of Kyle Abraham, which she joined in 2014. We catch up with Tamisha in the morning before she starts rehearsal. We Zoom with her to record this episode, while she is staying warm in a mall across the street from the studio. Safely masked, she tells us about her training, how she came to decide to pursue a career in dance, working with Kyle Abraham, and some of her outside pursuits, including two upcoming dance films.

This week we have the pleasure of diving into one of the works that will be presented this year at the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, Agnes De Milles The Other.' We speak with dancers Stephen Hanna (formerly of NYCB) and Abi Stafford (Principal at NYCB) who will be performing this work at the festival. We are also joined by Diana Gonzalez-Duclert, who is setting the ballet on Stephen and Abi. Diana assisted Ms. De Mille in setting the ballet on American Ballet Theatre in 1992. We caught up with this trio at the end of their week long rehearsal process to prepare the work for the festival. We talk about why this work is so significant, the challenges that come along with dancing De Mille ballets, and talk through the story line. Diana tells us why it is so important that companies like New York Theatre Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, and Alabama ballet continue to present De Mille works in their repertoire. The Lake Tahoe Dance festival is July 24-26. Tickets are on sale at laketahoedancecollective.org. We would like to mention that we were unfortunately unable to deliver our usual sound quality for this episode. Because we could not geographically be together for this interview, all 5 of us skyped in to discuss this work. We appreciate your understanding that sometimes these things are out of our control, but it was important for us to bring this episode to you, as we find what Diana, Abi, and Stephen had to say about this work fascinating, and important. Thank you.

Today we are joined by Esteban Hernandez, principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Esteban talks to us about training with his father and siblings, moving abroad at a young age to study ballet, and how he found his dream company in San Francisco Ballet. Esteban will be making his return to the stage on August 13th and 14th at the Frost Amphitheater for Stanford Universitys Stanford Live series. Tickets are available at live.stanford.edu.

This week we sit down at the Kennedy Center to talk with American Ballet Theatre dancer, Connor Holloway. Connor was born in Louisville, Kentucky and started performing at the age of six in school musicals. At the age of thirteen, he began taking ballet classes at the Louisville Ballet School while attending a magnet performing arts high school as a vocal performance major. He went on to attend Boston Ballets pre-professional program and was later promoted to the trainee level. Holloway became a member of ABTs studio company in 2013 and joined the main company in 2014. In addition to being a full time dancer, Connor is also a member of ABTs marketing team as the social media manager for American Ballet Theatres official accounts. Be sure to follow his great work! We talk with Connor about his journey from Kentucky to New York City, about how he deals with anxiety at work, and how he came to manage ABTs Instagram account.

This episode was recorded live on July 30, 2024 at the Vail Dance Festival. In part two of this episode, we are joined by American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, Catherine Hurlin. Look for part one of this episode, now in the feed.Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously supported by the Town of Vail.Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined from the Kennedy Center by American Ballet Theatre soloist, Catherine Hurlin. Born in New York City, Catherine began her dance training at Scarsdale Ballet Studio and Westchester Dance Academy. She was awarded the Hope Award at the 2007 Youth American Grand Prix New York City Finals, and went on to receive a full scholarship to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. Hurlin joined ABT as an apprentice in December 2013 and the corps de ballet in June 2014. She was promoted to Soloist in September 2018. Hurlin was the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award and just this past weekend it was announced that Catherine has been awarded the Erik Bruhn Prize, one of the ballet worlds most prestigious awards. Today we talk with Catherine about moving through the ranks at ABT starting in the school, about her mother who was a former Paul Taylor dancer and her impact on her career, and about her many accolades she has accumulated over her career.

Today on 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Shohei Iwahama, dancer with Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a company affectionately known as The Trocks. We talk to Shohei about his bold decision to move to the United States, why he stepped away from dance before joining the Trocks, and what makes the company's history and identity as an all-male comic ballet company so unique among dance entities in America. If you're in the Houston area, come see the company perform at Performing Arts Houston on Tuesday, January 23rd in the new year. Get tickets at performingartshouston.org.

Today we chat with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Russell Janzen, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. Russell was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and began his dance training at the age of six at The Rock School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He enrolled as a full-time student at the School of American Ballet in the winter of 2005. In June 2008, he joined the New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to principal in February 2017. We talk with Russell about his training, dealing with a myriad of injuries during his first few years in the company, about his fellowship at Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, and his love for writing.

This week on Conversations On Dance, we are joined by San Francisco Ballet dancer Madison Keesler. Madison began her professional career at age 17, and soon found herself learning some of the most coveted roles in the repertoire. In addition to her time in San Francisco, she has danced extensively in Europe with the English National Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. We talk to Madison about why being willing to take risks has been the driving force behind her career, and how it has shaped the dancer she is today.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording featuring Lloyd Knight and Laurel Dalley Smith from the Martha Graham Dance Company, one of the most iconic and enduring forces in American modern dance. As the company marks its centennial, hear directly from these incredible artists bringing Graham's visionary legacy to the Vail stage and shaping what it means today. This marks our 500th episode and our 10th year at the Vail Dance Festival. Stay tuned for nine more episodes coming from the Vail Dance Festival 2026. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by The Town of Vail.

Today on 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Lloyd Knight, a long time veteran of the Martha Graham Dance Company. We catch up with Lloyd about the work he has done in the past year with Twyla Tharp and on tours with the Graham company, as well as the time he's spent this year as one of the New York Public Library's Dance Research Fellows. The program this year is centered on Martha Graham, and Lloyd will present his research in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Annual Symposium alongside the other fellows on January 26th. There will also be a virtual Symposium on February 2nd. Tickets are free and can be reserved via Eventbrite: CLICK HERE. For more information about the Jerome Robbins Dance Divison, visit nypl.org. Try Audible Plus free for 30 daysGive the gift of Audible Plus

Today we are joined by Lloyd Knight, Principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Born in England and raised in Miami, Lloyd trained at Miami Conservatory of Ballet and New World School of the Arts. He joined Martha Graham Dance Company in 2005 and performs the major male roles of the Graham repertory including in Appalachian Spring, Embattled Garden, Night Journey and many others. He is currently a principal guest artist for The Royal Ballet of Flanders. We talk with Lloyd about his start in dance, his beginnings with Martha Graham Dance Company, some of his favorite onstage memories, and his first year participating in the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. Since the festival is going virtual in 2020, we will all get the privilege of watching Lloyd's duet with Wendy Whelan in Martha Graham's Moon.

On this week's episode of Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Boston Ballet principal Misa Kuranaga. A native of Japan, Misa first came to dance professionally in America with the San Francisco Ballet, before additional training at the School of American Ballet. In 2003, she joined Boston Ballet, where was quickly handed major soloist and principal opportunities, ultimately rising to the rank of principal dancer in 2009. We talk to her about her path to Boston Ballet, fighting through periods of uncertainty and lack of motivation, and how she continues to develop her artistry after nearly ten years as a principal

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival last summer by Charlotte Landreau, dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company. A native of France, she trained first as a rhythmic gymnast, where she was the third in France. With her sights set on the Olympics, an injury forced her career trajectory to shift. She attended the Bjart School in Switzerland, studying acting and dance, before coming to NYC to study at the Martha Graham School. She joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2013. She speaks with us about how her training as a rhythmic gymnast influences her dance career, the challenges of seeing the career she dreamt of slip away, how she made a quick transition into the dance world, and how she connected so deeply with the Graham technique.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we dive into the new documentary "The Nutcracker At Wethersfield", a film that explores the chaotic, thrilling experience of a huge team of dancers, artists and volunteers coming together to ensure that the "Nutcracker" holiday tradition could continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are joined by the choreographer Troy Schumacher and ballerina Ashley Laracey, the Sugar Plum Fairy in this production, both veteran NYCB soloists who had not had a year without Nutcracker in their lives for more than two decades. They take us through the numerous complications to consider while mounting the production, from legal constraints, health concerns and the logistics of building a massive production in just five weeks, and how this experience ultimately came to be a documentary that perfectly encapsulates a moment unlike any of us shall ever experience again in our lives. "The Nutcracker At Wethersfield" will be available to stream on demand from December 21st through January 5th through the website nutcrackerfilm.com.

Today we are joined by Megan LeCrone, soloist with the New York City Ballet. Megan was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and at age 14, began studying with Melissa Hayden and Duncan Noble at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Megan entered the School of American Ballet full-time in the fall of 2001, and in November 2001 she became an apprentice with New York City Ballet. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in October 2002 and was promoted to soloist in February 2013. We talk with Megan about her training, what brought her to SAB, how she joined the company, dealing with injuries, and her close working relationship with Peter Martins.

Vail Dance Festival has long committed to bringing artists at all different points in their journey and development, and 2023 is no different. The Conversations On Dance podcast is joined by this years Scholar-In-Residence Spencer Lenain and his childhood dance idol esteemed American Ballet Theatre principal James Whiteside for a live podcast recording. The pair will talk about how having such a range bolsters the experiences of dancers and audiences alike.This episode was recorded live on August 3rd, 2023 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by the Town of Vail.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL IS GOING ON NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

Join the Conversations On Dance podcast in a discussion with one of Vails most celebrated mainstays, Lil Buck, and one of its newest artists, New York City Ballet dancer KJ Takahashi. Buck and KJ will take us on a tour of their own relationships with ballet and street dance and how these two forms of dance have intersected for each of them in their own artistic identity. Please note: Conversations On Dance co-host, Rebecca King Ferraro, will be on maternity leave this summer. These live events will be hosted by Michael Sean Breeden with special guest hosts throughout the festival. This episode was recorded on August 8, 2022 with special guest host, Kate Penner. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of Conversations on Dance and the Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge.

In our next installment of LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, we are joined by New York City Ballet principal dancer, Lauren Lovette, and Memphis Jookin star, Lil Buck. We chat with the pair about what this past year has been like for them, how they continued to find inspiration, about their friendship, and their new work they have created just for the festival. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 9, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festivals closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDFs YouTube Channel. More information on VDFs social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode. Photo by Christopher Duggan

This episode with Lil Buck exists only as a YouTube video.

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with Jookin superstar, Lil Buck. Charles Lil Buck Riley is an dancer, actor and model from Memphis, Tennessee who specializes in a style of street dance called jookin. He gained popularity after director Spike Jonze used his cell phone to record an interpretive performance of The Dying Swan by Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma. Li' Buck has been a long time favorite of the festival since 2011. Lil Buck is the founder of Movement Art Is, an organization focused on using movement artistry to inspire change in the world. This episode was recorded live on July 31st, 2019. Watch the video of this live event here: https://bit.ly/2MRqcNs

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Lauren Lovette. We catch up on what she has been up to since we saw her last summer, talk about her choreography, and her position of Artist in Residence this year at the festival. Unfortunately, we again had a technology glitch during this episode and are bringing you an iphone audio recording of the event. As you know, this audio is not up to our usual quality, but Laurens chat with us was just too good not to bring to the masses. Thank you for your understanding. This episode was recorded live on August 4th, 2019.

Today we talk with New York City Ballet Principal, Lauren Lovette. The last time we chatted with her was last year at the Vail Dance Festival, so this year we catch up with her, talk about her guesting gig with Royal Danish Ballet, and hear about her new work Papillons that premiered on August 6th, 2018 at the Vail Dance Festival. (Note: This episode was recorded on August 6th, 2018.) Photo: Unity Phelan and cast in Papillons at the 2018 Vail Dance Festival. Choreography by Lauren Lovette. Photo by Erin Baiano

This week we are heading into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival this past summer, where we spoke with many of the festivals amazing and talented artists. Today we talk with Lauren Lovette, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer who was not only dancing at the festival, but also choreographing a new piece. Lauren began dancing at the age of 11 at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Cary, North Carolina. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet during the summers of 2004 and 2005 and became a year-round student in 2006. After joining New York City Ballet as member of the corps de ballet in 2010, she became a principal dancer in 2015. We talk with Lauren about her start in ballet, how she became interested in choreography, how becoming a vegan has changed her dancing, and about her new ballet that premiered a few nights after we recorded this episode.

This week we are joined from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival by Julian MacKay, first soloist at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Born in Montana, he quickly discovered his passion for ballet as a young boy, moving to Russia to train at just 11 years old. He went on to train at the Moscow State Ballet Academy for six years, graduating top of his class. He danced for 8 months at the Royal Ballet before returning to Russia to join the Mikhailovsky as a soloist at just 20 years old. We talk with Julian about his fascinating journey through ballet curriculums in Russia, how the schools and companies work there, about his debut in the full-length Swan Lake with two weeks to prepare, and his first time at the Vail Dance Festival.

Today, on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Christopher Charles McDaniel, dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Christopher was born in East Harlem and started his formal training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, later going on to train at LaGuardia School of Performing Arts and Ballet Academy East. Christopher has danced professionally with Los Angeles Ballet and Ballet San Antonio, before coming full circle to join Dance Theatre of Harlem. We talk with Christopher about his start in praise dance at church, his relationship with Arthur Mitchell as a young student at Dance Theatre of Harlem, his trajectory that ultimately lead him back to DTH, and his participation in this year's Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, where he will be dancing a new commission by Durante Verzola. Lake Tahoe Dance Festival has just announced their 2021 live, outdoor performances July 27 30. Tickets are on sale now by pod seating. See Christopher and other world-renowned dancers, including friend of the pod, Ashley Bouder, onstage in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tickets and more information available at laketahoedancecollective.org.

Every year audiences at the Vail Dance Festival watch the Artist-In-Residence delve deeply into their craft, pushing outside their comfort zone to create rapidly in the ten days the festival spans. This year audiences will be treated to two such artists, the beloved New York City Ballet ballerina Sara Mearns, and highly acclaimed and sought after choreographer Jamar Roberts. Sara and Jamar sit down with Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden to discuss what their artistic output at the festival will be and how the artistic direction of the festival this year is guiding them in their own creative pursuits. Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Sara Mearns and Pam Tanowitz are two of the most talked about dance artists of their generation, both regarded for their bold, fearless and personal interpretations of their respective art forms. At this years festival, Mearns will be premiering in a new work by Bobbi Jene Smith, while Tanowitz will create a new work to the music of Kate Davis. Join these mavericks of the industry for a discussion with the Conversations On Dance podcast about these premieres and the collaboration Mearns and Tanowitz most recently worked on together at the New York City Ballet. Please note: Conversations On Dance co-host, Rebecca King Ferraro, will be on maternity leave this summer. These live events will be hosted by Michael Sean Breeden with special guest hosts throughout the festival. This episode was recorded on August 3, 2022. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of Conversations on Dance and the Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge.

This week we bring you an episode we recorded at New York Citys Guggenheim museum in January. We wanted to catch up with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Sara Mearns, and Jodi Melnick, contemporary choreographer to hear about their Works and Process at the Guggenheim that they were putting together. We chatted with the pair quickly between rehearsals, so we could offer our listeners a preview of this work One of Sixty-Five Thousand Gestures/ NEW BODIES that will be going to the Spoleto Festival in Charelston, South Carolina June 7-10. For more information about the festival and performances running May 25-June 10th, visit Spoletousa.org. To get tickets to see Sara and Jodi, search NEW BODIES on the Spoleto website, or click here.

Today we are bringing you another episode from Next Generation Ballet in Tampa. We sit down with esteemed New York City Ballet Principals Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar who were performing as guest artists for NGBs Nutcracker this past December. Sara has been on the pod before, so if you havent heard our interview with her, check out episode 24. Amar and Sara have been dancing together since they joined the company in 2000 and 2003 respectively. They have had works created on them and surrounding their partnership by countless choreographers including Justin Peck, Peter Martins, Chris Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky to name a few. Today we talk with them about what makes a successful partnership, how they worked through some difficult times, why they work so well together, and they share with us some of their favorite onstage moments together.

New York City Ballet up-and-coming corps member, Roman Mejia, sits down with us from the Vail Dance Festival. We talk about his year of dance since we last saw him in Vail, working with Edward Villella, and on performing Alexei Ratmansky's Fandango' here at Vail Dance Festival on August 2nd, 2019. This episode was recorded at Manor Vail Lodge.

Roman Mejia is one of the newest members of the New York City Ballet, having burst onto the scene at the Vail Dance Festival fresh out of the School of American Ballet. In just his first year at the company, hes garnered critical acclaim for numerous solo roles, and is quickly gathering momentum as a dancer to be seen. We talk with Roman about the pressures of being thrust into the spotlight so soon into his career, how he prepares for these challenges, and how coming from a ballet family has prepared him in his career. (Note: This episode was recorded on August 4th, 2018) Photo: Roman Mejia in Pas de Deux from William Tell at the 2018 Vail Dance Festival. Photo by Erin Baiano

Today on Conversations on Dance, we talk with Marzia Memoli, chorus dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company. Marzia is from Palermo, Italy, where she started her dance and ballet training. She graduated from the Academy of Teatro Carcano in Milan and the Bejarts school, where she performed with the Bejart Ballet Lausanne. In 2016, she joined the Martha Graham Dance Company. We initially chatted with Marzia this summer to hear about her career, what lead her to Martha Graham, and how she spent her time off from dancing during the shuttering of theaters during the pandemic. At the end of the episode, we recently caught up with Marzia again to hear about her preparations to return to the stage and the company's upcoming performances at the Joyce Theater October 26-31. Tickets for two joyous programs celebrating the exhilarating return to live theater at the Joyce are available on their website, joyce.org. _______________________________

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer, Miriam Miller from last summers Vail Dance Festival. Miriam was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and began her dance training in 2001. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in 2011 and 2012, enrolling as a full-time student during the 2012 winter term. Ms. Miller became an apprentice with NYCB in January 2015. While still an apprentice with NYCB, Miller performed the role of Titania in George Balanchines A Midsummer Nights Dream, as well as featured roles in Balanchines Harlequinade and Peter Martins Swan Lake. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in January 2016. We talk with Miriam about her start with ballet, how her first show of Titania came about, her hopes for her career, and going to college while dancing full time.

Today we are joined by mother-daughter duo, Gladisa Guadalupe, and Marla Minadeo. Gladisa is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Cleveland Ballet and her daughter, Marla, is a dancer in the company. We talk with the pair about how they each were introduced to ballet, balancing their professional life with their family life, the many incarnations of Cleveland Ballet, and what the company has coming up as they enter their 2021-2022 season. Join Cleveland Ballet for its first performance of Momentum set to the magnificent score of Felix Mendelssohn, with choreography by Gladisa, in the city of Vermilion on Saturday, September 18th, 2021. Tickets and more information on this, and the company's full season at Playhouse Square, are available on their website, clevelandballet.org.

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Michael Montgomery, dancer with Alonzo King LINES Ballet from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Michael was born in Long Beach, CA, trained at the Orange County High School of the Arts and studied at the Alvin Ailey School in the Certificate program. In 2011 he graduated from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of California. In 2010, he joined LINES Ballet and was named to the list of 25 to Watch by Dance Magazine in 2013. We talk with Michael about his origins in dance, the BFA program at Dominican University, what a typical day is like as a member of LINES, and what it is like working in the studio with Alonzo during his creation process.

This episode was recorded live on August 1, 2024 from the Vail Dance Festival. Today we are joined by: India Bradley (New York City Ballet), Mayfield Myers (Philadelphia Ballet), Olivia Bell (New York City Ballet), Philip Duclos (Royal Danish Ballet), and Spencer Lenain (freelance artist).Every year at the Vail Dance Festival, new budding talents from companies all over get the first opportunities to take the stage with the world class dancers who populate the cast list of VDFs performances. Watching young dancers cut their teeth in some of their early major opportunities has become as thrilling to Vail audiences as seeing its international stars. Come watch Conversations On Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden interview some of these stars-in-the-making about their experiences at Vail before you catch them making career breakthroughs in the evenings performance. Upcoming Conversations on Dance events at the 2024 Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with New York City Ballets exciting new generation of principal dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Mira Nadon, and Gilbert Bolden III. These dynamic artists are shaping the future of classical ballet with their exceptional talent, artistry, and fresh perspectives. Hear about their paths to principal status, experiences dancing with NYCB, and their aspirations both on and off the stage. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2025.

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance', we are joined by New York City Ballet soloist Mira Nadon. Mira joins us for a special bonus episode discussing her role as the central ballerina in Justin Peck's upcoming premiere Copland Dance Episodes'. She gives us an inside view of NYCB's first non-narrative full length premiere since George Balanchine's Jewels', discussing the creative process, her character's emotional arc and what audiences can expect to see at the premiere this January 26th at the David H. Koch theater.

Today we are joined by New York City Ballet soloist Mira Nadon. Mira last joined us on the podcast in April 2020, episode 180, where we talked about her training, early career and the early days of the pandemic. For her second appearance, we catch up with Mira about navigating the year and a half without performances at NYCB, her promotion to soloist and the numerous debuts she's conquered in the first half of 2022.

This week we are joined by Mira Nadon, New York City Ballet Corps de Ballet dancer. Mira began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018. We talk with this rising star about her training, joining NYCB as an apprentice at just 16, and her career accomplishments at such a young age. Photo: Nadon in Peter Martins' The Sleeping Beauty. Erin Baiano, Courtesy NYCB

This week we are joined by Allynne Noelle, Suzanne Farrell Ballet First Soloist. Allynne started her training at the age of five in Southern California and began her professional career at age 15 with Ballet Pacifica. In 2003 she joined Miami City Ballet where she would dance as a soloist until leaving the company in 2010. After battling some serious injuries, she recovered and joined Los Angeles Ballet as a Principal in 2011. In 2015 she joined The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. She will be dancing in the companys final shows entitled, Forever Balanchine: Farewell Performances at the Kennedy Center December 7th- 9th. We caught up with Allynne while we were visiting the Kennedy Center in October. She was kind enough to join us in the middle of her first day of rehearsals for these performances. We talk with her about her career, struggles with injuries, her love of working with Suzanne, and she offers a preview of what audiences can expect from the Suzanne Farrell Ballets Farewell Performances. For more information on these performances and other happenings at the Kennedy Center, visit kennedy-center.org.

Today on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Lorenzo Pagano, Soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company. A native of Torino, Italy, Lorenzo moved to the US as a teenager and trained as a scholarship student at The School at Jacobs Pillow and The Martha Graham School. He joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2012 and dances lead roles in a broad range of the company's repertoire. We chat with Lorenzo about his beginnings in dance, coming to New York, his early years in the company dancing alongside dancers who had danced for Martha, and how things have changed for him since COVID hit.

Today on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by friend of the pod and New York City Ballet Soloist, Georgina Pazcoguin. This summer, Georgina's new book, Swan Dive was released, so we caught up with her between rehearsals and performances to chat. While she sat outside of the David H Koch Theater, she told us about the inspiration behind the book, her writing process, what she hopes readers take away from Swan Dive, and what her return to stage this past month has felt like. You can get your copy of Swan Dive wherever books or sold, or click here: https://amzn.to/3AA34YQ. ________________________________

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by superstar NYCB ballerina Tiler Peck and Garen Scribner, former SFB soloist and the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Tiler recounts how her harrowing recovery from a potentially life altering injury was captured on film after Garen suggested the process be turned into a documentary. The resulting project is "Tiler Peck: Suspending Time", a documentary film making its premiere at the SF Dance Film Festival this October 24th at the Lucasfilm Premier Theater. To purchase tickets, visit sfdancefilmfest.org. Get Tiler's new book: https://amzn.to/4oXookXAnnouncement:We are thrilled to announce that we will be returning to Miami City Ballet October 17th-19th to host live pre-performance talks for the opening weekend of the companys 40th anniversary season. For each talk, we will be joined by Gonzalo Garcia as he ushers the company into its first season under his direction. Full details below. This program is truly not to be missed: the all Peck program includes Year of the Rabbit, Chutes and Ladders, and Heatscape. If you are in the Miami area come join us.DETAILS:FRI October 17 with Gonzalo Garcia at 6:30pmSAT October 18 with Gonzalo and Justin Peck at 6:30pmSUN October 19 with Gonzalo and Patricia Delgado at 1pmAdmission to pre-performance talks at the Arsht Center is complimentary with ticket purchase. Tickets available here: https://www.miamicityballet.org/tickets-and-events/202526-season/peck/. If you are unable to join us in person, subscribe to the Conversations on Dance podcast feed through your favorite podcast app, where we will be publishing recordings of the events.

We are joined today by Tiler Peck, principal dancer with New York City Ballet and Herman Cornejo, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. The pair tell us about their partnership here at the festival and Justin Peck's newest work. This episode was recorded LIVE from the Vail Dance Festival, This episode was recorded on August 4, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Experience the Vail Dance Festival from wherever you are this Monday, August 9th, 2021. Enjoy a live-streamed event of the festival's closing evening: NOW Premieres, which we discuss in this episode. Access will be available for one week on VDF's YouTube Channel. More information on VDF's social media channels. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode.

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with New York City Ballet Principal Tiler Peck. In her 11th year at the Vail Dance Festival, Tiler continues to explore her work as a choreographer with a revival of last year's premiere Lincoln Square' and new premiere to Caroline Shaw's Thousandth Orange'. We talk to her about her choreographic inspirations, and the thought process behind her latest work. This episode was recorded on August 6, 2019.

Welcome to Live From the Kennedy Center: Damian Woetzel & Tiler Peck on Jerome Robbins. Two weeks ago we were in Washington, DC to cover a busy weekend of ballet at the Kennedy Center. We arrived on Friday night just in time to watch an exceptional performance entitled DEMO: Jerome Robbins- An American Dance Genius. These DEMO programs are curated by former New York City Ballet Principal, Artistic Director of the Vail Dance Festival, and incoming president of Julliard, Damian Woetzel. Damian hosted the evening, which gave audiences an educational behind the scenes look at working with Jermone Robbins and dancing his ballets. He brought 5 New York City Ballet dancers with him to demonstrate multiple excerpts of Robbins ballets: Tyler Angle, Tiler Peck, Unity Phelan, Amar Ramasar, and Daniel Ulbricht. Damians wife, and former New York City Ballet Principal, (also a former Conversations on Dance guest) Heather Watts, was a special guest for the evening. The dancers were all clad in rehearsal attire, the stage was bare, with the exceptions of a few barres to constitue sets, organized onstage just as they are in the studios for rehearsals. The evening started with Robbins' first work Fancy Free, and moved in mostly chronological order, to include his Broadway work, his return to NYCB in 1969, and his interest in choreographing to Chopins music. One highlight of the evening was when Ms. Watts coached Ms. Peck in Afternoon of a Faun. The evening included so much history, details, and background on these ballets, that we invited Damian and Tiler Peck to join us the next day for a debrief of the performance. For more information on performances and events at the Kennedy Center, visit kennedy-center.org.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we are joined by two dancers currently on tour with Twyla Tharp, Renan Cerdeiro and Alex Peters. They take us through their journey with Twyla, first as principal dancers with the Miami City Ballet performing her repertoire, then to the creative process for both her new work and a challenging revival, and finally through the experience of taking these works across America. They continue their tour with Twyla through April 20th.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with Three of Vail’s most beloved returning artists: Lauren Lovette, Unity Phelan and Robbie Fairchild.Fairchild, a former NYCB Principal Dancer, became a Tony-nominated Broadway star originating the role of Jerry Mulligan in An American in Paris before going on to film, acting, and an ever-evolving performance life. Lovette, also a former NYCB principal, continues to grace the stage and is currently serving as Resident Choreographer of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and earning commissions from ABT, Vail, and beyond. Unity Phelan continues her extraordinary career as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and international guest artist!Stay tuned for more episodes coming from the Vail Dance Festival 2026.Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by The Town of Vail.

Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden welcome two of the Festivals most beloved artists for a long-anticipated live podcast recording: Calvin Royal III, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, and Unity Phelan, Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. Royal and Phelanwidely regarded as one of the most iconic duos to emerge from the Vail Dance Festivalwill reflect on their enduring partnership, born at Vail and nurtured through countless collaborations across stages and companies. This conversation explores the artistic trust, chemistry, and shared vision that have made them audience favorites. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 31, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Today we are bringing you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival on the Vail premiere of The Little Prince. We are joined by choreographer, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and BalletX dancer who dances the title role in the peice, Roderick Phifer. This episode was recorded on July 29th, 2019, one day before the ballet will hit the stage here in Vail on the evening of July 30th. Tune into our previous chat with Annabelle in episode 90.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance" we are joined by Royal Danish Ballet soloist Tobias Praetorius. He takes us on his journey as a young student falling in love with the theater, ultimately rising to the rank of soloist in the company, while coming to embrace and explore the company's rich Bournonville history. Tobi's own choreographic talents and love of Bournonville will converge when he will choreograph the lost second act of Bournonville's "Napoli" in an upcoming Royal Danish Ballet staging. Until then, you can catch him in regular performances with the company.

Today we are bringing you another episode from Next Generation Ballet in Tampa. We sit down with esteemed New York City Ballet Principals Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar who were performing as guest artists for NGBs Nutcracker this past December. Sara has been on the pod before, so if you havent heard our interview with her, check out episode 24. Amar and Sara have been dancing together since they joined the company in 2000 and 2003 respectively. They have had works created on them and surrounding their partnership by countless choreographers including Justin Peck, Peter Martins, Chris Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky to name a few. Today we talk with them about what makes a successful partnership, how they worked through some difficult times, why they work so well together, and they share with us some of their favorite onstage moments together.

This week we are joined by Tegan Rich, a dancer with Festival Ballet Providence, who is currently recovering from a full rupture of her achilles tendon. Originally from Stuart, Florida she began her training at the Dance Academy of Stuart and as a teenager, she later moved to Miami to train with the Miami City Ballet School. When she was 19, she went on to join Festival Ballet Providence in Providence, Rhode Island. Now in her eighth year with the company, she has danced a broad corps and principal repertoire in ballets by George Balanchine, Yury Yanowsky, Viktor Plotnikov, Christopher Wheeldon, among others. Today we talk with Tegan about her journey through Miami City Ballet School, her path to Festival Ballet Providence, her struggles with an eating disorder, and how she is recovering from her recent full rupture of her achilles tendon.

Welcome to our final bonus episode from San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. Just as with last episode, today we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and about their experience at the Unbound festival. These episodes were recorded in the first few days of the festival around April 20th. First up today, we talk with Lauren Strongin. Next we are joined by Principal Ulrik Birkkjaer who just finished his 1st year with the company. Finally we sit down with soloist Julia Rowe.

On today's episode of 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Jake Roxander, rising star at American Ballet Theatre. Jake tells us about the intensity of his training growing up in a family of ballet dancers, why it's important for dancers to keep an open mind about the companies and goals they set their sights on, and how he's handled the challenges of a year marked by numerous major principal role debuts. You can catch Jake in ABT's upcoming New York City MET spring season, June 18th through July 20th.

Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden welcome two of the Festivals most beloved artists for a long-anticipated live podcast recording: Calvin Royal III, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, and Unity Phelan, Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. Royal and Phelanwidely regarded as one of the most iconic duos to emerge from the Vail Dance Festivalwill reflect on their enduring partnership, born at Vail and nurtured through countless collaborations across stages and companies. This conversation explores the artistic trust, chemistry, and shared vision that have made them audience favorites. This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 31, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

Welcome to a special bonus episode from the 2024 Vail Dance Festival. Today we welcome back our friend, Calvin Royal III, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre. We chat about his met season at ABT, his experience this year at the Vail Dance Festival, and about the ballet festival he is producing at the Joyce this month.UNITE: Joyce Ballet Festival, directed and co-produced by Calvin Royal III. August 13-18, 2024Tickets: https://www.joyce.org/performances/118/unite/ballet-festival

LIVE from Vail Dance Festival, today we chat with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer and Vail Dance Festival Artist in Residence, Calvin Royal III. We hear from Calvin about his beginnings in dance, his promotion to principal, how he stayed inspired during the pandemic, and being artist in residence at this year's festival. This episode was recorded on July 31, 2021 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of the Vail Dance Festival and Conversations on Dance live podcast recordings. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Thank you to Tom Boyd for producing this episode. Photo by Chris Kendig.

Today, on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are sharing our chat with American Ballet Theatre Soloist, Calvin Royal III, that was recorded as a part of the 2020 Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition. Through August 15th, you can watch our Zoom chat with Calvin on the Vail Dance Festival Facebook page or on their YouTube Channel. While you are there, we encourage you to explore the incredible 8 evenings of content that truly highlights what makes this festival so special! But hurry, videos are only available through August 15th.

This week we are going back into our vault from our time at the Vail Dance Festival this past summer, for another episode with a festival favorite. Today we talk Calvin Royal III, American Ballet Theatre Soloist. Calvin started his formal ballet training at the age of 14 in St. Petersburg, Florida. In April of 2006 he was a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Scholarship Comeptition in New York City, and joined ABTs Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis School a few months later. He joined ABT II (now the ABT Studio Company) in 2007, and joined the main company in 2010. Royal was a 2014 winner of a grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund. He was promoted to soloist just this past summer. We talk with Calvin about how he got his start in ballet despite being 14, how he quickly caught up with his peers, what the Fellowship Fund grant has afforded him, and what he looks forward to as a new soloist.

At the vanguard of American modern dance since its inception, Limon Dance Company is celebrating its landmark 75th anniversary this season. Making their VDF debut this summer, come celebrate the incredible dance legacy of this beloved and historic company. Artistic Director Dance Puleio will join the Conversations On Dance podcast in a discussion about preserving the companys incredible heritage while pushing forward into the future with new commissions. Celebrating its landmark 75th anniversary season, the Limn Dance Company makes its Festival debut this summer. Please note: Conversations On Dance co-host, Rebecca King Ferraro, will be on maternity leave this summer. These live events will be hosted by Michael Sean Breeden with special guest hosts throughout the festival. This episode was recorded on August 1, 2022 with special guest host, Patricia Delgado. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of Conversations on Dance and the Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge. Photo by Christopher Duggan

Tap dancing is inseparable from its relationship to music. In a live recording of the Conversations On Dance podcast, tap master Leonardo Sandoval and bassist/composer Gregory Richardson of Music From The Sole will dissect that relationship as they discuss their work on I Didnt Come To Stay, which will have its Vail Dance Festival premiere on August 2nd.This episode was recorded live on July 31st, 2023 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by the Town of Vail.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL IS GOING ON NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

This week we are joined by Ana Sophia Scheller, San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer. The Argentinian-born dancer moved to New York at the age of 13 to study at the School of American Ballet, and later joined NYCB as a corps member in 2004 after a brief time with ABTs Studio company. In her 13 years with NYCB, she worked her way up to the title of Principal dancing featured roles in all of the classics and originating roles in several new works. In the summer of 2017 she announced that she would make the move to join San Francisco Ballet as a Principal for the following season. We talk with Ana about her beginnings with ballet, how she joined the New York City Ballet, and what ultimately took her to San Francisco Ballet.

On today's episode of "Conversations On Dance", we dive into the new documentary "The Nutcracker At Wethersfield", a film that explores the chaotic, thrilling experience of a huge team of dancers, artists and volunteers coming together to ensure that the "Nutcracker" holiday tradition could continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are joined by the choreographer Troy Schumacher and ballerina Ashley Laracey, the Sugar Plum Fairy in this production, both veteran NYCB soloists who had not had a year without Nutcracker in their lives for more than two decades. They take us through the numerous complications to consider while mounting the production, from legal constraints, health concerns and the logistics of building a massive production in just five weeks, and how this experience ultimately came to be a documentary that perfectly encapsulates a moment unlike any of us shall ever experience again in our lives. "The Nutcracker At Wethersfield" will be available to stream on demand from December 21st through January 5th through the website nutcrackerfilm.com.

This week we are joined by Jose Sebastian, dancer with American Ballet Theatre and Director of ABT Incubator. Jose, a native of New York City, started his dance training at age 8 with the School of American Ballet and continued training there for nearly 10 years. He joined ABT Studio Company in 2006 and American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in January 2009 and became a member of the corps de ballet in January 2010. In 2020, Sebastian was appointed director of ABT Incubator, ABTs choreographic workshop program for inspiring the creation of new work. To learn more about ABT Incubator, visit abt.org, and to watch some of the films from this year's program, visit American Ballet Theatre's YouTube Channel. T

This week we talk with American Ballet Theatre's newest soloist dancer, Gabe Stone Shayer. Gabe was born in Philadelphia, where he began his dance training. At 14, he began training full time at the Rock School for Dance Education, before going on to move to Russia to continue his studies at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. Shayer is the first African-American male to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in its nearly 250-year history. Gabe joined ABT Studio Company in September 2011, the main Company as an apprentice in April 2012 and the corps de ballet in November 2012. Just this month he was promoted to soloist. We talk with Gabe about his training, his time at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, how he came to ABT, what his promotion was like, and some of the incredible projects he has been working on while the company is on hiatus due to COVID.

In todays bonus episode we are continuing our coverage of San Francisco Ballet at the Kennedy Center as they showcase 6 works from the companys Unbound: a festival of new works. Todays episode was recorded in April when we were in San Francisco as these works all premiered. We talk with new corps member, Natasha Sheehan about training at San Francisco Ballet School, joining the company, and her blog about healthy eating and wellness.

This week we are joined by Christine Shevchenko, Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Christine was born in Ukraine, where she was chosen to train in rhythmic gymnastics and ballet at an Olympic school. At eight years of age, she moved with her family to the United States where she trained for nine years at Pennsylvania Ballets Rock School. In 2003, Christine became the youngest recipient of the Princess Grace Award. She won a Bronze Medal in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and a Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition. She joined American Ballet Theatres Studio Company in August 2006 and moved through the ranks, being promoted to Principal in September 2017. We talk with Christine from the Vail Dance Festival about her intense early training in Ukraine, dancing at the Rock School, her career at ABT, and her first time at the Vail Dance Festival.

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance' we are joined by Dance Theatre Of Harlem ballerina, Ingrid Silva. Ingrid has been breaking barriers and gaining industry wide attention since she first joined Dance Theatre Of Harlem for the company's revival in 2013. We talk about her leap of faith in leaving her home country of Brazil, the impact that Arthur Mitchell had on her early career, and her experience being a new mother while keeping up with DTH's demanding touring and performing schedule. This episode was recorded as a part of Dance Theatre of Harlems Sunday Matinee virtual series. An abbreviated version of this interview appeared in this virtual performance, accompanied by beautiful photos and video clips. To watch that portion of this interview, plus the programming we discuss in this episode, click here: https://youtu.be/fObNVpRJfkk.

This week on Conversations on Dance we are bringing you a live podcast we recorded yesterday, February 4th, 2019 at the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center has wonderful Ballet and Contemporary Dance Class Series that offer advanced high school students the unique opportunity to learn from dancers from the nationally and internationally recognized companies that tour to the Kennedy Center. Yesterday we watched a modern class with these students taught by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theaters Glenn Allen Sims. Immediately following class, we sat down with Glenn while the students looked on to talk about his career, his key to longevity in his 20 plus year career, and for advice that he would offer the local students he worked with that afternoon. For more information on The Kennedy Centers master class program, visit education.kennedy-center.org.

This episode was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2024. In this final live recording of the Conversations on Dance podcast, hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden, chat with internationally renowned ballroom dancers: Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina. A staple of the Vail Dance Festival for a few years now, the duo delights audiences with their dazzling dancing. This conversation will center around how they came to ballroom dance, their early careers, how they came to partner together, and their collaborative, DNA.

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance' we are joined by Dance Theater Of Harlem ballerina Amanda Smith. Amanda tells us about how her early extracurricular activities led to greater versatility, how her education at SUNY Purchase shaped her career, and the importance of persistence in achieving one's goals. Visit dancetheaterofharlem.org to see the company's tour dates to catch Amanda onstage this season at a theater near you.

Today we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer Gretchen Smith, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival earlier this month. Gretchen was born in Evansville, Indiana, and began her dance training at the age of seven with Evansville Dance Theatre. She began studying at the School of American Ballet during the 2003 summer course and enrolled as a full-time student that fall. She went on to join the New York City Ballet as an apprentice in October 2005, and in February 2006 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. We talk with Gretchen about her path to NYCB, dancing iconic repertoire, working with choreographers on new works, some of her takeaways from the pandemic, and her debut as Green Girl in Dances at a Gathering at the Vail Dance Festival.

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording featuring Lloyd Knight and Laurel Dalley Smith from the Martha Graham Dance Company, one of the most iconic and enduring forces in American modern dance. As the company marks its centennial, hear directly from these incredible artists bringing Graham's visionary legacy to the Vail stage and shaping what it means today. This marks our 500th episode and our 10th year at the Vail Dance Festival. Stay tuned for nine more episodes coming from the Vail Dance Festival 2026. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by The Town of Vail.

This week we have the pleasure of diving into one of the works that will be presented this year at the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, Agnes De Milles The Other.' We speak with dancers Stephen Hanna (formerly of NYCB) and Abi Stafford (Principal at NYCB) who will be performing this work at the festival. We are also joined by Diana Gonzalez-Duclert, who is setting the ballet on Stephen and Abi. Diana assisted Ms. De Mille in setting the ballet on American Ballet Theatre in 1992. We caught up with this trio at the end of their week long rehearsal process to prepare the work for the festival. We talk about why this work is so significant, the challenges that come along with dancing De Mille ballets, and talk through the story line. Diana tells us why it is so important that companies like New York Theatre Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, and Alabama ballet continue to present De Mille works in their repertoire. The Lake Tahoe Dance festival is July 24-26. Tickets are on sale at laketahoedancecollective.org. We would like to mention that we were unfortunately unable to deliver our usual sound quality for this episode. Because we could not geographically be together for this interview, all 5 of us skyped in to discuss this work. We appreciate your understanding that sometimes these things are out of our control, but it was important for us to bring this episode to you, as we find what Diana, Abi, and Stephen had to say about this work fascinating, and important. Thank you.

BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 1. Welcome to our 1st of two bonus episode wrap ups of San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. In each episode we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and about their experience at the Unbound festival. These episodes were recorded in the first few days of the festival around April 20th. To start off this episode, we sit down and chat with Principal Dancer, Luke Ingham. Next, we welcome Benjamin Freemantle who was just promoted to soloist. And lastly, we talk with Principal Dancer Jennifer Stahl.

Welcome to our final bonus episode from San Francisco Ballets Unbound festival. Just as with last episode, today we will be talking with 3 different dancers in the company about what ultimately led them to SFB and about their experience at the Unbound festival. These episodes were recorded in the first few days of the festival around April 20th. First up today, we talk with Lauren Strongin. Next we are joined by Principal Ulrik Birkkjaer who just finished his 1st year with the company. Finally we sit down with soloist Julia Rowe.

This week we are happy to be sharing with you a recording of our live event at SF MOMA last month. We were pleased to be able to sit down and talk with San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer, Sofiane Sylve, as a part of a live lecture put together by the San Francisco Based organization, Words on Dance. We talk with Sofiane about launching her career at only 14, her time dancing with New York City Ballet, what brought her to San Francisco Ballet, and about her aspirations to be an Artistic Director. Just before we started recording, Words on Dance founder Deborah Kaufman introduced us to the audience.

Our guest today is Janie Taylor, a former principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet, present day dancer with LA Dance Project, repetiteur for the works of Benjamin Millepied, costume designer, and creator of the art newspaper Quarter Marks. At the New York City Ballet, Janie amassed a broad rep that showcased the full depth and range of her talents in ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, and Peter Martins. After her retirement in 2014, Janie began to explore her talents as a costume designer and repetiteur, creating designs for numerous new ballets and staging works for companies all over the world, such as Dutch National Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Janie returned to dancing with the Los Angeles Dance Project in 2016, enchanting audiences once again with her electrifying and unmistakable stage presence. Today we talk to Janie about her broad range of talents and unlikely career path.

On today's episode of Conversations On Dance, we are joined by Devon Teuscher, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. In 2006, after completing her training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Devon was invited to join ABT's studio company. Consistent soloist work led to her first promotion in 2014, and following a triumphant turn as Odette/Odile in the full length Swan Lake', she was promoted to principal in 2017. We sat down at the Vail Dance Festival with Devon to discuss how she pushed through difficult early years in the corps de ballet, the hours of hard work and thought that went into shaping her Swan Lake', and what she wants next from her career. Photo: Sarah Kehoe

Join Conversations on Dance hosts Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden for a live podcast recording with one of the Vail Dance Festivals most celebrated returning artists and this years Artist-in-Residence, Melissa Toogood. Toogood, a Bessie Award-winning dancer and former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, has just been named Director of The Juilliard Schools Dance Division and will share her vision for the next chapter of one of the worlds most prestigious conservatories. She also debuts a new work for the Festivals NOW: Premieres program this year.This episode is brought to you by Discover Vail and was recorded live from the Vail Dance Festival on July 29, 2025.Tickets to Conversations on Dance at the 2025 Vail Dance Festival on sale now! https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/

A major highlight for the Vail Dance Festival every year is the NOW: Premieres program, a jam-packed evening of ten newly commissioned dances with an array of artists that only the Vail Dance Festival could manage to bring together. Internationally acclaimed choreographers and artists Kyle Abraham and Melissa Toogood join this live recording of the Conversations On Dance podcast to talk about their process this year creating two brand new works for this celebrated evening.This Monday August 7th, The Vail Dance Festival comes to you! Dont miss the live stream of Mondays Now: Premieres program at 7:30pm mountain, 9:30pm Eastern. Visit vaildance.org to enjoy an evening of world premieres from the festivals all star cast of choreographers and dancers. You have heard them all right here on Conversations on Dance, now catch them live from the VDF stage on Monday August 7th. Link in the description of this episode for more info. This episode was recorded live on August 6th, 2023 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by the Town of Vail.

This week we are sharing with you a live podcast recording from the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Here we speak with Visual Artist Kenneth Parris III and dancer Melissa Toogood on Tuesday July 30th, 2019. Kenneth had many of his Merce Cunningham paintings and drawings featured throughout the festival this year, and many of these pieces feature Cunningham dancer and his wife, Melissa Toogood. We sit down to chat with this duo about their artistic partnership and their relationship to the works of Merce Cunningham.

Merce Cunningham is one of the greatest and most influential choreographers of the 20th century. In honor of the Merce Cunningham centennial, we were pleased to host Melissa Toogood, a dancer of his works and Abi Sebaly, a Cunningham scholar. We discuss Merces work methods, collaborations with artists like John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg, broad influence in the avant-garde in dance and beyond, and his Scenario, excerpts of which were performed at the Vail Dance Festival on August 3, 2018. (Note: This episode was recorded on August 3rd.) Photo: Scenario (an excerpt), International Evenings of Dance I, Vail Dance Festival, Friday, August 3, 2018, Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. Credit Photo: Erin Baiano

This week on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Cassandra Trenary, a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Cassandra tells us about her leap of faith to pursue ballet, what it's like to be an ABT lifer, the challenges of the pandemic, and ultimately her promotion to principal dancer. Catch Cassandra onstage with ABT. For more information visit, abt.org.

This week on Conversations On Dance, we are joined by Miami City Ballet dancer Eric Trope. While so much attention is understandably given to the physical health of dancers, Eric has been an outspoken advocate for supporting the mental health of dancers to the same extent. In this episode, we cover the difficulty of performing anxiety, dealing with body shaming and what can be done both individually and as a community to improve the mental health of our artists. Eric's article on Biscuit Ballerina's blog and article on the Conversations on Dance blog.

This week we are joined by Sarah Van Patten, Principal with San Francisco Ballet. Sarah trained at Ballet Workshop of New England, and danced with Massachusetts Youth Ballet. In 2000 at age 15, she joined the Royal Danish Ballet as an apprentice where John Neumeier cast her as Juliet in his Romeo and Juliet. Soon after, she was promoted to the rank of corps dancer, one of the youngest corps dancer ever invited to the Royal Danish Ballet in its 200-year history. Van Patten joined San Francisco Ballet as a soloist dancer in 2002 and was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2007. We talk with Sarah about her training, traveling so far from home at such a young age to join Royal Danish Ballet, what brought her to San Francisco Ballet, and about returning to dancing after the birth of her son. This episode was recorded in April during our time at San Francisco Ballets Unbound Festival. Get information about our live podcast recording with guest Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet, on October 22, 2018 at 4pm.

This week we are joined by National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancer, Jillian Vanstone. A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Jillian trained at the Kirkwood Academy of the Performing Arts and Canadas National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1999 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2011. We talk to Jillian all the way from Australia about her career, break out roles, stage fright, what COVID has been like for the dancers of National Ballet of Canada, and about hope for the future. Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g instagram.com/conversationsondance facebook.com/conversationsondance twitter.com/convoondance conversationsondancepod.com

This week on the podcast we are tackling a subject that we find of immense interest to students and parents in our travels to schools across the country: does having a career in ballet mean forgoing college? Our guest this week is a Harvard Graduate and an Los Angeles Ballet Soloist who shows that its possible to do both. This week we talk with Elizabeth Claire Walker, who always dreamed of a career in ballet, and had parents who strongly valued her education. She trained as a teenager at American Ballet Theatres Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. After being accepted at Harvard, she pushed on with her ballet career, attending company auditions and being discovered by Los Angeles Ballet in their inagural season. Liz defered college and headed to LA to start her career. An experimental summer-school stint in Cambridge in 2007 made Walker fall in love with Harvard and gave her the push she needed to pursue her degree. She continued dancing while attending college, suffering an injury that made her hesitant to re-enter the world of professional ballet so soon. After graduating, she was re-hired at LA Ballet, and was recently promoted to soloist. We talk with Liz as a part of our time at the Vail Dance Festival in August of last year. We have such an enlightening talk with Liz that we truely reccommend for all parents with children who wish to pursue a career in ballet.

Today on Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Houston Ballet principal dancer and choreographer Connor Walsh and composer and conductor Quinn Mason. Connor has joined us on the podcast previously to talk about his performing career, but sits down with us for the first time to discuss choreographing for the company. Quinn's work as a composer quickly gained notice, resulting in a premiere creation for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21. Connor and Quinn take us through the journey of Connor's new ballet set to Quinn's existing work A Joyous Trilogy', including their early discussions about the ballet's concepts, how the ballet has grown since its inception and the decision to have Quinn conduct several performances. A Joyous Trilogy' premieres on June 2nd at The Wortham Theater Center, with performances running through June 12th. Tickets can be purchased at houstonballet.org Listen to Running from A Joyous Trilogy by Quinn Mason // U-M Symphony Orchestra // Kenneth Kiesler, cond. youtube.com/watch?v=gOC9PVpnvkg

Today we are joined by Houston Ballet Principal Dancer, Connor Walsh. Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Connor began his training at the age of seven under the direction of his mother Constance Walsh. He has trained at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Houston Ballets Ben Stevenson Academy. In 2004, Walsh joined Houston Ballets company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was quickly promoted to soloist in 2006 and then to principal dancer in 2007. Connor talks with us about how his mother influenced his early dance training, his experience looking for the right school for him, Houston Ballets director transition when he was just a student, and what it is like dancing in Houston. If you are in the New York City area, catch Connor and his fellow dancers onstage later this month at City Center. From October 24 through 26, 2019, Houston Ballet will celebrate its 50th Anniversary Season at New York City Center with a program of contemporary works showcasing the Companys diverse talents. Seldom seen on the East Coast, this performance marks the Companys largest engagement in New York since 2013 and their first program at City Center since 1986. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office.

This week on Conversations On Dance, we spoke with Houston Ballet soloist Harper Watters. Though Harper's talents led to prominent roles with the Houston Ballet and two promotions, he gained attention both within the dance community and in pop culture at large, in viral videos of himself dancing in towering pink heels. We talk to Harper about how he has leveraged his social media stardom into creating a platform where he can promote inclusivity in the dance world and provide a positive role model for dancers everywhere.

Vail Dance Festival has long committed to bringing artists at all different points in their journey and development, and 2023 is no different. The Conversations On Dance podcast is joined by this years Scholar-In-Residence Spencer Lenain and his childhood dance idol esteemed American Ballet Theatre principal James Whiteside for a live podcast recording. The pair will talk about how having such a range bolsters the experiences of dancers and audiences alike.This episode was recorded live on August 3rd, 2023 at the Manor Vail Lodge. Conversations on Dance at the Vail Dance Festival is generously underwritten by the Town of Vail.VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL IS GOING ON NOW! Conversations on Dance events: https://vaildance.org/conversations-on-dance/Performance tickets: https://vaildance.org/

On today's episode of 'Conversations On Dance' we are joined by principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre James Whiteside to discuss his upcoming directorial debut film 'Daytripper'. James catches up to speed about his recovery from knee surgery, transforming his book 'Center Center' into a play and the creative concept and filming process for 'Daytripper'. You can stream 'Daytripper' as part of the All Arts Artist In Residence series this April 23rd at 10:55pm on PBS or stream the film on the All Arts app.

Today, we are chatting with friend of the pod and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, James Whiteside, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. James tells us all about his new (self-proclaimed) almost-memoir that just hit bookshelves called Center Center. We hear about how long he has dreamt of writing a book, how the idea came about, what the writing process was like, and what he hopes readers will take away. At the end of the episode he tells us a little bit about his newest ballet that he created for the Vail Dance Festival that was a part of the festival's closing night performance. Center Center is available wherever books are sold, and in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. Get your copy now: https://amzn.to/3ymmrnr This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge.

Today we are brining you a live podcast recording from the Vail Dance Festival with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, James Whiteside. This episode was recorded on July 27th, the morning before the premier of his newest work, New American Dream. Unfortunately, we did come up against some technical difficulties, so we are sharing this episode from a backup file, with a little lower quality than we are used to. We appologize for the inconvenience, but we felt that this conversation with James was too enjoyable for our audience to miss. Enjoy.

Today we are joined by Leslie Andrea Williams, chorus dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Leslie was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She received her BFA from The Juilliard School. Ms Williams has danced in the Martha Graham Dance Company for six seasons. She performs numerous featured roles in iconic Graham ballets such as The Woman in White in Diversion of Angels and The Pioneering Woman in Appalachian Spring. Her most notable role has been performing the Lead in Chronicle the first Black dancer to do so. Her performance recently earned Ms. Williams a mention in The New York Times Best Dance of 2019 list. Ms. Williamss work has been described as hypnotic and larger than life, and in 2016 she was named in dance magazine as a dancer On the rise. Today we talk with Leslie about her training, her transition to the Graham technique, and her time with the company. As a note: we wanted to let you know that we will be taking a short time off from Conversations on Dance due to other work commitments. This will be our last episode until the middle of November. We are hoping to make it up to you with some extra bonus content in November, so stay tuned. In the meantime, be sure to connect with us on social media @conversationsondance. One more note. During the editing process of this episode we realized we had some background noises that were not apparent to us while we were recording. While we tried to edit the episode as much as possible, we appreciate your patience with at home Zoom recordings. Enjoy the episode and we can't wait to be back with you in November!

Shelby Williams, Biscuit Ballerina. On this week's podcast, our guest is Shelby Williams, dancer at the Royal Ballet Of Flanders, and creator of internet sensation Biscuit Ballerina. Shelby began her career with Houston Ballet II, before shortly moving on to several major companies in Europe. In addition to the Royal Ballet Of Flanders, she has danced with Dresden Ballet, Barcelona Ballet and Ballet D'Europe. Shelby created an alternate instagram personality Biscuit Ballerina', a hysterical parody starring a technically deficient, and bafflingly confident dancer butchering her way through the classical canon. While these videos are riotously funny, they are also Shelby's commentary on how perfection obsessed ballet dancers can be. Today we talk to Shelby about her own dancer career, how biscuit ballerina' was born, and what she hopes followers of this persona take away from the account. If you aren't following @biscuitballerina on Instagram yet, we highly recommend it.

Vail Dance Festival is thrilled to welcome Dance Aspen in its inaugural season. Artistic Director Laurel Winton joins the Conversations On Dance podcast in a discussion about Colorados newest dance company, and how dancers and director alike will seek to implement the companys artistic goals and identity. Please note: Conversations On Dance co-host, Rebecca King Ferraro, will be on maternity leave this summer. These live events will be hosted by Michael Sean Breeden with special guest hosts throughout the festival. This episode was recorded on August 6, 2022. Special thanks to the Town of Vail for their support of Conversations on Dance and the Vail Dance Festival. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge.

This week on the Conversations on Dance podcast, we are joined by Martha Graham Dance Company Principal Dancer, Xin Ying. Ying was born in China and began dancing at the age of 6 taking classes in Chinese folk dance. At just 15 she entered college and after graduating, she went on to teach dance at the Sichuan University of Culture and Arts. After years of teaching, she decided that she wanted to travel to further her understanding of dance, then bring that knowledge back to her students. Ying received funding from her University to travel to New York City and attend the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. From there, her love for the Martha Graham technique blossomed: she took a position in the second company and would go on to join the main company in 2011. We talk with Ying about her training and education in China, her incredible career trajectory, what made her fall in love with the Graham technique, and what this past year has been like for her. We recorded this episode on Friday, April 30th before the companys return to live shows this past weekend. For more information on the companys live and virtual programming, please visit marthagraham.org.