City Ballet The Podcast

In this week's New Combinations episode, host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan talks fearlessness and phoenixes with choreographer Keerati Jinakunwiphat, whose first commission for the Company premieres this winter. Keerati traces her path from growing up in Chicago, to studying at SUNY Purchase, to dancing with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, and choreographing for NYCB; as she shares, the Company dancers' openness to and hunger for the new movement style she brings to the studio has been an inspiration. (26:07) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

Hear the Dance host and Principal Dancer Jared Angle dives into the unique challenges and special rewards of dancing George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante with Principal Dancer Tiler Peck. Tiler shares memories of learning the work from the late legendary Repertory Director and former Soloist Susie Hendl and reveals why she feels as though this ballet, which she describes as one of the hardest to dance in the repertory, was made for her. (35:58) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931)by Igor Stravinsky, Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 75 (1892) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky

A fresh season of City Ballet The Podcast kicks off with New Combinations host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan in conversation with Repertory Director Craig Hall, Company Pianist Craig Baldwin, and Principal Dancer Chun Wai Chan. Each is intimately involved in the development of Justin Peck's Copland Dance Episodes, NYCB's first non-narrative, evening-length work since Balanchine's 1967 piece Jewels. As Baldwin, Chan, and Hall relate, the experience of taking part in this momentous creation is one rich with the beauty and distinctly American qualities of Copland's music, and the sense of unfettered humanity and community in Peck's choreographic process. (44:50) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co "Fanfare for the Common Man" (1942), "Rodeo" (1942), "Billy the Kid" (1938), "Appalachian Spring" (1944) by Aaron Copland Performed by Craig Baldwin

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

This week's conversation around The Rosin Box explores the way ballets are passed from generation to generation at New York City Ballet, and the artists who are responsible for carrying on that oral tradition: the Company's repertory directors. Hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Kathleen Tracey, who danced with NYCB for 15 years before becoming a repertory director. Tracey talks about her process—from preparing for rehearsals, to whether she refers to notes, and the essential assessments she makes whenever entering the studio—and the joy she feels from learning something new about the repertory and the dancers every day. (49:35) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t'aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

This week, hosts Claire Kretzschmar and Aarón Sanz are joined by Shoe Room Supervisor Daniel Wong around The Rosin Box to talk all things footwear at NYCB. Daniel shares how his time as a dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and as a merchandiser informs his current position, a role that's all about balancing the art and science of fitting, ordering, and managing over 400 pointe shoes a month—in addition to all the other shoes the Company members use, all of which are housed in the theater's "pointe shoe candy shop." (37:41) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: "Je ne t'aime plus" by Pink Martini Courtesy of Pink Martini & Heinz Records

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

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

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

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