Conversations on Dance | Ballet & Dance Careers

Today we are joined by Miami City Ballet Artistic Director, Lourdes Lopez, and our former boss.  Born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, Lopez began taking ballet lessons at the age of five and continued her training full time at the School of American Ballet when she was 14. George Balanchine chose her to join the  New York City Ballet corps de ballet shortly after her 16th birthday.  She danced many featured roles with the company and was promoted by Balanchine to soloist in 1981, one of the last dancers he promoted.  She became a Principal under the direction of Peter Martins in 1984 and she retired from the stage in 1997.  

After retiring she joined WNBC-TV in New York as a cultural arts reporter.  She later went on to become the Executive Director of The George Balanchine Foundation and then co-founded the dance company, Morphoses with Christopher Wheeldon in 2007.  In 2012, she became the Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet.  Lourdes has been named a Nominee at this year’s Dance Magazine Awards taking place in New York City on December 3rd.  

For more information on the Dance Magazine awards, visit dancemagazine.com.  This episode is brought to you by Yumiko.

Note: Lourdes discusses the book entitled, Bravura!: Lucia Chase and the American Ballet Theatre.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

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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.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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This week on Conversations On Dance, we are joined by choreographer Arthur Pita. Pita graduated with a master's degree from London Contemporary Dance School, and has choreographed internationally in many different formats, including works for opera, musical theatre, plays and film. He has garnered attention for his imaginative and personal re-interpretations of classic narratives like Kafka's ‘Metamorphosis' and Shakespeare's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream'. This week at the Joyce Theater in New York City, his interpretation of Roland Topor's ‘The Tenant' will premiere, with American Ballet Theater principal James Whiteside as the lead.

This episode was recorded back in April 2018, when we were at San Francisco Ballet for their Unbound Festival, in which Arthur was one of the 12 choreographers who created a new work.

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and The 2018 Dance Magazine Awards.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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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.

This episode is brought to you by The Kennedy Center and Yumiko.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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In today’s bonus episode we are continuing our coverage of San Francisco Ballet at the Kennedy Center as they showcase 6 works from the company’s Unbound: a festival of new works.  Today’s 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.  

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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This week’s episode of ‘Conversations On Dance’ was recorded live at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Our guest is former New York City Ballet principal and Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet, Helgi Tomasson. The San Francisco Ballet is performing at the Kennedy Center this week, from October 23 – 28, 2018. They will be performing six works that premiered earlier this year at the ‘Unbound’ festival in San Francisco. You can purchase tickets online at www.kennedy-center.org. 

This episode is supported by the Kennedy Center and Yumiko.  Watch the full video of this event now: https://youtu.be/N6FlxJV3mZc

The post (112) LIVE from the Kennedy Center: Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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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 Ballet’s “Unbound Festival.”

This episode is supported by San Francisco Ballet, Yumiko, and The Kennedy Center.  Get information about our live podcast recording with guest Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet, on October 22, 2018 at 4pm.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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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.

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko and The Vail Dance Festival.

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Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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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.

This episode is sponsored by Yumiko and The Vail Dance Festival

The post (109) Daniel Applebaum, dancer with the New York City Ballet appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

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This week on ‘Conversations On Dance', we are joined by the choreographic team sweeping the modern dance world, Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener. The duo performed together at Merce Cunningham Dance company where they discovered their choreographic compatibility and a similar willingness to explore the way abstraction and representation coincide in the body. Their works have been presented at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, NY Live Arts, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and many other prestigious venues throughout the country. They will premiere ‘Switch' for the Joyce theater this Oct 2-6. Tickets may be purchased at www.Joyce.org .

This episode is sponsored by Yumiko, The Vail Dance Festival, and QuarterMarks.

The post (108) Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener, Choreographic Duo appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

Conversations on Dance was the recipient of the 2024 Clive Barnes Award for Journalism and Media Achievement.

Access bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance

Website: conversationsondancepod.com

Join our email list: https://conversations-on-dance.kit.com/7f73880f5b

Instagram: instagram.com/conversationsondance

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