Conversations with Ballet & Dance Icons

In this podcast, we talk to Birmingham Royal Ballet First Artist and Choreographer Ruth Brill about her decision to hang up her pointe shoes to focus on a full-time choreographic career.

Ruth talks about her distinguished ballet career that saw her dance with the English National Ballet for 5 years before heading to Birmingham Royal Ballet – a company that became her home for the last 7 years and who nurtured her choreographic talent.

Ruth talks about her decision to retire from the stage as she was heading towards her last performance in the company’s final programme in London under the directorship of the esteemed David Bintley CBE.

As part of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s [Un]leashed at Sadler’s Wells, Ruth presented her reimagined Peter and The Wolf, which the audience absolutely loved. Listen to Ruth talk about how she created this modern ballet, working to a complex brief.

She also talks about the future as a freelance choreographer and her upcoming projects including her role as Interim Artistic Director/Choreographer for National Youth Ballet, plus creating works for London Childen’s  Ballet.

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https://djwpodcasts.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1wwwod/Ruth+Brill.mp3

Natalia Osipova has often been described as an enigma, as a dancer who keeps her audiences on the edge of their seats with pure but unpredictable performances, that makes you hold your breathe, as you never know what you’re about to experience until this star steps on stage.

I had the privilege of being invited into Natasha’s (yes she prefers to be called Natasha, although Natalia is the name on her passport!) home to meet her two gorgeous dogs and her new fiancé, fellow Royal Ballet dancer Jason Kittelberger.

We discussed her journey from Russia and the Bolshoi to The Royal Ballet, the challenges and disappointments she’s faced throughout her career, how she prepares to perform and manages the anxiety and emotions that are the driving force of her powerful performances. We talk about her experience of being filmed for Force of Nature Natalia, how she prepared for the dark role in Arthur Pita’s The Mother and much more…

This podcast is a recording of the video interview conducted with the wonderful translation by Alice Terekhof. We didn’t plan for this to be a podcast, but the conversation was so honest and revealing that we just had to share.

Natalia Osipova is premiering Arthur Pita’s The Mother with Jonathan Goddard (read our interview here) at Southbank 20-22 June; she then heads off to Japan with the Royal Ballet and then returns for the next season in London and also presents her own programme Pure Dance at Sadler’s Wells 22-26 October. Her documentary Force of Nature Natalia is out at Curzon cinemas across the UK.

LISTEN TO NATALIA OSIPOVA IN HER OWN WORDS – PRESS PLAY!

In this podcast, we explore the incredible photographic book released by dancer Marjorie Goodson titled ‘MG‘. The stunning hard cover coffee table style book features spectacular photos of Majorie Goodson photographed by Andreea Radutoiu.

Majorie’s dance career spans three decades and this glossy book captures her in photos that are raw, gritty and sensual. 

Listen to Marjorie talk about the inspiration for the photos and how each of these incredible photographic essays were created and captured.

Majorie is an inspiration and her book showcases her creativity, physicality and at 54 she challenges perceptions that dancers have an expiration date.

We love the book so much that we’ve featured it in our magazine!

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Marjorie+Goodson.mp3

In this podcast with Norwegian choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, we discuss the work and company of one of the most important choreographers of the twentieth century, Pina Bausch.

Alan Lucien Øyen is one of two choreographers (along with Dimitris Papaioannou) who has been given the honour of creating a new piece with the company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, following the death of Pina Bausch a decade ago.

Listen to Alan talk about his experience of working with the 36 dancers from 3 generations in the same studio where Pina’s unique and extraordinary creative process changed the dance world.

Alan gives us a glimpse into this astounding company that continues to push the creative boundaries of dance and shares how he immersed himself with the artists to create Bon Voyage, Bob, being premiered in London at Sadler’s Wells. 

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Alan+Choreographer.mp3

Principal dancer Yolanda Correa was born in Cuba where she studied ballet before joining the National Ballet of Cuba. After only 5 years she was quickly promoted to Prima Ballerina and enjoyed a wonderful career performing in her home country.

After 10 years with the company, she made the surprising decision to head to Europe to learn and push herself as a dancer and an artist.

Listen to Yolanda talk about dancing with Víctor Ullate Ballet before joining Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo where she danced for 8 years before making the decision to join the Berlin State Ballet.

Yolanda is truly effervescent, she bubbles with energy, enthusiasm and positivity. She talks with joy about being a dancer, about her love of daily class and time working in the studio.

In this podcast, she shares her favourite roles, the ups and downs of a ballet career, and why she loves to dance. We also learn some surprising things about Yolanda as she talks about future aspirations and other skills that you might not expect!

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Yolanda+Correa.mp3

Royal Ballet principal dancer Thiago Soares is celebrating his 20 years ballet career and 14 years with this prestigious ballet company.

Thiago was born in Rio de Janeiro, where surprisingly he first started dancing hip-hop before he discovered ballet, which was to change his life forever.

In this podcast, Thiago shares the highlights and challenges over the last two decades as he rose to become a celebrated principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. He also talks about dancing with Marianela Nuñez, producing his own ballet gala and life with The Royal Ballet.

Thiago’s dance journey has been captured in a new film called ‘Principal Dancer‘, which follows Thiago from London back to Brazil as he presents a star-studded ballet show in his home country.

Listen to Thaigo talk about the making of Principal Dancer, which is an exceptionally raw behind the scenes emotional and honest account of a ballet dancer’s life on and off stage. 

Thiago is an inspiration for male dancers across the world and his achievements as a dancer has seen him recently awarded the highest cultural award in Brazil.

Feature image of Thiago Soares by Daryan Dornelles

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Thaigo.mp3

Stephenie Herman is a former ballerina who has danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolph Nureyev and was a protégé of legendary choreographer George Balanchine.

In this podcast episode Stephanie shares her memories of these ballet legends and gives us an insight from a ballerina’s unique point of view. Stephanie became a principal dancer at just 19 and moved from the US to Zurich to train with Balanchine.

Stephanie shares her dance journey and experience of suffering from injuries that affected her ballet career, and led her to creating her own Pilates Ballet programme.

But Stephanie’s creativity has been unstoppable! She’s also recently created a Gold Award winning ballet play and film: ‘Ballerina: A One Woman Play with Stephanie Herman‘. Listen to her talk about creating this personal and inspired play.

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Stephanie+Herman.mp3

In this podcast, we talk to former (Royal) New Zealand Ballet dancer Matthew Lawrence about his journey from the southern tip of the world to the northern end of the Scottish Shetland isles, where he’s created an important community dance school.

The Shetland Community Ballet School is a great example of a local dance school providing opportunities for young and mature dancers in remote locations, where the demand for dance classes and training may just surprise you.

Matthew’s career has seen him starring on stage in in London and Europe, he’s worked backstage, behind the scenes and in front of the studio.

Listen to Matthew’s journey and his tales of other great dancers past, of life in Covent Garden in the 1980s and moving to the Shetland isles.

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https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/djwpodcasts/1wwwod/Matthew+Lawrence.mp3

Akram Khan is an extraordinary choreographer, whose work requires his dancers to adapt to his unique style of movement. In this podcast episode, we talk to two of Akram Khan Company dancers – Nicolas Ricchini and  Dennis Alamanos – about what it feels like to perform Akram’s work.

Nicolas and Dennis talk about their own journeys into the contemporary dance world, their decision to become freelance dancers and their experience of dancing with Akram Khan Company for the last 3 years.

The company is on a worldwide tour showcasing various works in different cities starting in Norway, to Singapore, Canada, China, USA and more. They are coming to London to perform Chotto Desh at Sadler’s Wells (18-20 Oct).

Nicolas and Dennis also talk about their own creative collaboration and their advice for other freelance dancers.

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Royal Ballet First Soloist Beatriz Stix-Brunell gives us a unique insight into this famous company ahead of World Ballet Day, as she describes her typical day at the Royal Opera House, the company’s repertoire and the supportive and warm dancers that have become her dance family as she’s risen through the ranks over the last 8 years.

Beatriz reflects on her journey from New York to Paris to London, training with the American Ballet School, Paris Opera Ballet School and the acclaimed Fabrice Herrault, before being invited to join Christopher Wheeldon’s company Morphoses at just 14 years old.

Listen to Beatriz talk about her very first company class with The Royal Ballet at just 15 years old, what she loves most about dancing, favourite roles, her career highlights both in the studio and on stage, and her advice for future ballerinas.

Follow Beatriz on Instgram: @bstix_brunell

(Photo: Yasmine Naghdi, Tristan Dyer and Beatriz Stix-Brunell as Florestan and His Sisters in The Sleeping Beauty, The Royal Ballet)

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World Ballet Day

SAVE THE DATE: 2 October 2018

WATCH: The Royal Ballet’s live-stream broadcast via Facebook live

USE HASHTAG: #WorldBalletDay – to share your love