In a special two-part Hear the Dance Episode, host Silas Farley leads us on a wide-ranging discussion of Jerome Robbins' 1971 ballet The Goldberg Variations. In this first part, Farley is joined by former NYCB Dancer Bruce Wells, an original cast member, and current Principal Dancer Emilie Gerrity, one of the ballet's present-day interpreters. Wells shares the challenges Robbins faced after an injury forced him to choreograph from a wheelchair, as well as highlights from the year-long creative process. Gerrity describes the "class" section of this monumental ballet as "simple but beautiful," and recalls learning the work from original dancer Christine Redpath, among other memorable coaches. (1:12:53)

Written by Silas Farley Edited by Emilie Silvestri

MUSIC: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky Aria with Variations in G, BWV 988 (1742), "The Goldberg Variations" by Johann Sebastian Bach All music performed by New York City Ballet Solo Pianist Susan Walters

Quotations from the writings of Lincoln Kirstein are © 2019 by the New York Public Library (Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations)

Reading List: Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins by Amanda Vaill Jerome Robbins, by Himself: Selections from His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, and an Unfinished Memoir Edited and with Commentary by Amanda Vaill Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner Bach's Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work by Christoph Wolff Thirty Years: Lincoln Kirstein's The New York City Ballet by Lincoln Kirstein Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet by Nancy Reynolds, with an Introduction by Lincoln Kirstein