Conversations on Dance

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(98) Stanton Welch, Artistic Director Houston Ballet and Choreographer Jun 25, 2018

Show notes

This week on Conversations On Dance, our guest is Houston Ballet Artistic Director and acclaimed choreographer Stanton Welch. Born in Australia to two prominent ballet dancers, Welch expressed an interest in choreography almost immediately after beginning his dance training. Soon after joining the Australian Ballet as a dancer he received his first choreographic commission, and five years later he was named resident choreographer. Following major commissions at companies around the globe, Welch was appointed artistic director of the Houston Ballet. We talk to Welch about coming from a family of dancers, his choreographic inspirations, and the challenges of directing a company.

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(97) Ana Sophia Scheller, San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer Jun 18, 2018

Show notes

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 ABT’s 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.

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(96) Dwight Rhoden, Artistic Director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet Jun 11, 2018

Show notes

Today on Conversations On Dance, we speak with Dwight Rhoden, founding artistic director and resident choreographer of Complexions Dance Company. Despite a late start in dance, Rhoden danced for numerous major companies, including as a principal with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Partnering with acclaimed performer Desmond Richardson, Rhoden co-founded Complexions in 1994, a company often cited as America’s original multi-cultural dance company. With its profound commitment to diversity and new contemporary work, Complexions has achieved international acclaim. Rhoden has choreographed over 80 works for Complexions, in addition to works created for the Mariinsky Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and many others. Today we talk to Dwight about his beginnings as a dancer, what’s next for Complexions and the work he most recently created at San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound festival.

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(95) Mathilde Froustey, Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet Jun 04, 2018

Show notes

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.

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(94) Katita Waldo, Ballet Master with San Francisco Ballet May 29, 2018

Show notes

This week we are joined by Katita Waldo, Ballet Master with San Francisco Ballet. Katita trained at San Francisco Ballet School, prior to joining the company in 1988 and becoming a Principal dancer in 1994. She performed Principal roles in a diverse repertory of works by acclaimed choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Lar Lubovitch, Helgi Tomasson, and Christopher Wheeldon before retiring from the stage in 2010. In 2008, SFB Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson asked Katita to serve as Ballet Master for 2 world premiers. These experiences ultimately lead to her full-time appointment to the position upon her retirement. Today we talk with Katita about her career, he first experiences in the front of the room setting ballets, adjusting to her new role as Ballet Master, her process for learning ballets before coming into the studio, and her role in the ‘Unbound’ festival.

This episode is sponsored by San Francisco Ballet and Body Wrappers/Angelo Luzio.

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(93) Christopher Wheeldon, Choreographer May 21, 2018

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we are joined in San Francisco by one of the world’s most in demand choreographers, Christopher Wheeldon. Having trained at Royal Ballet, Wheeldon was taken into the company, but soon transferred to the New York City Ballet, where he rose to the rank of soloist. His choreographic talents were soon recognized and while still in his twenties, he was named resident choreographer of the New York City ballet. He was shortly after in demand at major companies all over the globe, including the Bolshoi Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the Royal Ballet. In 2014, he made his Broadway directorial debut with ‘An American in Paris’, a production that garnered him a Tony for his work as choreographer. We talk with him about what it was like finding his voice as a young choreographer, how he made the transition to broadway, and what continues to inspire his work.

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(92) Sara Mearns and Jodi Melnick at the Guggenheim May 14, 2018

Show notes

This week we bring you an episode we recorded at New York City’s 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.

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BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 2 May 11, 2018

Show notes

Welcome to our final bonus episode from San Francisco Ballet’s 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.

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BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 1 May 10, 2018

Show notes

BONUS: San Francisco Ballet Dancers Ep. 1. Welcome to our 1st of two bonus episode wrap ups of San Francisco Ballet’s 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.

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(91) Sofiane Sylve, LIVE From SF MOMA May 07, 2018

Show notes

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.

This episode is sponsored by Body Wrappers/Angelo Luzio, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, and Words on Dance. Learn more about the work Words on Dance is doing at wordsondance.org.

The post (91) Sofiane Sylve, LIVE From SF MOMA appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

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