Conversations on Dance

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (254) Nathalia Arja, Principal Dancer with Miami City Ballet appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(253) Russell Janzen, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Today we chat with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Russell Janzen, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. Russell was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and began his dance training at the age of six at The Rock School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He enrolled as a full-time student at the School of American Ballet in the winter of 2005. In June 2008, he joined the New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to principal in February 2017.

We talk with Russell about his training, dealing with a myriad of injuries during his first few years in the company, about his fellowship at Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, and his love for writing.

LINKS:

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).
More information on Universal Ballet Competition and 2021-2022 tour dates available on their website: universalballetcompetition.com.
Get Michael Langlois’ book, ‘B Plus’: https://amzn.to/3jRuILP
Olive & June: get 20% off first-time customer’s order of any Olive & June system when you use code Dance20 at checkout. oliveandjune.com/?mct=vepYpDqx

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (253) Russell Janzen, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(252) Wes Chapman, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre and Chairman of the Jury for the Universal Ballet Competition Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode of Conversations On Dance we speak with Wes Chapman, former American Ballet Theatre principal, former director of Alabama Ballet, and sought after teacher and coach. Wes tells us about his illustrious career performing on the Met stage with ABT, how he came to direct Alabama Ballet, and how he now shepherds young dancers into their own professional careers as the chairman of the jury for the Universal Ballet Competition.

LINKS:

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).
More information on Universal Ballet Competition and 2021-2022 tour dates available on their website: universalballetcompetition.com.
Get Michael Langlois’ book, ‘B Plus’: https://amzn.to/3jRuILP
Olive & June: get 20% off first-time customer’s order of any Olive & June system when you use code Dance20 at checkout. oliveandjune.com/?mct=vepYpDqx

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (252) Wes Chapman, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre and Chairman of the Jury for the Universal Ballet Competition appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(251) Nicole Mitchell Mommen, NYCB Assistant Stage Manager, and Brandon Stirling Baker, Lighting Director and Lighting Designer of Boston Ballet Sep 17, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of Conversations on Dance, recorded at the 2021 Vail Dance Festival, we give you an inside look at two roles that are essential to every dance and ballet performance. Today we are joined by NYCB Assistant Stage Manager, Nicole Mitchell Mommen, and Lighting Director and Lighting Designer of Boston Ballet, Brandon Stirling Baker. Nicole was the stage manager at Miami City Ballet for many years while we danced there, Brandon is Justin Peck’s go-to lighting designer, and both Nicole and Brandon were two of our earliest guests on the podcast. These two have worked very closely for years, so we thought Vail would be the perfect opportunity to have them back on the pod to talk about what lead them to the career they love and to hear more about their respective roles in the performances at the festival.

LINKS:

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).
More information on Universal Ballet Competition and 2021-2022 tour dates available on their website: universalballetcompetition.com.
Get Michael Langlois’ book, ‘B Plus’: https://amzn.to/3jRuILP
Olive & June: get 20% off first-time customer’s order of any Olive & June system when you use code Dance20 at checkout. oliveandjune.com/?mct=vepYpDqx

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (251) Nicole Mitchell Mommen, NYCB Assistant Stage Manager, and Brandon Stirling Baker, Lighting Director and Lighting Designer of Boston Ballet appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(250) Cleveland Ballet Artistic Director, Gladisa Guadalupe, and dancer, Marla Minadeo Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

Today we are joined by mother-daughter duo, Gladisa Guadalupe, and Marla Minadeo. Gladisa is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Cleveland Ballet and her daughter, Marla, is a dancer in the company. We talk with the pair about how they each were introduced to ballet, balancing their professional life with their family life, the many incarnations of Cleveland Ballet, and what the company has coming up as they enter their 2021-2022 season.

Join Cleveland Ballet for its first performance of Momentum set to the magnificent score of Felix Mendelssohn, with choreography by Gladisa, in the city of Vermilion on Saturday, September 18th, 2021. Tickets and more information on this, and the company’s full season at Playhouse Square, are available on their website, clevelandballet.org.

LINKS:

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).
More information on Universal Ballet Competition and 2021-2022 tour dates available on their website: universalballetcompetition.com.
Get Michael Langlois’ book, ‘B Plus’: https://amzn.to/3jRuILP

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (250) Cleveland Ballet Artistic Director, Gladisa Guadalupe, and dancer, Marla Minadeo appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(249) Nel Shelby, Dance Videographer Sep 07, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode of Conversations On Dance, we are joined by Nel Shelby, dance videographer and founder of Nel Shelby Productions. Nel tells us about her dance training and aspirations, falling in love with film and how she’s blended these two passions together to become one of the industry’s most in demand video producers.

Nel also talks about the experience filming Lincoln Center’s 9/11 tribute ‘The Table of Silence Project’, which will be streaming on Saturday, September 11th beginning at 8AM, in partnership with Dance/NYC as part of their #RestartStages series. You can enjoy Nel’s digital content for Jacob’s Pillow from now until September 23rd at jacobspillow.org/whats-playing-now.

LINKS:

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).

More information on Universal Ballet Competition and 2021-2022 tour dates available on their website: universalballetcompetition.com.

Get Michael Langlois’ book, ‘B Plus’: https://amzn.to/3jRuILP

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

The post (249) Nel Shelby, Dance Videographer appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(248) Gretchen Smith, dancer with New York City Ballet Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

Today we are joined by New York City Ballet dancer Gretchen Smith, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival earlier this month. Gretchen was born in Evansville, Indiana, and began her dance training at the age of seven with Evansville Dance Theatre.

She began studying at the School of American Ballet during the 2003 summer course and enrolled as a full-time student that fall. She went on to join the New York City Ballet as an apprentice in October 2005, and in February 2006 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.

We talk with Gretchen about her path to NYCB, dancing iconic repertoire, working with choreographers on new works, some of her takeaways from the pandemic, and her debut as Green Girl in Dances at a Gathering at the Vail Dance Festival.

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).

LINKS:

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/conversationsondancefriends

instagram.com/conversationsondance

The post (248) Gretchen Smith, dancer with New York City Ballet appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

(247) James Whiteside on his new book, “Center Center” Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

Today, we are chatting with friend of the pod and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, James Whiteside, from the 2021 Vail Dance Festival. James tells us all about his new (self-proclaimed) “almost-memoir” that just hit bookshelves called “Center Center.” We hear about how long he has dreamt of writing a book, how the idea came about, what the writing process was like, and what he hopes readers will take away. At the end of the episode he tells us a little bit about his newest ballet that he created for the Vail Dance Festival that was a part of the festival’s closing night performance.

“Center Center” is available wherever books are sold, and in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. Get your copy now: https://amzn.to/3ymmrnr

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com) and the Town of Vail. This episode was recorded at the Manor Vail Lodge.

Links:

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

facebook.com/conversationsondance

twitter.com/convoondance

instagram.com/conversationsondance

The post (247) James Whiteside on his new book, “Center Center” appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

BONUS: USA Women’s Gymnastics with Kate Penner Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

We were busy at the Vail Dance Festival during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With the news that was coming out of USA Women’s Gymnastics with Simone Biles pulling out of elements of the competition, we had to debrief with our friend (and gymnastics super fan) Kate Penner. She gives us a low down on what happened and we chat about the parallels we see between gymnastics and ballet.

This episode was recorded on August 1, 2021. Hear more from Kate and about her role at the Vail Dance Festival here: https://conversationsondancepod.com/2021/08/04/livestream-vail-dance-festival/.

This episode is brought to you by Yumiko (yumiko.com).

Links:

Join our email list: https://bit.ly/3basX5g

facebook.com/conversationsondance

twitter.com/convoondance