City Ballet The Podcast New York City Ballet

This week, Associate Music Director Andrews Sill invites us to See the Music of Igor Stravinsky's Scènes de Ballet, the eponymous score for Christopher Wheeldon's 1999 work. Sill relates that the piece was composed in 1944 for Broadway impresario Billy Rose, and drew inspiration from both world events and a variety of creative sources—including the ballet Giselle—as with so many of Stravinsky's singular compositions. (12:49)
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky
Scènes de Ballet (1944) by Igor Stravinsky, Performed by Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Who Cares?: The Man I Love (1924) by George Gershwin, Performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Scènes de Ballet (1944) by Igor Stravinsky, Performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra

New Combinations host and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan is joined by Principal Dancers Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia, the performers of the latest world premiere work created on the Company: Resident Choreographer Justin Peck's Dig the Say. Roman shares the way in which the ballet was tailor made for the two dancers, in the mode of a "modern day Tarantella," in Tiler's words, that capitalizes on their history of partnering in some of the most challenging works in the repertory. Imbued with a sense of competition yet always playful and fun, they both relish Peck's invitation to contribute to the ballet's shape, invigorated by the live jazz score. (45:18) 
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
"Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird
Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

This week, NYCB Music Director Andrew Litton leads us on a promenade through the Modest Mussorgsky score to Alexei Ratmansky's 2014 ballet Pictures at an Exhibition. Beginning with a little background on the composer's short but complicated life, colored by contemporary critiques of his "disregard" for musical conventions, Litton is joined by Piano Soloist Stephen Gosling as he demonstrates the ways in which Mussorgsky captured the subjects of a beloved artists' paintings in remarkably challenging piano pieces. (23:31)
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky
Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) by Modest Mussorgsky

This week, Hear the Dance host Silas Farley is joined by three dancers who know William Forsythe's 1992 ballet Herman Schmerman well: Original cast members Jeffrey Edwards and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, and current interpreter Tiler Peck. Edwards and Whelan recall the unique physical and artistic challenges Forsythe's choreography posed, particularly as he called for improvisation and constant change in the studio—sometimes up until the dancers hit the stage. For Peck, Forsythe is as essential a creator as a mentor, particularly as her own career as a choreographer takes off. (59:13)
Written by Silas Farley
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
Behind the China Dogs (1988) by Leslie Stuck
The Four Sections (1987) by Steve Reich
Just Ducky (1992) by Thom Willems
200 Press (2014) by James Blake
Reading List:
William Forsythe and the Practice of Choreography: It Starts From Any Pointe Edited by Steven Spier
William Forsythe Edited by Senta Driver
The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet Edited by Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel and Jill Nunes Jensen

As we prepare for opening night of Spring performances, Associate Artistic Director and New Combinations host Wendy Whelan catches up with sought-after choreographer Amy Hall Garner between rehearsals for her first commission for NYCB, premiering in just over a week. Garner shares the long, dance-rich journey—including summer sessions at the School of American Ballet, studying modern, tap, and jazz, and performing on Broadway—that led to this moment in her dance-making career. "I love being in the studio," she says of the creative process. "I think that's a sacred space." (40:04) 
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
"Sisyphus" by Andrew Wegman Bird
Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. as agent for Muffet Music Co

City Ballet The Podcast is back! In the lead up to the return of two of Pam Tanowitz's ballets to the stage this spring—Gustave le Gray No. 1, from 2019, and Law of Mosaics, which premiered in 2022—Former Principal Dancer Russell Janzen and current Soloist Miriam Miller join Hear the Dance host Silas Farley to discuss working with the singular choreographer. As both dancers describe, Tanowitz's unique approach to ballet and generosity in the studio make familiar steps new, freeing the performers to challenge themselves and discover new aspects of their own artistry. (1:14:37)
Written by Silas Farley
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Reading List:
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto by David Shields
Béla Bartók by David Cooper
The Prickly Rose: A Biography of Viola Farber by Jeff Slayton Merce Cunningham by Roger Copeland
Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
Music:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky
Law of Mosaics (2012) by Ted Hearne

All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra