Ballet Initiative Podcast

[32tendu]

For centuries, ballet has captivated audiences the world over. From its humble beginnings in the courtyards of Italy and France, to the great stages of the eastern and western worlds, ballet has secured its position among great paintings, literature, music and sculpture.

Join Emmy Award winning producer Christian Cudnik for a look at this centuries old art form. Learn about it's traditions, etiquette, teaching and significant artists.

Here are a couple of excellent ways to listen on your smart phone and subscribe.

#1= iTunes.
Open iTunes. Go to the 'iTunes Store'. Click, 'Podcast' and search for 'Ballet Initiative'. Click the image to listen, and 'Subscribe'. It's FREE, and each new episode will come to you automatically when you subscribe. If you have an iPhone, you can get the podcast delivered on your phone, too. This way, you can listen on the go and anytime.

#2= Stitcher. http://www.stitcher.com/
For those of you who use an Android or another non- iPhone device, Stitcher is another popular distribution and listening service for podcasts. You can listen via their FREE phone app. See the link below. You can listen via the App on a phone.


Check it out and tell our friends.

Contact us @ podcast@balletinitiative.org

[32tendu]

The Ballet Initiative podcast premiers today! Ep #1 features a conversation with principal dancer, Maria Chapman of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Maria joined us from Vail! To listen, go to: http://podcast.balletinitiative.org/

While you're there be sure to subscribe. It's easy and it's FREE! You can also subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher. Each service has an app to listen on your smart phone. Enjoy!

[pherank]

The Ballet Initiative podcast premiers today! Ep #1 features a conversation with principal dancer, Maria Chapman of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Maria joined us from Vail! To listen, go to: http://podcast.balletinitiative.org/

While you're there be sure to subscribe. It's easy and it's FREE! You can also subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher. Each service has an app to listen on your smart phone. Enjoy!

Thanks 32Tendu - I enjoyed that. I saw Chapman for the first time live at the end of this last season.

[32tendu]

Thanks for listening, pherank! I am open to suggestions, too. I hope to grow the podcast into a show with features, news and teaching component.

[pherank]

Thanks for listening, pherank! I am open to suggestions, too. I hope to grow the podcast into a show with features, news and teaching component.

Well you've come to the right place - we can chuck lots of ideas at you. ;)

We just need to get people noticing this thread. But I imagine the real issue for you is how to approach the various dancers, choreographers, directors, etc. and get them to talk to you. Not my particular forte, but it may be yours.

A couple of things off the top of my head:

1) Besides interviewing a single artist, you could also try talking with, say, 3 dancers from the same company, or 3 dancers from three different companies on a particular theme.

2) We recently started a thread talking about stage management, and I still think that it is really interesting to learn about how to put on a ballet - what goes into the production, and how the chaos is managed.

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/37438-stage-managing-101/

[32tendu]

Excellent points and ideas. I appreciate this input. It's important to get a good mix of people and the production element of ballet is a certain interest to me. It's a very collaborative art form and this is often over looked. I know I really need to get the word out there. Anything you can do to help is appreciated. You can find me on Twitter: @christiancudnik.

Ballet Initiative is on Facebook and Twitter. Search @balletinitiativ

[32tendu]

Episode 2 of the Ballet Initiative Podcast has been posted. Go to podcast.balletinitiative.org to listen and subscribe. It's totally free.

Joy Womack is the first American to be asked to join the historic Bolshoi Ballet.

This is the only audio podcast dedicated to the art of ballet, and we need your support. You can find us on iTunes and Stitcher, too.

[pherank]

Another very interesting interview, Christian - well done. And Joy Womack was an excellent choice. Everyone's background story is different and unique in its own way. I look forward to the next one...

I noticed the Sara Mearns interview disappeared - it's worth keeping in the list though.

[ABT Fan]

I noticed that Joy Womack is not listed on the Bolshoi's website under any rank. Her personal website says she currently dances with them: http://www.joywomack.com/?page_id=45.

[pherank]

I noticed that Joy Womack is not listed on the Bolshoi's website under any rank. Her personal website says she currently dances with them: http://www.joywomack.com/?page_id=45.

Her status with the company is explained in the interview. Sounds like she's caught between a Russian and a hard spot. Unless one is an internationally recognized dancer, like Hallberg, it's going to be very difficult to make the long journey up through the hierarchy at the Bolshoi or Mariinsky. It's not an open society, and foreigners are not appreciated when they try to 'infiltrate' the Russian ballet. There's a whole lot of national pride bound up with ballet in Russia.

[ABT Fan]

I'll guess I'll have to listen to it because I really want to understand why she wouldn't be listed if she's a company member.

Perhaps this next question would be better under a different thread, but if "there's a whole lot of national pride bound up with ballet in Russia" (and I agree with that), as why they don't like foreigner's in their companies, then why is the reverse OK - i.e. why is it acceptable to a Russian dancer for them to leave Russia and join another company in another country? Wouldn't they be considered a traitor? And, not just a traitor by their country and company but a traitor to themselves? Not to mention hypocritical. Forget "artistic expression" as a reason to leave a Russian ballet company. I'm merely talking about national pride.

I pose these questions as honest questions. Not as an attack on anyone or on Russia, so I hope no one reads it that way. I'm really curious what the thought process and rationale is. You know the phrase: "you can't have it both ways"......

[macnellie]

She is listed in the Corps on the Bolshoi site.

[pherank]

I'll guess I'll have to listen to it because I really want to understand why she wouldn't be listed if she's a company member.

Perhaps this next question would be better under a different thread, but if "there's a whole lot of national pride bound up with ballet in Russia" (and I agree with that), as why they don't like foreigner's in their companies, then why is the reverse OK - i.e. why is it acceptable to a Russian dancer for them to leave Russia and join another company in another country? Wouldn't they be considered a traitor? And, not just a traitor by their country and company but a traitor to themselves? Not to mention hypocritical. Forget "artistic expression" as a reason to leave a Russian ballet company. I'm merely talking about national pride.

I pose these questions as honest questions. Not as an attack on anyone or on Russia, so I hope no one reads it that way. I'm really curious what the thought process and rationale is. You know the phrase: "you can't have it both ways"......

I think it IS still difficult for dancers to leave Russia for more and different opportunities. But they can make the leap these days. Who knows? Maybe in 10 years it will be harder, not easier, to leave the country. This issue is known to SFB fans, for example, as Maria Kochetkova must live this kind of 'complicated' life. The sad thing is that it is even an issue for a Russian to dance in a foreign country.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hypocritical" in this context, so that could be explained more in another thread...

[pherank]

A question for Christian: what exactly are the technical requirements for your audio interviews? I know that you used Skype to talk to Joy Womack, but what are the other possibilities for remote interviews?

[32tendu]

On Monday, I'll post the new Ballet Initiative Podcast featuring my interview with principal dancers Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild of New York City Ballet.

It was really fun. They were really cool, and generous with their time.

You can listen and subscribe at podcast.balletinitiative.org

[32tendu]

Hi everyone,

A couple of notes. At the time of the interview, it as not yet officially announced that Ms. Womack was promoted to soloist. You'd think by now it would be announced. I can ask.

pherank, thanks for the kind words and support. I have two options for recording. One is via Skype and the telephone. We try to get the best quality possible. Most times this means a land line or a computer with a connection. Wifi and cell phone are fine. Just not as solid. Of course, I can also go out in the field to record. You can hear this in the Tiler Peck & Robbie Fairchild interview. I posted that one today.

podcast.balletinitiative.org

BTW, Joy Womack was a very popular episode!

[Helene]

Just as a note from a BA! point of view: if a dancer his- or herself says s/he's a specific rank in a company and/or has joined a company in a public forum or setting, that is considered official news for our purposes. Of course it's fine to ask why there hasn't been an announcement or the website hasn't changed, etc., and it's fine if anyone decides to wait until a company announcement or indication before accepting the news, but it's fine to discuss here since Ms. Womack said it.

Joy Womack is a very interesting woman, and it was fascinating to hear her observations. I think the podcast is terrific.

[32tendu]

Thanks for the kind words, Helene.

[vipa]

I just wanted to add my applause! I've listened to every interview so far and have really enjoyed each of them. The most recent, Peck/Fairchild was truly delightful. I eagerly await the next one.

[pherank]

Another engrossing interview - thanks to Christian Cudnik. Keep up the good work.

[vipa]

Loving all of these interviews. Thank you, thank you

[32tendu]

I appreciate it.

[32tendu]

My conversation with former NYCB principal dancer Jock Soto is posted.

Subscribe and listen here: podcast.balletinitiative.org

Enjoy!

[pherank]

Another great conversation - thanks again. The part about the Alastair Macaulay article (which was much discussed here on the forum) was fascinating.

It's worth mentioning that there were originally 5 Native American dancers that made a big contribution to ballet in the U.S. (and arguably the world): Maria and Marjorie Tallchief, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin and Yvonne Chouteau. And Jock can certainly be added to this group. I believe each of the "Five Moons", as they were referred to, danced with at least one of the Ballet Russes incarnations, and Hightower also went on to dance with the de Cuevas Ballet.

Maria Tallchief: [she was a prima ballerina at New York City Ballet.] In 1965 after retiring from dance, she served as director of ballet for the Chicago Lyric Opera.
Marjorie Tallchief: After retiring from dance in 1966, she and her husband became artist director of the Dallas Ballet. She also served as the director of dance for the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Fla.
Yvonne Chouteau: In 1960, Chouteau and her husband, Miguel Terekhov developed University of Oklahoma's dance program. For 10 years, they also organized and directed the Oklahoma City Civic Ballet, now known as the Oklahoma City Ballet.
Moscelyne Larkin: In the 1950s, Larkin and her husband founded the Tulsa Civic Ballet and School, now called the Tulsa Ballet Theater.
Rosella Hightower: [After retiring from performance, she] taught dance in France at the Ecole Superieure de Danse de Cannes.

(Excerpted from: http://ndepth.newsok.com/five-indian-ballerinas)

[32tendu]

thank you for this information. I'll be sure to share it. be careful, you just might become a producer!