Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Welcome back. Before the break, we heard about a PBS show that covers dance traditions from around the world. This season concentrates on the myriad dance communities in New York City. Now, we'll keep the focus on fancy footwork and beautiful movements of bodies to music with a look at dance-based performances you can check out around New York.

The winter season is starting up for institutions like the New York City Ballet and for dance-centric venues like the Joyce Theater. Alexandra Starr is a freelance writer and reporter covering the city's dance and ballet scene among other performing arts. She's joining us now for a preview of the dance season. Welcome to the studio.

Alexandra Starr: Thank you. Happy to be here.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, join us. If you've seen any recent ballet or dance performances in and around the city, or if you've been excited to catch something from this season's upcoming performances, call us, reach out. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Shout out the performances you loved or the ones you were eager to catch or maybe you're a dancer who's performing. You can call in too. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. You can call in, join us on air, or you can text to us at that number. You can also hit up our socials at All Of It WNYC. Alexandra, I want to dive in with the New York City Ballet, which you call the tent pole of this winter season. Why do you think of it as a tent pole?

Alexandra Starr: New York City Ballet is one of the two venerable companies in the city, and it's their 75th anniversary.

Alison Stewart: Oh, it's a big anniversary year-- [crosstalk]

Alexandra Starr: It is. They start the season by looking back, and they're going to have Christopher Wheeldon, his ballet Polyphonia is going to be performed. Jerome Robbins is going to be on the program, and Justin Peck, who's the choreographer in residence?

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about Christopher Wheeldon. It's Polyphonia?

Alexandra Starr: Yes.

Alison Stewart: All right. What ideas or aesthetics is he known for exploring in his work?

Alexandra Starr: This was one of his first full-length ballets. It premiered in 2001, and Polyphonia means disorder. What he's trying to do in the dance is create a sense of order with the dancer's bodies.

Alison Stewart: Interesting.

Alexandra Starr: A lot of geometric shapes. I encourage listeners, if they're intrigued, to check out New York City Ballet's website because they have a clip. You can see the precision of the dancer's work. It's a really intriguing ballet. A lot of people think it's his best work, but he's done tons of other stuff. Most recently he did Water for Chocolate for American Ballet Theater, last season.

Alison Stewart: Well, let's listen to a little bit of the music from Polyphonia. Let's take a listen.

[music]

Alison Stewart: I can picture the geometric movements with the music. It makes sense.

Alexandra Starr: Truly. A lot of the dancing is on the beat. He takes advantage of those pauses and also the offbeat nature of the music. It'll stick with-- Yes. Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it when you hear that music.

Alison Stewart: That's Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia at New York City Ballet. Let's see. The ballet will also be holding performances of fancy-free, as you mentioned, Jerome Robbins, a collaboration with Composer Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. It was the precursor to the musical Our Town. Let's hear a little bit of the music.

[music]

Alison Stewart: First question, Alexandra, is this related to the scene in Maestro?

Alexandra Starr: Yes. For people who have seen the movie Maestro, yes, with all the sailors dancing.

Alison Stewart: Exactly.

Alexandra Starr: The storyline is that there are three sailors on 24-hour shore leave and they're trying to seduce women. It is such a fun dance. Just seductive and sexy. I think it's very assessable.

Alison Stewart: Oh, interesting.

Alexandra Starr: If you saw Maestro, you saw a clip of it. It's intriguing that they're looking back to the 1940s. He actually didn't create this for New York City Ballet, he created it for American Ballet Theater. He, like a lot of choreographers, started out as a dancer, but this was his breakthrough. It changed a public perception about ballet. Before it was seen as very French and Russian and snooty and continental and he put a real American stamp on it. He really did change the course of the art form.

Alison Stewart: I misspoke. I said Our Town is On the Town. Got my plays and my musicals mixed up. Sorry about that you all. Thank you for pointing that out. The ballet ultimately inspired On The Town. Can you talk about the cross-pollination between the dance world and Broadway?

Alexandra Starr: He had an interesting trajectory that way because he would move between the art forms. He, for example, choreographed the original Fiddler on the Roof, and then apparently with the proceeds was able to take more ballet work on, which wasn't as remunerative. There's a long tradition now of that happening. Justin Peck, who's a choreographer, we'll be talking about him, he choreographed Carousel. Christopher Wheeldon choreographed An American in Paris. There is that cross-pollinization. I think it brings something to both art forms ultimately, maybe makes ballet a little bit more dynamic, maybe makes what we see on the Broadway stage more polished.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Alexandra Starr. We're talking about New York's dance season, this winter dance season. Let's take a few calls. Got some folks checking in. Chelsea is calling in from the Hudson Valley. Hi, Chelsea.

Chelsea: Hi, Alison. I just wanted to call in and share an event that's coming up on February 1st, which is a Thursday, at 8:00 PM at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. The Angela Trimbur Dance Academy Company will be presenting their first-ever ballet choral recital. This is a group of people that have been working together. Some danced in the past, some have never even been on stage before. It's about healing your inner child and taking the recital reigns and reliving those feelings and making your way onto the stage and whatever happens, happens, so come support.

Alison Stewart: Chelsea, thank you for calling in. Let's talk to Jennifer calling in from Westchester. Hi, Jennifer. Thanks for calling into All Of It.

Jennifer: Hi, Alison. Thank you so much for taking my phone call. I just wanted to say, people may not be aware of this. I'm a docent in New York City Ballet and I do talks at rehearsals, and you can be a member for as little as $100 and have access to all these amazing rehearsals where you get to go and watch the dance creation and you walk out of there with such a different perspective and unique perspective on how everything is created. Just for $100, a member of New York City Ballet, and then you get to hear somebody like me talk to you about what you can see. It's a really great opportunity. I just wanted to share that.

Alison Stewart: Jennifer. Love that. Thank you for sharing that. What a great opportunity for people. Listeners, have you seen any recent dance performances or ballet in and around the city that you've been excited to tell people about? You can tell us about it. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or if there's a dance performance that you're looking forward to, we'd love to hear that as well. 212-433-9692, or maybe you're a dancer and you want to shout out your performance, 212-433-WNYC. You can join us on air or you can text us at that number. Our social media's available as well at All Of It WNYC.

Before we leave Jerome Robbins, I did want to ask, obviously, we talked about the music, the choreography he did with Leonard Bernstein, but he's also done work with Chopin and [unintelligible 00:09:22] Verde. How do I know I'm looking at Jerome Robbins, no matter the music?

Alexandra Starr: Oh, that's such a good question. There is--

Alison Stewart: Like you know Fosse. Fosse hands. I'm doing my Fosse hands now.

Alexandra Starr: There is something very athletic, I would say, about the dancing. Also, showy, showman-like. It's a pleasure. It's just fun. Also, he has a sense of humor. When his piece set to Valdi's four seasons. If you look at Winter, Winter is cold, the ballerina who plays Winter.

Alison Stewart: [unintelligible 00:10:00] shivering, kind of.

Alexandra Starr: Shivering, yes.  It's very engaging and accessible. I know I've used that word before, but I would use it again, it's a pleasure to watch.

Alison Stewart: There's a longtime New York City Ballet dancer who's debuting her first work of choreography with the company this season. Who is this?

Alexandra Starr: Tiler Peck.

Alison Stewart: Tell me more about Tiler Peck.

Alexandra Starr: She's a prodigy. She joined the company when she was 15, became a principal dancer at the age of 20, which is extraordinary.

Alison Stewart: I went to her Instagram. Something I'm going to say about her, she looks very athletic, which I like.

Alexandra Starr: Very much so.

Alison Stewart: Yes, she's super athletic-looking.

Alexandra Starr: Yes. The verve and polish of her steps, the tempo she keeps up, it's really-- What's so neat to me as an observer is, it's funny, because ballet, we oftentimes think of as a very female-dominated art form, and certainly, ballerinas tend to be the big stars of companies. They tend to be the focus, in particular, of the more old-school works like Giselle and Sleeping Beauty, but there have not been a lot of female choreographers in classical ballet.

In particular, because principal ballerinas have so much work, it's very unusual for someone with that kind of dance load to create her own piece. That's what she's done, and it's a big one. Apparently, 20 dancers are involved, so it's going to be exciting to see what she does.

Alison Stewart: Lincoln Center is hosting a pay-as-you-wish performance of LINES Ballet from choreographer Alonzo King, who you said prides himself on having a ballet company that, "Looks like America," in his words. What do we need to know about Alonzo King and his work?

Alexandra Starr: He's the son of a prominent civil rights activist in Georgia. His company is based in San Francisco. He has done pieces for Alvin Ailey. One was just performed in their last season. He recently did a piece for American Ballet Theater. Something he tries to do in his work is convey ideas. I think there's a throughline in what he's doing. He's trying to advance a social vision.

I found it interesting in researching American Ballet Theater, which is an extraordinary company and has extraordinary dancers. It's changing, but there still aren't that many dancers of color in classical ballet companies. If you look at LINES Ballet and you look at the roster, the core, you're like, "He's not kidding, that looks like America." He's partnering with more traditional companies, but in his own company, he obviously has a vision that he's realizing.

Alison Stewart: When I heard about this ballet, I thought about Misty Copeland, who has been very, very much on the forefront of trying to make ballet more accessible to more kinds of people. We found a clip of Misty Copeland talking about some of these microaggressions she faced as a dancer. Can we play the clip?

Misty Copeland: Our history as Black dancers in the ballet world, the importance of our impact, and the fact that we're not given the same opportunities or access to be a part of this world. I think that the ballet world comfortably has been able to live in this very white bubble, and there's no repercussions for their lack of support, acceptance, inclusion, it should be a collective conversation that not just Black dancers are having, but dancers, period.

The lack of diversity, the racism that still exists, even if it's these microaggressions, having dancers of color not be allowed to wear tights that are their skin color, that they're being forced in order to fit into a company environment. You have to wear pink tights and pink ballet slippers, representative of a white person's skin, or you don't have the right hair texture to put into this hairstyle, so therefore, we're not going to accept you in this company.

Alison Stewart: That was Misty Copeland. Let's talk to Dina from Queens, who's a dancer as well. Hi, Dina. Thanks for calling in.

Dina: Hi, thanks for taking my call. It's great to hear this show this afternoon. I'm calling in because I'm actually going to be performing with a really wonderful group, the American Dance Skills Performance Festival 2024. We'll be at the LA City Group Theater in February. The performance will be on February 22nd through to 25th. I'm actually a former dancer with Joan Miller's Dance Players, and I'll be dancing a tribute piece as well as one of my other fellow dancers, we'll be honoring Joan Miller, Ron K. Brown/EVIDENCE, [unintelligible 00:15:13] Dance. It's a great performance, and there'll be many, many more iconic artists that are out there doing work right now, a great, great show, and I hope everyone can come and see it.

Alison Stewart: Thank you for calling in. Got a text. "Just saw Dallas Black Dance Theatre Company at the Joyce. We'll be returning this Friday to see Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE. Joyce is great for introducing one to various companies and their uniqueness. Been in New York City since 1978, danced has been my go-to art form." That was on your list. Tell us about Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE.

Alexandra Starr: It's currently at the Joyce, and that's great that the listener is going to go check it out. He's really amazing. He started his company at the age of 19. He's from New York City. He grew up in Bedford–Stuyvesant. I imagine if people are familiar with him, it's probably from the piece he did for Alvin Ailey called Grace. His work combines Afro-Cuban dancing with spoken word. It's deeply moving. I hope that doesn't sound too general, but there's something very dynamic and thoughtful, and I would say, spiritual about his work.

Alison Stewart: What else is at the Joyce?

Alexandra Starr: Oh, gosh, that place-- [laughs] If you get season tickets, you will always be busy. Company Hervé Koubi. He is French but of Algerian descent. His company is coming on January 23rd, and they'll be performing through the 28th. Traditionally, his company has been all male, but apparently, there will be female dancers in this piece that he's presenting. His work is exciting. A lot of his dancers were street performers. They had a background in hip-hop.

Oftentimes, they dance shirtless. I've seen pieces where they wear these mirrored masks. Sometimes they hold swords. There's head spinning. They toss each other around. Yes, it's--

Alison Stewart: Acrobatic, it sounds exciting.

Alexandra Starr: Yes. Some people would say, well, it kind of straddles acrobatics and dance, so he'll be there.

Alison Stewart: Let's take a few calls. Alice is calling from the East Village. Hi, Alice.

Alice: Hi. I just wanted to do a shout-out in general for the Theatre Arts on site, which is 12 St. Mark's, right between 3rd and 2nd, a fabulous little black box that really helps artists perform. This weekend is Drastic Action, which explores the legacy of geographic and cultural displacement under the banner of urban renewal. It's by Aviva Geismar, and she's an amazing choreographer. She was written about in Dance Magazine as one of the 10 choreographers to watch out for, and she really combines politics, and dance, and theater, and it's really amazing.

Alison Stewart: Alice, thank you so much. Lance from Westchester. Go for it, Lance.

Lance: Hi, I want to do a shout-out to last month's performance at the Park Avenue Armory of Pina Bausch's Rite of Spring, that was as exciting and exhilarating as anything I've seen in years in live performance.

Alison Stewart: Lance, thanks for calling in. We got this text. "I saw, Is It Thursday Yet? at PAC NYC. It was fantastic. Dancer Jenn Freeman diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder when she was 33, teams together with choreographer Sonya Tayeh, along with two incredible musicians to create a completely live piece that takes you into her world. Life changing." We've got about a minute left. Anything you want to add, Alexandra, from our list that you didn't get to?

Alexandra Starr: I want to piggyback off of that reference to the Park Armory. There is going to be a piece at Illinois that-- I have no idea if it's going to be good, but it's Justin Peck. He is teaming up with Jackie Sibblies Drury, who's an incredible playwright.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's amazing. Yes.

Alexandra Starr: It should be interesting. As the caller was saying, Rite of Spring was really great, so it'll be interesting to see what they have up their sleeves next.

Alison Stewart: There's also a Flamenco Festival in March at New York City Center. Just wanted to throw that out there. Alexandra Starr, thank you so much for putting together this list, and thanks to everybody who called in.

Alexandra Starr: Thank you, it was a pleasure.

Alison Stewart: That is All Of It for this hour. We'll have more right after the news.

 

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