Podcasts about kirov ballet

As Nazi tanks roll toward Leningrad in August 1941, an unmarried nineteen-year-old ballerina gives birth to twin girls in the soon-to-be besieged city. Bereft of hope, the dancer—once a rising star at the Kirov—slashes her wrists, but her babies survive, rescued by the devoted friend who arrives just too late to save their mother. The friend, too, is a dancer with the Kirov, and her tutelage and self-sacrifice ensure that the girls, Maya and Natasha, become students at the Vaganova Academy after the Siege of Leningrad is broken. We meet the twins as they enter their senior year in 1958. At once inseparable and competitive, Maya and Natasha have developed quite different personalities, with Natasha the leader and future star, Maya her loyal follower. But as they turn seventeen, various factors pull them apart: boys; the changing climate of Khrushchev's USSR; and the approaching end to their schooling, which even in a state-run economy doesn't guarantee anyone a specific place in the world. But it's when the state declares that, in response to recent defections by artists to the West, only one member of any given family can join the Kirov Ballet that Maya and Natasha must confront the reality that one sister's success will come at the cost of the other's. How each of them responds to that challenge drives the rest of this thoroughly engrossing novel. And although neither girl really recognizes it until near the end of the book, the choices each makes are driven at least in part by their determination to fulfill the goals their mother never had the chance to achieve. Weaving together such disparate elements as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War competition that drove the exchange between the New York City Ballet's visit to Moscow and the Kirov's tour of the United States in 1962, the filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's monumental version of War and Peace, and the difficult yet rewarding training that produces elite dancers, Maya and Natasha (Mariner Books, 2025) explores the eternal bond between sisters while prompting readers to consider just how far they would go to achieve a cherished goal. Elyse Durham, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her husband, who is a Greek Orthodox priest. Maya & Natasha is her debut novel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

As Nazi tanks roll toward Leningrad in August 1941, an unmarried nineteen-year-old ballerina gives birth to twin girls in the soon-to-be besieged city. Bereft of hope, the dancer—once a rising star at the Kirov—slashes her wrists, but her babies survive, rescued by the devoted friend who arrives just too late to save their mother. The friend, too, is a dancer with the Kirov, and her tutelage and self-sacrifice ensure that the girls, Maya and Natasha, become students at the Vaganova Academy after the Siege of Leningrad is broken. We meet the twins as they enter their senior year in 1958. At once inseparable and competitive, Maya and Natasha have developed quite different personalities, with Natasha the leader and future star, Maya her loyal follower. But as they turn seventeen, various factors pull them apart: boys; the changing climate of Khrushchev's USSR; and the approaching end to their schooling, which even in a state-run economy doesn't guarantee anyone a specific place in the world. But it's when the state declares that, in response to recent defections by artists to the West, only one member of any given family can join the Kirov Ballet that Maya and Natasha must confront the reality that one sister's success will come at the cost of the other's. How each of them responds to that challenge drives the rest of this thoroughly engrossing novel. And although neither girl really recognizes it until near the end of the book, the choices each makes are driven at least in part by their determination to fulfill the goals their mother never had the chance to achieve. Weaving together such disparate elements as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War competition that drove the exchange between the New York City Ballet's visit to Moscow and the Kirov's tour of the United States in 1962, the filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's monumental version of War and Peace, and the difficult yet rewarding training that produces elite dancers, Maya and Natasha (Mariner Books, 2025) explores the eternal bond between sisters while prompting readers to consider just how far they would go to achieve a cherished goal. Elyse Durham, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her husband, who is a Greek Orthodox priest. Maya & Natasha is her debut novel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

As Nazi tanks roll toward Leningrad in August 1941, an unmarried nineteen-year-old ballerina gives birth to twin girls in the soon-to-be besieged city. Bereft of hope, the dancer—once a rising star at the Kirov—slashes her wrists, but her babies survive, rescued by the devoted friend who arrives just too late to save their mother. The friend, too, is a dancer with the Kirov, and her tutelage and self-sacrifice ensure that the girls, Maya and Natasha, become students at the Vaganova Academy after the Siege of Leningrad is broken. We meet the twins as they enter their senior year in 1958. At once inseparable and competitive, Maya and Natasha have developed quite different personalities, with Natasha the leader and future star, Maya her loyal follower. But as they turn seventeen, various factors pull them apart: boys; the changing climate of Khrushchev's USSR; and the approaching end to their schooling, which even in a state-run economy doesn't guarantee anyone a specific place in the world. But it's when the state declares that, in response to recent defections by artists to the West, only one member of any given family can join the Kirov Ballet that Maya and Natasha must confront the reality that one sister's success will come at the cost of the other's. How each of them responds to that challenge drives the rest of this thoroughly engrossing novel. And although neither girl really recognizes it until near the end of the book, the choices each makes are driven at least in part by their determination to fulfill the goals their mother never had the chance to achieve. Weaving together such disparate elements as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War competition that drove the exchange between the New York City Ballet's visit to Moscow and the Kirov's tour of the United States in 1962, the filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's monumental version of War and Peace, and the difficult yet rewarding training that produces elite dancers, Maya and Natasha (Mariner Books, 2025) explores the eternal bond between sisters while prompting readers to consider just how far they would go to achieve a cherished goal. Elyse Durham, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her husband, who is a Greek Orthodox priest. Maya & Natasha is her debut novel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/historical-fiction

"Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey and special guest  Paloma Hererra In this episode of "Dance Talk”, host Joanne Carey speaks with celebrated ballerina Paloma Herrera about her journey from a young girl discovering her passion for ballet to becoming a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater and now serving as the artistic director of the Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive. Paloma shares her experiences, the importance of mentorship, and her vision for nurturing the next generation of dancers. The conversation highlights the significance of support systems in a dancer's career and the joy of pursuing one's passion in the art of dance. Paloma Herrera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began her training at the age of seven. In January 1991, having just turned 15 years old, she moved to New York and continued her studies at the School of American Ballet. After only six months, she joined the American Ballet Theatre and, in 1995, became the youngest Principal Dancer in American Ballet Theatre history at age 19. She has appeared in ballets ranging from Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake, to Apollo, The Prodigal Son, and Stepping Stones. She has appeared as Guest Artist with great ballet companies around the world, including New York City Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Teatro Colon, and National Ballet of Cuba, to name a few. She retired from American Ballet Theatre at the end of November 2015, right before turning 40. Since that, she moved back to her home, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and continued to teach all over the world. In 2016, she wrote her autobiography that was presented at Feria del Libro in 2017. That same year, she also launched her own perfume Paloma Herrera, in 2019 her second fragrance Paloma Herrera Passion, and in 2022 her third fragrance Paloma Herrera Fantasy. In Argentina she received the award: Konex de Platino, Maria Ruanova and distinctions by the Honorable Camara de Diputados de La Nación, Medalla del Bicentenario by the government of the Buenos Aires city, among many others, and since 2012 she is a member of the gallery of popular idols of the Argentine Government House.  In 2017, she became the artistic director of Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon, where the company has grown immensely since she arrived. She resigned in 2022. To find out more about Kaaatsbaan Summer Ballet Intensive https://kaatsbaan.org/ “Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey wherever you listen to your podcasts.  ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://dancetalkwithjoannecarey.com/⁠⁠⁠ Follow Joanne on Instagram @westfieldschoolofdance YOUTUBE:  ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4NldYaDOdGWsVd2378IyBw⁠⁠ Tune in. Follow. Like us. And Share.   Please leave us review about our podcast!   “Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey "Where the Dance World Connects, the Conversations Inspire, and Where We Are Keeping Them Real."

Ballet Manila's Greatest Hits in Malaysia, presented by DanceLink, is a dance production featuring Ballet Manila, one of Southeast Asia's premier ballet companies. Led by Artistic Director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, the first non-Russian artist in the prestigious Kirov Ballet, the show opens with Lisa's rendition of the opera-ballet "La Traviata" and continues with a diverse program of classical, modern, neoclassical, and contemporary pieces. Featuring soprano Anna Migallos, baritone Roby Malubay, and tenor Nohmer Nival, the event also celebrates cultural ties by showcasing Malaysian artists, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Malaysia. Artistic Director Lisa joins us to share what's in store.

Jennifer Milner is a ballet coach and certified Pilates trainer specializing in working with dancers. After a successful career as a ballet and musical theatre dancer, she became certified in Pilates with Kelly Kane and mentored under Marika Molnar for her dance medicine certification. She's trained dancers from the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and the Kirov Ballet.Jennifer and I talked all about her career as a dancer, from ballet to musical theatre. We discussed staying motivated as a freelance dancer, how to determine if you should take a gig (especially the unpaid ones!) and our plans to overhaul the current company audition process. Jennifer shares how a career-ending injury led her to her current passion and the work she does to shape healthy dancers, both physically and emotionally.Key Moments: Early training [1:40] Beginning her professional ballet career at 16 [4:16] Transitioning to a career in musical theatre [7:40] Staying motivated as a freelance dancer [17:05] Deciding when to take a job, even if it's not paid [20:56] Turning a career-ending injury into a new career [26:15] The biggest struggles dancers are currently facing [33:35] Her biggest piece of advice for dancers pursuing a career [47:30]Connect with Jennifer:HER WEBSITE: www.jennifer-milner.comINSTAGRAM: instagram.com/jennifer.milnerLinks and Resources:Click here for one FREE month of Danscend's Council for Educators with code BRAINY1-1 Career Mentoring: book your complimentary career callLet's connect!My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.comINSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerinaQuestions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com

Another fantastic episode with a lovely guest!  Holly Gannett has been working in the dance industry for years as a performer, educator and choreographer.  Her mother owned a dance studio in Maine, which she grew up dancing at and then later became a teacher at the studio.  We discuss being a studio "baby", teaching with your parent, working in the industry and so much more.  We hope you enjoy this weeks episode with Holly Gannett!Holly Gannett is a 1999 graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo with a B.F.A. in Dance. She is Vice President of the Maine Dance Teachers Club.  She is the former Dance Director at Maine Arts Academy of 5 years, where she created the dance curriculum for the school, Maine's first performing arts high school. Holly travels as a convention teacher and competition judge and continually holds master classes across the country. She has judged & taught for a variety of Competitions & Conventions over the past 16 years including Impact Dance Adjudicators, Dancers Inc., Headliners, and Elite Performance Challenge/Excel in Motion.  She has been teaching for over thirty years at Kennebec Dance Centre in Augusta where she grew up as a “studio baby”. Holly has been a guest instructor/adjunct faculty at several Maine Colleges including Colby, Thomas, & University of Maine at Augusta in addition to other dance schools in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Indiana, and Wisconsin. In addition to dance education, she works in her community district schools as an ed tech in Physical Education & library.  She is the former Fitness Program Supervisor of 12 years at the Eastside Wellness Center in Augusta for MaineGeneral Medical Center as a personal trainer and instructor of Zumba, Cardio Kickboxing, and Pilates. Holly began her dance training at Kennebec Dance Centre in Maine and with Andrei Bossov of the Kirov Ballet. Mr. Tom Ralabate was able to recruit Holly to UB (State University of New York at Buffalo) where she majored in dance. Holly was offered a job performing with Busch Gardens while attending college, which she declined in order to finish her schooling. Holly was employed at the Central Wisconsin School of Ballet where she was hired to expand and develop the professional ballet school's jazz, tap, and musical theatre programs. While under contract in Wisconsin, she was also offered a job performing for Sesame Street Live on their European tour as well as a scholarship to work study with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.  Holly's Musical Theatre performance and choreography credits include the roles of: Dance Captain for the US premier of Fame Forever, Carmen Diaz in Fame, Ariel Moore in Footloose, Mersister inThe Little Mermaid, Marge inSuds, June (Squish) in Chicago,Adelaide in Guys & Dolls, as well as dancing ensemble roles in Cabaret, Oklahoma,Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, Man of La Mancha, Working, and Mrs. Greer inAnnie. Holly danced in a music video that was seen on MTV & VH-1 by artist Thomas John Veilleux called “A New Generation”.  While in WI, Holly choreographed forThe Carnival of the Animals  which was narrated by actor Tony Randall.Thank you for listening Jam Fam! Make sure you follow us across social media and don't forget to like and subscribe anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts!Facebook: JAM Joe and Michelle's Dance PodcastInstagram: jam_dance_podcastTwitter: @jamdancepodcastEmail: jamdancepodcast@gmail.com

On this day in 1961, Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Soviet Union at an airport in Paris. See omny.fm/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Sound Kitchen you'll hear the answer to the question about Mikhail Baryshnikov from the True Russia Collective. There's information about Planète Radio's ePOP video competition which you should all enter, great music, and of course, the new quiz question, too. Just click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy!  Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll hear the winner's names announced and the week's quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you've grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week. RFI Planète Radio is sponsoring a video contest, and we want you to enter. The deadline is tomorrow, 1 May – so get your video in today! Planète Radio is an RFI department that reaches out to remote populations around the world. For the fourth consecutive year, Planète Radio is holding a video competition on environmental issues. The theme of this year's competition is “Show how they feel”: You are to create a 3-minute video about climate change, the environment, pollution - told by the people it affects. Here's what Planète Radio says about the competition: “Environmental deterioration, climate change, pollution, everybody's talking about it. But amid articles, figures, and expert reports, what do we really know about the feelings of the people already impacted? The video clips produced by the ePOP community in more than 50 countries allow us to hear from those who never ask for anything yet have seen it all - those who are already living with these changes that deteriorate their quality of life.” Your project can be intergenerational: Get together with your grandfather, your aunt, someone older in your community and ask them how they feel about what is happening to their surroundings or to the place where they grew up. RFI's ePOP video awards shine a light on Africa's environmental crises Your project can also be about how you, or people your age, feel about climate change, given that your future will be affected by this phenomenon. Gather the words of those around you who are confronting the environmental crisis in their daily lives, investing, researching, and questioning the urgency of deploying solutions to face it.  Prizes for this year's competition include equipment grants from 1,000 to 4,500 euros, as well as ePOP promotion kits and other goodies. For competition guidelines and more information about the four different categories you can enter, click here. You can also write to us at english.service@rfi.fr if you need more help. We're very proud that the winner in the ePOP 2020 RFI Club category went to an English language club – Adita Prithika's RFI Agnichiragu Phoenix Club in Tamil Nadu, India. Here's Adita's award-winning video. Please note that you do not have to be a member of an RFI English Club to enter. Everyone is welcome! The deadline for entries is 1 May. Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all! Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts! In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more. There's Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have a bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too. As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service.  Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we'll surprise you with! To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website and click on the three horizontal bars on the top right, choose “Listen to RFI / Podcasts”, and you've got ‘em ! You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone. To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show.  Teachers, take note!  I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below.  Another idea for your students: my beloved music teacher from St Edward's University in Austin, Texas, Br Gerald Muller, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that's how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it's a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald's free books, click here.  Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload! And don't forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the independent RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven't yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognized RFI English club, go to the Facebook link above, and fill out the questionnaire !!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click “decline”). There's a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club, too. Just click on the link above and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click “Decline”, which I don't like to do! This week's quiz: On 19 March, I asked you a question about Ukraine – specifically, about the Russians against the war. Earlier that week you listened to and read Jan van der Made's excellent article “Who are the Russians campaigning to stop Putin and help Ukraine?” Jan's interview was with Sergei Guriev, the founder of the True Russia Collective. I asked you about Mikhail Baryshnikov, a member of the collective. You were to do a bit of research on him, and tell me who he is, a bit of his story, his history. The answer is: Mikhail Baryshnikov was the preeminent ballet dancer in the '70s & '80s. Born in 1948 in Soviet-controlled Latvia, he was a member of the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, and made international headlines in 1974 while on tour with the Kirov in Canada, when he escaped his minders. All traveling Soviet artists were limited in their movements for exactly that reason: fear they would defect to the west. He was granted political asylum by the Canadian government. Baryshnikov then moved to the US and joined the American Ballet Theatre, then the New York City Ballet so that he could learn modern classical dance, which was not known in the Soviet Union. Baryshnikov then returned to the American Ballet Theatre, where he was Principal Dancer and later, Artistic Director. He has done some films, too. You know, sometimes it's good to be old – I got to see him dance. It was perfection.  The winners are: Jobayada Aktar Jai, who's a member of the Nilshagor RFI Fan Club in Nilphamari, Bangladesh. There are two RFI Listeners Club members who won this week: Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State in India, and Kanwar Sandhu from British Columbia in Canada. Rounding out the list are two RFI English listeners from Bangladesh: Tasmaul Housna Akhi from Naogaon, and Lutfor Rahaman from Bogura, who noted he is ill and asks for your healing thoughts. Congratulations winners! Here's the music you heard on this week's program: “New York New York” by John Kander and Fred Ebb, performed by the Instrumental Big Band Orchestra; an excerpt from Sergei Rachmaninov's “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini”; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “I'm Gonna' Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” by Fats Waller, played by Stephanie Trick, and “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock, performed by Hancock on the piano, Freddie Hubbard on the cornet, bassist Ron Carter, and Tony Williams on the drums.   Do you have a musical request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr This week's question ... You have to listen to the show to participate. After you've listened to the show, refer to Amanda Morrow's article to help you with the answers. You have until 23 May to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 28 May podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. Send your answers to: english.service@rfi.fr or Susan Owensby RFI – The Sound Kitchen 80, rue Camille Desmoulins 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France or By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country's international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don't forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here. To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here. 

Parents... amIright? They're always advocating for us, looking out for us, loving us, and helping us become our best... but parenting is hard (from what I hear, anyway). And parenting a preprofessional dancer today comes with its own set of challenges, family dynamics, and ups and downs. I was so thrilled to sit down with the one and only Jennifer Milner and hash it all out. Jennifer Milner is a ballet coach and Pilates trainer specializing in dancers. After a successful dancing career, she got certified in Pilates and mentored under Marika Molnar for dance medicine. She's trained dancers from the Royal Ballet, NYCB, ABT, San Francisco Ballet, Kirov Ballet, and more. Jennifer is passionate about shaping healthy dancers, both physically and emotionally. Not only has Jennifer accomplished so much in the ballet world, but she is also a ballet mom. We spoke about the challenges kids face today, what choices she and her family have made, and how she helps her students and their parents navigate those challenges. She even gives some genius suggestions on how to have those uncomfortable conversations with your artistic director or teacher when you feel like something isn't quite right. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, or professional dancer, this episode has something for everyone. To Connect with Jennifer, you can find her: IG @jennifer.milner FB https://www.facebook.com/jennifermilnerbodiesinmotion Website: www.jennifer-milner.com  Stay up-to-date with her partnership with minding the gap at www.wearemindingthegap.org Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/ Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). Follow us on Instagram! Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast Send in your questions or episode suggestions to dancebetterpodcast@gmail.com If you relate and find this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave us a review. (We might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make our show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, I'd love to hear from you!

On the first episode of the second season of 'A Body's Language' we speak to David McAllister. This episode was recorded late last year, in Davids final week as director of The Australian Ballet Company.David shares stories about his dancing days with The  Australian Ballet, working with the likes of Nureyev and Glen Tetley, speaks about pieces of music still make him feel sick with nerves and provides great insights into his philosophies on directorship- reflecting on how The Australian Ballet chose to prioritize the mental health of their dancers during the pandemic while maintaining their world leading physical healthcare program.A graduate of The Australian Ballet School, Perth-born David McAllister began his training with Evelyn Hodgkinson and joined The Australian Ballet in 1983. He was promoted to senior artist in 1986 and to principal artist in January 1989.During his time with the company, he danced many principal roles, including those in The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Manon, La Sylphide, John Cranko's Onegin and Romeo and Juliet, and Jiří Kylián's Stepping Stones; in 1985 he won Bronze at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Moscow.Throughout his career, David made numerous guest appearances worldwide, dancing with Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Georgian State Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and, in 1992, as part of a Royal Gala performance in London in the presence of the Princess of Wales. In 2000, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management and in 2001, took his final bow as a dancer after a performance of Albrecht in Giselle at the Sydney Opera House, partnering Miranda Coney. In July of that year, David became artistic director of The Australian Ballet. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List.Over the next two decades, on his way to becoming The Australian Ballet's longest-serving artistic director, David invigorated the company's repertoire with a series of new commissions from the world's foremost choreographers, including Alexei Ratmansky, Graeme Murphy and Wayne McGregor. He appointed two new resident choreographers, Tim Harbour and Alice Topp, and, through co-productions with leading international companies, secured major works such as Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland© and Yuri Possokhov's Anna Karenina. As a director/choreographer, he gifted the company with a lavish and widely acclaimed new production of The Sleeping Beauty, funded largely through donations from philanthropic supporters, and three works in the Storytime Ballet series, made especially for young children.Since stepping down as director in January of 2021, David has created a new 'Swan Lake' for Finnish National Ballet, is currently staging Lucas Jervies 'Spartacus', created for The Australian Ballet in 2018 and is in high demand as a guest teacher and choreographer in Australia and abroad.

This week, we are joined by Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet Artistic Director. Born in Helsinki, Mikko began his dance training at age ten with The Finnish National Ballet School, and launched his professional dance career at age 15 with The Finnish National Ballet.  He went on to continue his dance training at The Kirov Ballet […] The post (183) Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet Artistic Director appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

This week, we are joined by Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet Artistic Director. Born in Helsinki, Mikko began his dance training at age ten with The Finnish National Ballet School, and launched his professional dance career at age 15 with The Finnish National Ballet.  He went on to continue his dance training at The Kirov Ballet […] The post (183) Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet Artistic Director appeared first on tendusunderapalmtree.com.

Red Lantern rings! Ballet! Terrifying animals! Fortnite! Memes! It's Put A Shrimp On It! The barbie movie review podcast that somehow manages to get both bleaker and funnier with each episode. Content Warnings: Discussions of Antisemitism 49:20 - 56:56, 1:22:26 - 1:23:44 Check out Musopen and The Kirov Ballet! Music used in this episode: Barbie Girl by Aqua, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake by Museopen. Check us out on Twitter and Tumblr! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shrimp-on-it/message

Wendy Whelan spent 30 years with New York City Ballet, 23 of those years as a principal dancer. She has danced virtually every major Balanchine role, and worked closely with Jerome Robbins on many of his ballets. She originated leading roles in works by such notable choreographers as William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon. Wendy has been a guest artist with The Royal Ballet and the Kirov Ballet and has performed on nearly every major stage across the globe. She received the Dance Magazine Award in 2007, and in 2009 was given a Doctorate of Arts, honoris causa, from Bellarmine University. In 2011, she received both The Jerome Robbins Award and a Bessie Award for her Sustained Achievement in Performance. Since 2013, Wendy has been developing her own independent projects including, Restless Creature and Some Of A Thousand Words both co-produced by The Joyce Theater Productions, Whelan/Watson Other Stories co-produced by London’s Royal Opera House and Hagoromo, self-produced for the 2015 BAM Next Wave Festival. A documentary, entitled Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, was released during the summer of 2016, in movie theaters across the country.

Philip Deal, native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is an internationally renowned classical and contemporary dancer. He is an award winning choreographer and teacher, whose works have been commissioned by dance companies, schools, and professional dancers in the United States and abroad. At 10, Philip followed Jazz Master Frank Hatchett to NYC to train under him at the Broadway Dance Center while studying at Wiest-Barron school of TV. At 14, he received his training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. and toured with the Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg Russia across America for three years performing as a soloist in The Nutcracker while spending his summer time at School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre’s Young Dancer’s Program NYC. At the age of 16, Philip was the youngest full-ranking soloist in the history of the Komische Oper in Berlin, Germany. At 18, he was the youngest ever and only American ever to win a medal at the Concours International de Danse de Paris performing original choreography by Mia Michaels. In 2002, he taught ballet at STEPS on Broadway in New York City in its International Young Dancers Program. Philip has taught master classes and judged at regional and national dance competitions such as Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America and Aspire. Yoga, Pilates, Pole Fitness, Aerial Fitness Philip is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance and received his certification through YogaFit Training Systems. He received his advanced Yoga training under Master Adam Nguyen, a descendant of Quang Trung Nguyen Hue, the 18th century Vietnamese King and Yoga Master at the International Yoga Institute in Virginia Beach. He has practiced Tantra Yoga with Hot Nude Yoga creator Aaron Star. He is also a certified Aerial Yoga instructor with Atmosphere Fitness. Philip is also a certified Pilates mat instructor. Philip began Pole Dancing when he was a featured dancer in North Carolina at Chasers Bar, Charlotte’s only all male nude review. He received his Pole Fitness certification through Crunch Gym, NYC X-Pert Teacher Training under Kyra Johannesen. He has competed in pole nationally at the American Pole Fitness Championships, National Aerial Pole Art, and Polesque. In November 2012 he won the silver medal at the Southern Pole Championships in Houston, Texas in the senior dramatic division. Now he teaches Pole, Aerial Silk, Aerial Hoop, Flexibility, Hand Balancing at North Shore Pole Fitness in Lawrence, MA. Philip Just completed the Animal Flow Coach workshop with Mike Fitch owner of Global Body Weight Training to become a certified Animal Flow Coach. Philip is a Level 2 certified Parkour instructor with USA Parkour a subdivision of the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation Adult Entertainment/Sex Education Five years ago Philip became an overnight sensation on the adult social network XTube as Adam Likes Apples. He began producing and directing his own brand of amateur porn. That summer he won "Best Video of the Year" at the Amateur Porn Star Awards hosted by XTube presented by EXXXotica in Miami, FL. At the time he was the #1 most viewed XTuber with over 5,000,000 video views. He worked for the reality webcam show Hot Cam Boiz as an actor and webcam model. As Adam, Philip became an infamous and renown blogger teaching his Tantra Yoga for Men, Stamina Training Techniques, and Exotic Male Dance. Philip is listed on the New School for Erotic Touch and the Orgasmic Yoga Institute as a sexologist and instructor, creating original video content for adult sex education. Today Philip holds classes and workshops in Tantra, Adult Sex Education, and Erotic Massage.

Ekaterina Shchelkanova, a former soloist of American Ballet Theatre and Kirov Ballet, established the Open World Dance Foundation in 2010 after recognizing that the art form she loves could help the many orphans in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia. Through Open World Foundation, she also runs a successful summer intensive program, presenting students a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy. Ekaterina, or Katya, began her journey in St. Petersburg, Russia. From the time she was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming a dancer. In 1988, she graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy,;in the class of Professor Ludmila Safronova, one of Agrippina Vaganova's last students. She was invited to the Kirov, now Mariinsky Theater, and started her career with the company as a soloist. After performing the Kirov rep for several years, Katya decided to uproot and move to New York. In a class with beloved teacher David Howard, she had a chance meeting with Mikhail Baryshnikov. After explaining that she was not dancing with a company at the time, he encouraged her to keep dancing. With his words of encouragement, she built her confidence and in January 1995, Ekaterina joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). There she worked with choreographers Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris, dancing solo and leading parts in the broad repertoire of American Ballet Theatre and travelling extensively with the company. In 2001, Ekaterina left ABT to work with Twyla Tharp in creating "Moving Out", the Broadway musical by Billy Joel. Just one year later, she debuted in the Oscar award winning film, Chicago, in the role of Hunyak. She and the other principal actors received a Screen Actors Guild Award. Then in 2004, Ekaterina produced and starred in The End of Silence,a film by Anita Doron. Later, in 2005, Ekaterina served as Artistic Director of Berlin Children's Art Festival and began her teaching and coaching career at Royal Ballet of Canadian and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal. In her heart, Katya knew she needed to reach out to children in a more meaningful way. She began to reflect on the difficult life of a ballet dancer and her gratitude for her much needed family's support. She then started to wonder about those who don't have parents. These thoughts lead Ekaterina to research orphans in Russia, a country that has the highest number of orphans anywhere in the world. Russian orphanages are numbered rather than named; there are 120 in St. Petersburg alone. Ekaterina knew she had to get involved, and when she mentioned the idea to her friend, Baryshnikov, he encouraged her to follow her instinct. The Open World Dance Foundation Summer Intensive is now in its third year and will be held in Riga, Latvia, birthplace of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maris Liepa, and Alexandr Godunov. dancers. Auditions in America are held in five different locations throughout January or can be submitted via DVD. The intensive presents a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy of St Petersburg, Russia receiving coaching from the world's most elite instructors. Open World Dance Foundation will also be offering their first teachers program and conference for ballet instructors, coaches, and studio owners lead by Professors of Vaganova Academy Irina Trofimova and Ludmila Safronova who were both students of Agrippina Vaganova. These amazing women will provide lectures on Vaganova methods by level which will be followed immediately with observation of their teaching reinforcing those approaches as they are used in the studios of the summer intensive program. Special pricing available for those attending with students.

Ekaterina Shchelkanova, a former soloist of American Ballet Theatre and Kirov Ballet, established the Open World Dance Foundation in 2010 after recognizing that the art form she loves could help the many orphans in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia. Through Open World Foundation, she also runs a successful summer intensive program, presenting students a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy. Ekaterina, or Katya, began her journey in St. Petersburg, Russia. From the time she was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming a dancer. In 1988, she graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy,;in the class of Professor Ludmila Safronova, one of Agrippina Vaganova's last students. She was invited to the Kirov, now Mariinsky Theater, and started her career with the company as a soloist. After performing the Kirov rep for several years, Katya decided to uproot and move to New York. In a class with beloved teacher David Howard, she had a chance meeting with Mikhail Baryshnikov. After explaining that she was not dancing with a company at the time, he encouraged her to keep dancing. With his words of encouragement, she built her confidence and in January 1995, Ekaterina joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). There she worked with choreographers Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris, dancing solo and leading parts in the broad repertoire of American Ballet Theatre and travelling extensively with the company. In 2001, Ekaterina left ABT to work with Twyla Tharp in creating "Moving Out", the Broadway musical by Billy Joel. Just one year later, she debuted in the Oscar award winning film, Chicago, in the role of Hunyak. She and the other principal actors received a Screen Actors Guild Award. Then in 2004, Ekaterina produced and starred in The End of Silence,a film by Anita Doron. Later, in 2005, Ekaterina served as Artistic Director of Berlin Children's Art Festival and began her teaching and coaching career at Royal Ballet of Canadian and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal. In her heart, Katya knew she needed to reach out to children in a more meaningful way. She began to reflect on the difficult life of a ballet dancer and her gratitude for her much needed family's support. She then started to wonder about those who don't have parents. These thoughts lead Ekaterina to research orphans in Russia, a country that has the highest number of orphans anywhere in the world. Russian orphanages are numbered rather than named; there are 120 in St. Petersburg alone. Ekaterina knew she had to get involved, and when she mentioned the idea to her friend, Baryshnikov, he encouraged her to follow her instinct. The Open World Dance Foundation Summer Intensive is now in its third year and will be held in Riga, Latvia, birthplace of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maris Liepa, and Alexandr Godunov. dancers. Auditions in America are held in five different locations throughout January or can be submitted via DVD. The intensive presents a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy of St Petersburg, Russia receiving coaching from the world's most elite instructors. Open World Dance Foundation will also be offering their first teachers program and conference for ballet instructors, coaches, and studio owners lead by Professors of Vaganova Academy Irina Trofimova and Ludmila Safronova who were both students of Agrippina Vaganova. These amazing women will provide lectures on Vaganova methods by level which will be followed immediately with observation of their teaching reinforcing those approaches as they are used in the studios of the summer intensive program. Special pricing available for those attending with students.

Norman Lebrecht meets celebrated impresario Lilian Hochhauser, who along with her husband Victor, introduced British audiences to some of the greatest Russian musicians of all time, during the fraught period of soviet rule. Now in her eighties, Lilian - from a Jewish Ukrainian background - recalls the Cold War period which saw her and Victor pushing cultural and political boundaries to bring some of the most feted names in Russian music to Britain for the first time. Everyone from Rostropovich, Richter and Oistrakh through to The Borodin Quartet and the Kirov Ballet recieved their London debuts thanks to the Hochhausers.

Natalia Makarova is starring in a revival of the musical On Your Toes, but she trained as a classical ballet dancer at the Kirov School in Leningrad. She tells Roy Plomley about her defection to the West during a tour with the Kirov Ballet in 1970, about her work with the American Ballet Theatre and the Royal Ballet and she chooses the eight records she would take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Violin Concerto No 2 in E by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Poetry by Aleksandr Pushkin Luxury: Wine - Chateau Margot 1961

Natalia Makarova is starring in a revival of the musical On Your Toes, but she trained as a classical ballet dancer at the Kirov School in Leningrad. She tells Roy Plomley about her defection to the West during a tour with the Kirov Ballet in 1970, about her work with the American Ballet Theatre and the Royal Ballet and she chooses the eight records she would take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Violin Concerto No 2 in E by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Poetry by Aleksandr Pushkin Luxury: Wine - Chateau Margot 1961