Episode 135: Hear the Dance: A Suite of Dances (Part 1)

City Ballet The Podcast

This week, Hear the Dance host Silas Farley leads us on a wide-ranging exploration of Jerome Robbins' 1994 ballet A Suite of Dances. First, he's joined by Repertory Director Jean-Pierre Frohlich, who coaches the work; Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht, who initially learned the tour-de-force role in 2019; and former Principal Dancer Peter Boal, who worked with Robbins on the development of the ballet. They walk through the creation and performance of the four movements, highlighting the ways in which A Suite of Dances teaches the performer about themselves—particularly as they grow with and age alongside the piece. (1:05:11)

Written by Silas Farley Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky 6 Suites for Solo Cello: Prelude & Gigue from Suite 1 in G major, BMV 1007 Sarabande from Suite V in C minor, BMV 1011 Prelude from VI in D major, BMV 1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra

Reading List: Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins by Amanda Vaill Jerome Robbins, By Himself: Selections from His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, and an Unfinished Memoir Edited and with Commentary by Amanda Vaill Misha: The Mikhail Baryshnikov Story by Barbara Aria Illusions of Camelot: A Memoir by Peter Boal Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner