In this first part of a special Hear the Dance episode, host and former NYCB Dancer Silas Farley is joined by dance scholar Jennifer Homans to discuss her recently published biography, "Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century.” Homans describes how her own background as a dancer—including as a student at the School of American Ballet in the 1970s—and a return to Balanchine’s works while facing personal loss inspired her lasting interest in the Company’s founding choreographer. Farley and Homans dig into Balanchine’s Georgian upbringing, the way the hardship and uncertainty of his years in Russia and France shaped his vocabulary, and the spirituality that infuses both his approach to the creative process and to the ballets he choreographed themselves. (1:03:58)
Written by Silas Farley
Edited by Gus Reed
Music:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky
Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky
All music performed by New York City Ballet Orchestra
Reading List:
Balanchine: A Biography by Bernard Taper
George Balanchine: Ballet Master by Richard Buckle in Collaboration with John Taras
Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer by Elizabeth Kendall
George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker by Robert Gottlieb
Balletmaster: A Dancer’s Vision of George Balanchine by Moira Shearer
By With To & From: A Lincoln Kirstein Reader by Lincoln Kirstein, Edited by Nicholas Jenkins
Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans
Episode 118: The Rosin Box: Dancing Your Way Out of It
Episode 117: The Rosin Box: Behind the Scenes of the Spring Gala
Episode 116: See the Music: Scènes de Ballet
Episode 115: New Combinations: Dig the Say
Episode 114: See the Music: Pictures at an Exhibition
Episode 113: Hear the Dance: Herman Schmerman
Episode 112: New Combinations: Amy Hall Garner
Episode 111: Hear the Dance: Law of Mosaics
Episode 110: The Rosin Box: Partnering
Episode 109: The Rosin Box: Wellness
Episode 108: The Rosin Box: Costume Shop
Episode 107: See the Music: Symphony in Three Movements
Episode 106: Hear the Dance: Liebeslieder Walzer
Episode 105: New Combinations: Tiler Peck
Episode 104: Hear the Dance: In the Night
Episode 103: The Rosin Box: Pointe Work
Episode 102: The Rosin Box: NYCB Education Programs
Episode 101: The Rosin Box: Conducting Ballet
Episode 100: Hear the Dance: Jennifer Homans (Part 2)
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