Where to Find New York City Ballet Dancers this Summer

It's summer, which means most professional dancers are on break, aka laid off from their yearly contracts. I'm not kidding. Dancers are typically laid off from their jobs during the summer without pay, due to lack of work. Most New Yorker socialites are either off in the Hamptons or on a vacation somewhere fancy and therefore not attending the ballet. 

When dancers are laid off, they either go on vacation and collect unemployment, or look for paying gigs. Don't worry though, most dancers do well and some of these gigs are pretty fabulous. And if you (my lovely audience) are in the right place at the right time, you might be able to catch some incredible dancers on an intimate stage. Here is a guide as to where to find New York City Ballet dancers this summer:

• Ballet Collective: Ballet Collective was started by choreographer and soloist with the New York City Ballet, Troy Schumacher. This is their fourth year at their Telluride, CO residency. They are performing there July 23rd-28th. Dancers include soloist Sean Souzzi and also corps de ballet members Chris Grant and Mimi Staker, just to name a few. They are also headed to the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao on August 21st and 22nd for the museum's Works and Process program.

Ballet Collective Dancers in performance. 

• Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival : This is a fantastic gig coordinated by the one and only Tyler Angle, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. The events and performances began on July 23th and end on July 28th. You will find huge names here and fantastic repertoire. Superstars from NYCB like Sara Mearns, Jared Angle and Maria Kowroski will be there, as well as soloists Lauren King and Sara Adams, and corps de ballet members Meagan Mann, Lydia Wellington, Ralph Ippolito, Andrew Scordato, Daniel Applebaum, Devin Alberda, and Meaghan Dutton-O'Hara. Dancers from other dance companies will also be in attendance. If you are in Nantucket this is a MUST SEE performance. 

Dancers Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle/

• Vail Dance Festival: This dance festival takes place in Vail, CO and is curated by Damian Woetzel and his wife, Heather Watts. Both of whom are former principal dancers with the New York City Ballet. This festival begins July 28th and extends through August 11th. Tiler Peck is always in attendance here, as well as Lauren Lovette, Jared Angle, Miriam Miller, Daniel Applebaum, Preston Chamblee, Roman Mejia, and Unity Phelan. These are the only New York City Ballet dancers that they listed on their website, but I am sure others will be in attendance as well. Not to mention, that the biggest ballet superstars tend to gather here every summer. 

Lauren Lovette featured in a Vail Dance Festival advertisement.

• New York City Ballet in Copenhagen: Part of the company goes on tour to our European home in Copenhagen, Denmark. We will be performing all of our best rep from the classics to the new stuff, and all that goes in between. We are only performing at the Tivoli Garden Theater between August 15th-19th. If you are in the area during that time, buy the tickets now because they are almost sold out!

Tivoli Gardens at dusk. 

• Guild Hall: The Guild Hall Theater is located in East Hampton, NY and hosts a one night only performance exclusively featuring New York City Ballet Dancers. This year they are celebrating Jerome Robbins and his legacy. I don't know who is on the roster as of yet, but the show is curated by Jared Angle, and he has fantastic taste in dancers and repertoire. The show is taking place on Friday, August 24th at 8pm. 

Dancers Tiler Peck, Sara Mearns, and Brittany Pollack in Jerome Robbins' Dances at a Gathering.

• Stars of American Ballet at Jacob's Pillow: Stars of American Ballet is Daniel Ulbricht's touring gig company. They have shows all over the US during NYCB layoffs and are headed to Jacob's Pillow August 22nd-26th. These performances will also honor Jerome Robbin's legacy, and will feature some of New York City Ballet's best and brightest. Interplay is one of the ballets that will be performed there and it features the rising stars of the corps de ballet and soloists. And guess what? I'll be there too! 

Photo of Interplay featuring yours truly, in yellow. 

These are just a few of the most prominent gigs featuring more than one New York City Ballet dancer at each event. There are other gigs happening, but they tend to just feature one NYCB principal among other ballet stars. For example, I know Ashley Bouder is in Lake Tahoe right now at their dance festival, but I believe she is the only one bearing the NYCB title. If you want to get the most NYCB bang for your buck, head to the suggestions listed above. 

I realize that some of these places are extravagant, but it is summer. Live a little! If you happen to be in the area, treat yourself to one of these performances. I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Interview with Michael Sean Breeden from Conversations on Dance

It seems like podcasts are all the rage these days in the ballet world. I think dancers tend to prefer that medium for expression instead of blogging, because it involves more of a performance than a blog. And, you know we love a good performance. Another reason is that podcasts involve a little less editing, which is helpful, especially after a long day in the studio. Whatever a dancer's reason may be, many have been starting their own podcasts and some of them are actually informative and fun to listen to. 

Following yesterday's post about my favorite blog, today I would like to tell you all about my favorite podcast, Conversations on Dance. This podcast was started by Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden, both ex-dancers from Miami City Ballet. They use their platform to give a little insight into this crazy and beautiful world of ballet. They have interviewed everybody from principal dancers to choreographers on the rise. 

I emailed them a few days ago because I thought it would be fun to interview one of them for Bullet Pointes. Since they interview others all the time, I thought we could turn the tables and interview them for a change. To my surprise, Michael Sean Breeden responded right away and graciously took time out of his day to answer a few of my questions. Here is the full interview below. 

Bullet Pointes: First of all, whose idea was it to start Conversations on Dance? What prompted you to take on such an endeavor?

Michael: My co-host, Rebecca Ferraro, came up with the idea. She was cruising through iTunes one day, looking for a dance related podcast to listen to and realized that options were very thin. Rebecca and I had been hosting some of Miami City Ballet's pre-performance talks with the audience, discussing the ballets on the program and our role as performers in them. Rebecca realized that we could take that format to the podcasting world and hopefully bring some insight to our experience as dancers to those who might be interested. 

Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden from Conversations on Dance 

Bullet Pointes: How did you build this podcast into what it is today? What did it look like at the start compared to what it is now? 

Michael: It mostly built pretty organically. For our early episodes, we asked friends of ours with prominence in the dance world to come talk about their experiences, like James Whiteside and Justin Peck. I think the interest surrounding these figures helped build some buzz about the podcast itself, and eventually we built a small but loyal following. 

I think what propelled us into what we are today is the generosity of one of our guests, Heather Watts. She had a positive experience on the podcast, and thought that we would be an asset for the Vail Dance Festival, in which she plays a major role curating and coaching. This laid the groundwork for future engagements with the Kennedy Center and San Francisco Ballet that have continued to bring exciting content to our listeners. We are extremely grateful to Heather for believing in us. 

Heather Watts in the Winter Section of Jerome Robbins' The Four Seasons

Bullet Pointes: What would you like to achieve with this platform?

Michael: One major hope Rebecca and I have is that through our podcast we are able to help aspiring dancers, and their parents, navigate through some of the more difficult or upsetting moments that a career in dance can present. If, through relaying my personal experiences as a corps member who was not handed an easy or simple path, I can help even one young dancer understand themselves a little better, or give them hope that persevering through their trials will be worth it in the end, then I'll consider the podcast a success.

Bullet Pointes: What is the process behind preparing for these interviews? 

Michael: Rebecca and I generally do research before, skimming through old articles or books that have been published about our subjects. Then, we will brainstorm together about questions that we personally might want answered. One thing that is unique about our podcast is that we are dancers ourselves, so we really lean into questions that make us tick, but ones that a typical writer might ignore.

Bullet Pointes: Who was the first person you interviewed? 

Michael: Leigh Witchel. He is a wonderful writer, with a great mind, and a long time friend of mine. I'm so glad he was our first guest. 

Leigh Witchel

Bullet Pointes: Which episode is your favorite and why? (You can list multiple episodes if you want.) 

Michael: Heather Watts, and not just because she has been so generous to us. She opened in a way that was brutally honest, almost shocking, and completely disarming. Rebecca and I were in tears. If someone who has never heard the podcast asks us for an episode to start with, we always say Heather.

Click this link for Heather Watts' episode from Conversations on Dance (Her episode made me cry too!)

Bullet Pointes: I might know the answer to this question, but who is your dream interviewee, dead or alive? 

Michael: George Balanchine. I think he's the greatest choreographer of all time, and dancing his ballets has given me the greatest joy of my life. I don't even know where I would begin. 

George Balanchine (By the way, I knew Michael would say him!)

Bullet Pointes: Can you tell us something you learned about the world of professional ballet that you didn’t already know? 

Michael: Maybe just that no one has an easy path? It's very easy to imagine that those at the top have never dealt with any of the same issues that corps de ballet members confront. So many major principals have told us of early rejections, major setbacks they had to push through in order to become who they are. 

Bullet Pointes: How did you spread the word about your podcast?

Michael: We knew that with zero budget our best chance to spread the word was to drum up positive word of mouth, so we simply focused on putting out the best product possible. We've been very lucky that the fans of the podcast have been vocally supportive of our show to others that would be interested as well. 

Bullet Pointes: Is there any advice you can give others trying to start a blog or podcast? 

Michael: I would say to focus on delivering the best content you can and be true to yourself. If you are trying to achieve a level of success, you'll only be distracted. People will respond to your genuine passion about the subject you are covering.

Michael and Rebecca definitely deliver fantastic content that speaks to dancers everywhere, from professionals to those just starting out in ballet. Seriously, head over to their website and listen to their podcast. This is not an ad! I just genuinely believe every dancer should be tuning in to hear this magic.