Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast

Today's interview comes LIVE from Lincoln Center Plaza in NYC with Kaitlyn Gilliland. Kaitlyn's journey in Ballet began before birth.  She was born into a most prestigious legacy of ballerinas.  Her grandmother is renowned choreographer and founder of Minnesota Dance Theater and  and "Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy" which just celebrated its 50th anniversary and is Minnesota's longest running Nutcracker.  Kaitlyn's mother, Lise Houlton danced with American Ballet Theater and Stuttgart Ballet and took over the leadership of MDT in 1995.   Kaitlyn began her training at the Minnesota Dance Theatre before moving to New York at age 16 to train with the School of American Ballet. She attended full-time for one year and in 2004 received the school’s Mae L. Wien Award for outstanding promise. From 2006 to 2011, Ms. Gilliland danced with the New York City Ballet, performing corps, soloist, and principal roles. Due to an injury, Kaitlyn retired from NYCB in 2011 and pursuing an equally grueling goal as a pre-med st

In this episode I share with you one of my pre-show chats with guest Nel Shelby. You will hear us discuss Ballet, our kids and how we are so impressed by Wendy Whelan. This is your chance to get to know my guest in a much more personal level. Balancing Pointe Website Nel Shelby's website PS Dancer! website Wendy Whelan's "Restless Creature"

Nel Shelby Productions is New York City’s premier source for dance videography, editing promotional films and live-streaming performance.  Now, Nel Shelby Productions has grown from a one-woman show to a thriving operation with an excellent team of creative videographers, editors, marketing minds, client relations and project managers. Nel’s company is deeply dedicated to the preservation of dance through documentation of live performances, while also focusing on digital marketing and promotion with fully edited marketing reels, documentaries and dance films. Nel’s company has  filmed more than 700 dance events and performances in traditional theaters, outdoor plazas and gallery spaces.She also works as Festival Videographer for the internationally celebrated Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires and as Resident Videographer at the Vail International Dance Festival in Colorado. Be sure to check out her half-hour documentary (link below) on Vail’s festival, The Altitude of Dance, debuted on Rocky Mou

Born in Yorkshire, England, Iain started ballet at the age of 14 and moved to London at 16, where he trained for two years with The Rambert School of Ballet, a year at The Royal Ballet School and a further year as an apprentice with The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet where he was offered a full time position.  In 1989 he transferred to The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden. In 1996, Iain Webb retired from The Royal Ballet, but was invited back as a guest artist to give three farewell performances.  After retiring as a dancer, he was invited by Matthew Bourne to be Rehearsal Director for The West End, L.A. and Broadway seasons of Swan Lake.  He continued to work with Bourne on his production of Cinderella.  In 1999, Iain was asked by Tetsuya Kumakawa to join his newly formed K-Ballet Company in Japan as Ballet Master. Two years later was appointed Assistant Director. In July 2007, Webb took over the directorship of The Sarasota Ballet and during the last four seasons the company has performed 102 ballets & divertis

Emmy Award winning Tyce Diorio is first and foremost a dancer but most famously known for his work as a choreographer and guest judge for Fox T.V. Network So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD).  His work on this show has helped to promote and elevate dance to a much greater and main stream level.  Before becoming a choreographer Tyce began as a dancer.  He grew up in NYC and wound up in LA after competing on Star Search.   Tyce has danced on tour with Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson and Ricky Martin as well as performing on Broadway in the show Fosee and Chicago.  Most recently Tyce choreographed taylor swift’s “red as tour as well as her “1989” world tour. www.BalancingPointe.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1wr42lSuo8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNBSCdbJ6EM

Ballet 422 Producer Ellen Bar is the wife of Director Jody Lee Lupas and shares with Balancing Pointe more about her experience in producing this most amazing documentary that made its world debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014 and is now being presented in movie houses all over the U.S. In 2011, after 13 years as a professional ballerina, Ellen became the Director of Media Projects at NYCB, where she is responsible for developing and producing the company's film and video content. In less than two years, she has worked with some of the best young filmmakers in New York to produce and/or direct over 30 short documentary films for the company. BALLET 422 is her first feature-length documentary.  From first rehearsal to world premiere, BALLET 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as Justin Peck, a young up-and-coming choreographer, crafts a new work. With unprecedented access to an elite world, BALLET 422 illuminates the process behind the creation of a single ballet.  

Ballet 422 Producer Ellen Bar is the wife of Director Jody Lee Lupas and shares with Balancing Pointe more about her experience in producing this most amazing documentary that made its world debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014 and is now being presented in movie houses all over the U.S. In 2011, after 13 years as a professional ballerina, Ellen became the Director of Media Projects at NYCB, where she is responsible for developing and producing the company's film and video content. In less than two years, she has worked with some of the best young filmmakers in New York to produce and/or direct over 30 short documentary films for the company. BALLET 422 is her first feature-length documentary.  From first rehearsal to world premiere, BALLET 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as Justin Peck, a young up-and-coming choreographer, crafts a new work. With unprecedented access to an elite world, BALLET 422 illuminates the process behind the creation of a single ballet.  

Today I continue with Part Two of my interview with Lauren and Francis as we dive deeper into turning hurdles or disappointments into opportunities to learn and grow. As you will hear, Francis leaves the interview to meet with a friend ~ Matthew Neenan who will be a guest in an upcoming episode.  Before he leaves, however, he shares with us his words of wisdom for aspiring dancers. Lauren and I continue our discussion as she shares with me what it was really like to to dance in the hit movie, "Black Swan". (she still received royalty checks from that experience)  Be sure to take a look at their Shownotes page where you will see some fantastic footage of their photo shoot with award winning photographer (and Balancing Pointe's previous guest), Jordan Matter.   You can find their show notes page at BalancingPointe.com under Podcast.

Today I am bringing to you another husband & wife team, Lauren and Francis Veyette.  You may recognize the last name from a few of my previous interviews and this is because Francis is Andy Veyette’s brother.  This also means that Megan Fairchild, Robbie Fairchild and Tiler Peck are all intertwined not only through ballet but also through marriage.  You’ll hear today that they spend most of their holidays together and the six of them are extremely close.  I truly loved this interview for so many reasons – one because of the most unique journey taken by Lauren in dance. She was interestly quite fast tracked into the New York City Ballet, while still in high school, but then chose a different path – one that was more of a perfect fit for her.  Lauren actually left her professional career to pursue college and then went back to dance and is now a Principal dancer with Pennsylvania ballet.  And her husband, Francis….one of the four Veyette brothers shares a ton about his life growing up in California and the

Grier began ballet lessons at age five and left home at fourteen to study at the School of American Ballet in New York. She has performed on three out of seven continents with companies such as San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, totaling more than thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer. Her work has been praised as “poignant and honest” with “emotional hooks that penetrate deeply.” She writes and blogs about dance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has interviewed and photographed a diverse collection dancers and performers including Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, Glen Allen Sims and Jessica Sutta. She is the author of Build a Ballerina Body and The Daily Book of Photography. Grier, who touts herself as “a writer in a dancer’s body” just released her debut novel WISH, which is book one in a three part series for young adults.  The series features Indigo Stevens, an aspiring ballet dancer who hopes to have what it takes to become a professional.  Grier impr

Laura Mead grew up in Austin, Texas and Berkeley, California. She received her BFA from Juilliard, where she performed the works of Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Ron K. Brown and Eliot Feld, among others. Upon graduation, she joined American Repertory Ballet. She traveled North America with the tour of Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out. Laura originated the principal role of Betsy in Ms. Tharp's Broadway musical Come Fly Away, for which she received an Astaire Award nomination. Jessica Lang Dance (JLD) is a New York City-based dance company dedicated to creating and performing the work of Jessica Lang. JLD enriches and inspires global audiences by immersing them in the beauty of movement and music

Precious Adams began her training in Ballet in Michigan at the Academy of Russian Ballet.  When Precious was just 11 and 12 years old, she moved to Toronto, Canada where she trained at the National Ballet School.  From there she moved to Monte Carlo and trained at the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco.  This was not her last stop as Precious wound up moving to Moscow, Russia to train at the elite Bolshoi Ballet school where she also specialized in the Russian Language.  While at the Bolshio, Precious entered and won two awards at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland.  Today, Precious is a professional ballerina with the English National Ballet.     http://balancing-pointe.com/  

Today my guest is Megan Fairchild, a Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) and now a lead on Broadway.  Megan recently embarked upon a journey in dance that is WAY outside her typical day-to-day comfort zone.  Megan has temporarily traded the illustrious stage at the David Koch Theater where she dances as a principal ballerina with the NYCB and has moved to Broadway -  42nd street to be exact and is not only dancing, but singing and acting as a lead one of this season's hottest shows - the revival of Jerome Robbins "On the Town"!     Today, I am honored to share with you an exclusive "behind the scenes" look at the audition process, the rehearsal process and all that goes into the opening of a Broadway musical. http://balancing-pointe.com/  https://www.facebook.com/balancingpointe?ref=hl   https://twitter.com/BalancingPointe

Ellen Bar attended the School of American Ballet for eight years before she was asked to join the New York City Ballet as a corps member in 1998 and promoted to Soloist in 2006.  In 2005, Ellen danced in the stage revival of Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz, during which she and fellow soloist Sean Suozzi developed the idea to re-imagine the ballet for film, shot on location in present-day New York City.    Together, they developed and produced the feature-length 35mm film adaptation NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ and the accompanying documentary A BALLET IN SNEAKERS, which premiered at South by Southwest 2010, where it won an Audience Award, and aired on PBS’ Great Performances.    In 2011, Ellen retired from dancing and is now the Director of Media Projects for New York City Ballet, where she develops, produces and directs film and video content for the company.   Most recently Ellen produced her first feature length documentary, BALLET 422, directed by Jody Lee Lipes (and now her husband) and featuring NYC Balle

Ellen Bar attended the School of American Ballet for eight years before she was asked to join the New York City Ballet as a corps member in 1998 and promoted to Soloist in 2006.  In 2005, Ellen danced in the stage revival of Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz, during which she and fellow soloist Sean Suozzi developed the idea to re-imagine the ballet for film, shot on location in present-day New York City.     Together, they developed and produced the feature-length 35mm film adaptation NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ and the accompanying documentary A BALLET IN SNEAKERS, which premiered at South by Southwest 2010, where it won an Audience Award, and aired on PBS’ Great Performances.     In 2011, Ellen retired from dancing and is now the Director of Media Projects for New York City Ballet, where she develops, produces and directs film and video content for the company.   Most recently Ellen produced her first feature length documentary, BALLET 422, directed by Jody Lee Lipes (and now her husband) and featuring NYC Bal

Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, James Whiteside began his training at age nine at the D’Valda & Sirico Dance and Music Centre, where guest faculty included Charles Kelley, Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens. He continued his training at the Virginia School of the Arts for one year under the direction of Petrus Bosman and David Keener. In 2002, Whiteside joined Boston Ballet II, where he continued to train under the tutelage of its director Raymond Lukens, now director of ABT’s National Training Curriculum. Whiteside joined the corps de ballet of Boston Ballet in 2003 and became a second soloist in 2006. He was promoted to first soloist in 2008 and to principal dancer with Boston Ballet in 2009. Whiteside joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in September 2012 and was named a Principal Dancer in October 2013. http://www.jameswhiteside.org/ https://www.facebook.com/jamesbrucewhiteside https://twitter.com/JamesBruceWhite http://instagram.com/jamesbrucewhite

Kathryn Morgan began studying ballet at age three at Mobile Ballet in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama. She attended the summer program at the School of American Ballet in 2004 and enrolled as a full time student that fall. Kathryn joined New York City Ballet as an apprentice in June of 2006 and became a member of the corps de ballet of the Company in February of 2007.  In October 2009, Kathryn was promoted to soloist. In August of 2012 Kathryn left NYCB due to a long-term struggle with hypothyroidism (an under-functioning thyroid). The condition is difficult for anyone to deal with, but it’s especially devastating for dancers—it robs you of energy and causes weight gain.  Since then, along with focusing on getting her medical condition stabilized, Kathryn has been actively dancing with the Mobile Ballet.  Kathryn has also used her background in ballet to create a You Tube channel providing make up tips for the stage as well as other advice for aspiring dancers.  Kathryn is now healthy, strong and ready to re-

Nao Kusuzaki was born in Ehime, Japan and grew up in Japan, Washington D.C., and Boston. In Japan, Ms. Kusuzaki trained at the Yatsuzuka Ballet. In the United States she trained with Mary Day and Patricia Berrend at the Washington School of Ballet and with Tatiana Legat, Laura Young, and Sydney Leonard at the Boston Ballet School. Ms. Kusuzaki has danced professionally with Boston Ballet for five seasons. In 2004 Nao joined Houston Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet.  In 2008 she was promoted to Soloist.

Sarah Daley(South Elgin, IL) began her training at the Faubourg School of Ballet in Illinois under the direction of Watmora Casey and Tatyana Mazur. She is a 2009 graduate of the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in Dance. Ms. Daley has trained at institutions such as The Kirov Academy, National Ballet School of Canada, The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and intensives such as Ballet Camp Illinois and Ballet Adriatico in Italy. She is a recipient of a Youth America Grand Prix Award and an ARTS Foundation Award. She was a member of Ailey II and joined the Company in 2011.

Today I continue my interivew with Tiler and Robbie.  In this episode they share more about dancing with the New York City Ballet, offer advice to aspiring dancers and share a bit about their upcoming wedding.