Episode 97: Hear the Dance: Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
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This week\\u2019s episode is a special Hear the Dance reunion: former NYCB Dancer Silas Farley hosts a wide-ranging conversation between legendary former Principal Dancer Merrill Ashley and current Principal Dancer Tiler Peck on George Balanchine\\u2019s Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. As Peck shares, her first exposure to this daunting lead role was in a coaching session with Ashley, long before it became a mainstay in her repertory. Ashley describes the thrilling challenge of taking it on as a new-to-the-Company corps member, when the work was still referred to as Ballet Imperial, and the manner in which the ballet requires both stamina and style: \\u201c\\u2026the spirit is there. You\\u2019re the princess, the queen, and everyone else is your court.\\u201d (1:00:38)
Written by Silas Farley
Edited by Gus Reed
READING LIST:
Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet by Nancy Reynolds Balanchine\\u2019s Tschaikovsky by Solomon Volkov
Mr. B: George Balanchine\\u2019s 20th Century by Jennifer Homans
Dancing for Balanchine by Merrill Ashley
Tchaikovsky: A Biography by Anthony Holden
MUSIC:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G, Op. 44 (1879-80) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 75 (1892) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra