Welcome to the New York City Ballet. Ballet Master in Chief, Peter Martins, and NYCB’s company members discuss what it takes to climb through the company ranks.
Every NYC Ballet dancer must pass through the ranks to reach the top. Silas and Claire are two apprentices standing at the gateway to a potential career with the NYC Ballet.
If and when you are offered a corps de ballet contract, “the hard work begins.” Corps members do the most dancing, and get the least amount of time off.
Some dancers feel that the soloist rank is the hardest level of their career. Waiting for the seniority to claim certain roles means much less dancing than previous ranks and that can chip away at focus and confidence.
Principal dancer is the most highly coveted rank in the New York City Ballet. How much of the work is physical and how much is mental?
Romance within the company is inevitable given how much of their lives they spend within the company walls.
When dancers choose to dedicate their lives to a career in the ballet, they also choose a life full of sacrifice. When you spend thirteen hours a day rehearsing, you can kiss a normal social life goodbye.
Considering that they jump higher than NBA players and lift women over their head on a regular basis, the male dancer consistently delivers performances that rival any profession athlete. But try explaining to your playground buddies that you're a ballet dancer. It ain't easy being a male dancer.
When a female and male dancer are partnered, the sum is often greater than the parts. It's a match-up that relies on a connection beyond simple technique, and sometimes a good pairing is hard to find.
The lead role of Odette/Odile in classic ballet Swan Lake is such a demanding role that it requires three different dancers to share it. In this episode, we learn how different each of the women playing the role really is, and how they each approached it.
Just weeks after landing a spot on the Corps, a young dancer is sidelined with a career threatening injury. It's devastating, but a common occurrence when dancers push their bodies to the limit everyday.
When the curtain goes down, NYC Ballet dancers return to the outside world and head home. In this finale episode of city.ballet., the cast give us a glimpse of what their lives are like outside the ballet.