ME!!!! With the esteemed Claudia La Rocco of the New York Times.
The details: Program was Soundcheck, on the NPR station in New York, WNYC, 93.9 on your FM dial.
The topic under discussion was gigantic: the future of ballet, no less. And because this was dance, which no one wants to hear about for long, we covered it in 15 minutes!
UPDATE post-show: Here’s as close to a link as I can figure out how to do.
From Eva:
If Foot in Mouth readers have iTunes, they can download your segment of Soundcheck from the iTunes Store by doing a search for Soundcheck and clicking on that particular program. I subscribe to it (and a few other NPR/WNYC shows), but you don’t have to subscribe to access individual programs. [Ed. note: you can also click here and then click on the arrow just below the heading “Final Bows and New Beginnings.” It’s still active. Or listen to the whole segment–the band that followed us, the Brooklyn-based The National, were pretty cool and even had the word “ballerina” in their opening tune!]
BTW, I thought you and Claudia spoke up well for ballet and dance in general, and I’m glad you managed to have fun despite the impossible brevity of the segment. Let’s hope WNYC will make adequate room for more discussions like this.
From Apollinaire:
I can’t speak for myself, but Claudia is amazing–in print and off! At the Times, she’s making up for years of sloppy, bored reviewing of the downtown scene (that doesn’t like to be called “downtown,” but you know what I mean), and her reported idea pieces in the Sunday paper are always exceptional.
You know what I wish WNYC would do, Eva? Have a monthly or biweekly segment where critics would recommend shows, explaining their juice and gist. Part of what keeps dance audiences so small is that the few intrepid people who do take a gamble end up at some sucky performance and never ever want to go back–and why would they when they don’t know it could be any better?
From Eva:
Claudia truly is amazing. I’m sure you read her review of Wally Cardona’s new piece at Dance Theater Workshop. Such a graceful turn! Yes, she’s a dance writer who makes me sit up and take notice.
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
I found the link on Doug’s Great Dance blog and listened to it — you and Claudia were great! I do wish it would have gone on for longer though, and I hate how it ended (on such a good question!) I agree with you and Eva, that there should be more of these interviews, or monthly or biweekly segments, in the future!
Thanks, by the way, for the great discussion on the opera versus ballet question (which I notice the radio interviewer alluded to!) I’m just getting back from England and am catching up on blog-reading and am reading over yours and your commenters’ posts and thinking about them. Your blog always has such good discussions!
From Apollinaire: Thank you, Tonya. Glad you’re back. Look forward to the reports on the ballroom extravaganza.