Her humility and humanity will serve her well as she begins to reshape the culture of a company long plagued by toxicity and abuse—as the first woman in an artistic leadership position in the company’s history. By Lilah Ramz i. July 16, 2019. Her penchant for pursuing outside projects (often performing and producing eclectic contemporary work) throughout her career as a dancer won’t end now that she’s in charge at NYCB. Inside Wendy Whelan’s Triumphant Return to the New York City Ballet. The Dance Edit: A petit daily newsletter, Wendy Whelan Is Breaking Glass Ceilings—And Falling in Love With Teaching. I’m proud of the work I’ve done with dancers in the studio and in postperformance talks. The classes are also for all age levels, and will be available on NYCB’s IGTV even after they go LIVE. I was a student of Willy Burmann for almost 30 years. I look forward to being in a room with people again and moving together. What kept me from wanting to teach when I was dancing was that I always felt that I didn’t know enough. She also normally teaches company class once a week, coaches the occasional role and partners with Stafford on communicating with dancers and donors. I was afraid I was not going to be able to feed every person. What has your journey to teaching been like? She was named NYCB Associate Artistic Director in February 2019.As a dancer with NYCB, Whelan counted principal roles in more than 125 ballets in her repertory, dancing virtually all of the major Balanchine roles, working closely with Jerome Robbins on many of his works, and was also the dancer most choreographed on in NYCB history, creating leading roles in more than 50 new works by such choreographers as William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Wayne McGregor, Peter Martins, and numerous others. One feels more structured and one feels more liquid. And I really try to pitch the right game to whoever I’m teaching, whether it be adult beginners or high-level professionals. When I was a dancer, people saw me in this not totally warm persona onstage. I noticed that in the movie Wendy Whelan was wearing a pair of Ted Muehling earrings. Wendy Whelan is On Instagram. Following her retirement from NYCB in 2014, she cultivated multi-disciplinary performance projects with a range of collaborators including choreographers Kyle Abraham, Joshua Beamish, Brian Brooks, Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucinda Childs, Daniele Désnoyers, Javier De Frutos, David Neumann, Annie-B Parson, and Arthur Pita.Whelan began studying dance in Louisville with Virginia Wooton, a local teacher, and at the Louisville Ballet Academy. Seeing her perform Agon when I was in college was such a formative moment – the way that she attacked the movement, the way that you could see the power radiating from her. Wendy Whelan shared a video on Instagram: “#tinyDancer @brianbrooks_ #shennanigans ” • See 6,137 photos and videos on their profile. Going from teaching to collaborating is also different, because with teaching, you’re the one in front, and then when you’re collaborating, you’re in the group around the table. Biography. What are you most proud of accomplishing in your new position thus far? I feel like I’ve done a really good job working as a team member. Are there any other teachers you find yourself drawing from? The education details are not available at this time. Since I’ve been with City Ballet again in this new role, I’ve been watching a lot and I’ve enjoyed that. Most of us know Wendy Whelan for fearlessly approaching difficult tasks, whether creating a role in a new ballet, undergoing hip surgery (on camera, no less), embarking on a self-produced touring project or taking on a brand-new leadership role at New York City Ballet, where she was a principal dancer for 23 years. [fetch instagram=”” display=”posts” ] The 53-year-old American was born in the Generation X and the Year of the Goat Education. See u there -…” NYCB Music Director Andrew Littonwil… My eye has gotten quicker. I love to focus on alignment. And then there are those people you really need to encourage physically; you need them to get their muscles going. The season will begin with a never-before released "See the Music" episode featuring NYCB Resident Conductor Daniel Capps and the NYCB Orchestra in an exploration of Tschaikovsky's score for Allegro Brillante that was recorded live during a performance on September 30, 2018. “New York City Ballet” and the block letter logo are registered trademarks of New York City Ballet, Inc. Art Series 2018: Jihan Zencirli / GERONIMO, New Choreography Festival Celebration and Preview, Movement Workshops for Children with Autism, Movement Workshops for Children with Physical Disabilities, Movement Workshops for Teens and Adults with Physical Disabilities, Artistic Directors' Coalition for Ballet in America. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. So I try to bring that in. I had teachers from the full spectrum of ballet: The Royal Ballet, the Paris Opéra Ballet. But knowing that part of the artform helps us realize that it’s not just about perfectly executing a triple pirouette. By getting rid of her uniform of more than 30 years, she hoped her muscle memory would let go of old movement patterns. “I was insecure about the connection I was going to make,” she says. Wednesdays with Artistic Director Wendy Whelan. In 2011, she received both the Jerome Robbins Award and a Bessie Award for Sustained Achievement in Performance. 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