May 1, 2023
Our special two-part episode of Hear the Dance continues with former Principal Dancers Allegra Kent and Jared Angle exploring Kent’s career at New York City Ballet, zeroing in on two key roles: the Sleepwalker in La Sonnambula, and the lead in Agon. Kent shares that she was coached extensively by Balanchine for La Sonnambula—the first ballet Kent saw onstage, and immediately fell in love with—but perhaps learned most from an impromptu session with originating dancer Alexandra Danilova at a bus stop. Beginning as an understudy for Principal Dancer Diana Adams, Kent performed Agon, which she describes as “astonishing,” with Arthur Mitchell and other partners for many years. (41:47)
Edited by Emilie Silvestri
Music:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor
Stravinsky
Agon (1953-56) by Igor Stravinsky
Based on themes from operas by Vincenzo Bellini, including La
Sonnambula, Il Puritani, Norma and I Capuleti e i Montecchi
(1830-1835) by Vittorio Rieti
The Unanswered Question (1908) by Charles Ives
Symphony No. 1 in C major (1855) by Georges Bizet
All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra