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Hey, it's Jake here. I'm back to share

0:58

a preview of another podcast I think

1:00

you'll enjoy. It's called

1:02

the turning, room of mirrors.

1:05

And it's made by our friends at iHeart

1:07

podcasts. They have a new season

1:09

out now, and I'm excited to share it

1:11

with you. The turning room of

1:13

mirrors traces the origins of the

1:15

unusual lifestyle of a ballerina. Starting

1:18

with the legacy of the choreographer, George

1:21

Ballenshein. And shares the intimate

1:23

stories of young dancers who were

1:25

exposed to the beauty of an art form

1:27

and the complexity of ballet culture. Here's

1:30

the preview. If you like it,

1:32

you can get the full episode and more

1:34

from the turning on the iHeartRadio

1:37

app or wherever you get your

1:39

podcasts.

1:49

We are not part of the outside world.

1:56

It's separate from us.

2:01

There is no need for the outside world because

2:03

we are removed from

2:05

it and apart from it and in

2:07

our own unique sphere.

2:14

We had our own universe.

2:24

And that's where you would rehearse every day most

2:26

of the time, all the time. There

2:29

are no windows We

2:31

don't need windows because the outside world doesn't

2:34

matter. And it

2:36

was exciting, but I thought everybody was

2:38

the most beautiful creatures

2:40

on the earth that I'd ever seen, and

2:43

they were so talented. People

2:56

were trained to hone

2:59

his particular sensibilities, even

3:03

his ethics, so

3:05

that There would be a

3:07

readiness in all of us to

3:09

embody his visions. We

3:14

were christened, we were graced. We

3:17

may not be alive tomorrow, and what

3:19

could he possibly lose?

3:26

You literally have to know. You have to commit

3:28

and know. And so you give up everything

3:30

else.

3:31

It is a twenty four seven path,

3:35

and you don't feel like you could do anything

3:37

else.

3:43

Used to say, what are you

3:45

looking at? What are you

3:48

looking at, dear? You can't see

3:50

you. Only I can see you.

4:13

In nineteen eighty two, a

4:15

stream of people visited Roosevelt Hospital

4:18

in Manhattan. They

4:20

went to the room at the end of the hall on

4:22

the left, a room with an old

4:24

man. The nurses hadn't seen

4:26

anything like it. He was like

4:28

a pilgrimage. Many of the

4:30

visitors were in their twenties. They

4:32

were thin and graceful and

4:35

carried large bags that smelled like sweat.

4:38

They were young ballerinas who danced for

4:41

this man. Women who saw

4:43

him as their father, their mother,

4:45

their night in shining armor, their

4:47

genius, their lover, their

4:49

husband, the most important person

4:52

in their lives. His

4:54

name was George Ballantine, but

4:57

they called him mister b. I

5:00

think he'd been in the hospital for so long,

5:03

and was losing his mind

5:07

and losing his words

5:10

This is Willemina Frankfurt. She

5:12

was one of the pilgrims. She was

5:14

twenty six years old, and

5:16

she was a ballerina at New York City

5:19

ballet. One of the most prestigious

5:21

ballet companies in the world. Mister

5:24

B was the one who put her there. At

5:27

seventy eight, George Ballangene was

5:29

the most famous choreographer alive. He

5:32

had created an entirely new style of

5:34

ballet and popularized the air form

5:36

in America. For

5:39

fourteen years, Will Amina

5:41

had danced for him.

5:42

For fourteen years, he'd been the person

5:45

who determined her fate. He

5:47

was also one of the people she loved most

5:49

in the world.

5:54

But now his health was failing. Where

5:56

he once modelled airbuds for professional

5:58

dancers, he now had trouble balancing.

6:02

He leaned on walls when he walked, He

6:04

led rehearsals seated. He

6:06

couldn't hear music the same way anymore, and

6:09

he couldn't see the color blue correctly. And

6:12

then he felt he'd

6:16

been at the hospital for more than a month now

6:19

with no sign of returning to his ballet

6:21

company. It was

6:23

not a happy time for Willemino. I

6:26

mean, I knew we all knew

6:29

that once he was gone, things

6:32

were gonna change.

6:34

She went to the hospital when she could with

6:36

groups of dancers. Sometimes they just

6:38

sit and say hi and Pushkin

6:41

between rehearsals. But this time

6:43

was different. This time she went

6:45

alone. I went with a mission.

6:47

Will Amina wanted his advice on a role

6:49

she'd be dancing soon? I wanted to

6:51

ask banching about it. I

6:54

wanted to hear

6:56

what he had to say.

6:58

And it was a little bit of an excuse to

7:00

go see him. And

7:02

somehow, I think it's probably my

7:05

denial that

7:07

he was dying. Balenciene

7:10

was in a hospital bed, and blue and white

7:12

striped pajamas and a robe. So

7:14

I sat down with him and I said,

7:17

I'm gonna do the mother and

7:19

nutcracker, and can you help me with the

7:21

part? So then he

7:24

kind of sat up and started

7:26

coaching. The

7:31

Balenciaga knew came to life, dancing

7:33

from the waist up in a way only Balenciaga.

7:37

She said, give me your hand, and I gave my hand. He

7:39

said, no, don't give me your hand like that. And

7:41

he had a big thing about how you hold hands. He

7:43

said the man must take your hand underneath,

7:46

and this is how they kiss it.

7:49

He kissed her hand and looked at her,

7:51

almost flirtatious, then let her

7:53

hand drop to the bedsheet. I

7:55

didn't need much. I just wanted him to

7:58

talk about it a little bit. And

8:00

then things, you know, went

8:04

from there. Balanchine told

8:06

her to open a drawer nearby. In

8:08

his hospital cabinet, he

8:11

had these bottles

8:13

of sliver bits. It's really

8:15

strong. Have you ever had sliver bits? Oh,

8:18

man. It's like gasoline.

8:23

While Amina didn't have a show that night,

8:25

she thought, what the hell? Ballngene

8:28

patted the bed beside him, And

8:30

like she done so many times before with

8:32

her choreographer, she followed

8:34

his direction. She hopped done.

8:41

He said, dear, come under the covers.

9:00

From iHeart podcasts and recoko Punch,

9:02

This is the turning. Room of

9:04

mirrors. I'm

9:07

Erica Lance. Part

9:15

one, only I can see

9:18

you. In

9:22

the US, there is ballet before

9:24

George Ballenchain and ballet after

9:26

George Ballenchain. He's so in

9:29

the water of American ballet that even

9:31

now, it's hard to divorce it from what

9:33

it is today. The beautiful parts,

9:35

and the hard parts. He grew up

9:37

dancing for the tsar in Russia and

9:39

survived a revolution. But eventually,

9:42

he landed in New York and created a ballet

9:44

company. The New York City ballet.

9:47

He drew a blueprint for how to run a ballet

9:50

school and a company under the rule of

9:52

an artistic director. He emphasized

9:54

devotion to the art form above all else.

9:57

He choreographed pieces that were abstract that

10:00

colored outside the lines of traditional ballet.

10:03

He integrated fast footwork and big movements

10:05

into his technique, pushed dancers

10:07

beyond their limits. These

10:12

innovations vaulted him to a position of

10:15

power few artists ever reach.

10:19

Chances are, if you've danced ballet

10:21

in America, Balaji has affected

10:23

you. I know he affected me.

10:31

Last season, we talked about mother Teresa,

10:34

the most famous woman in the Catholic church.

10:37

She and Ballantina are very different. But

10:39

if there's a mother Teresa of American ballet,

10:42

someone larger than life I'd say

10:44

it's George Ballergen. Like

10:49

with mother Teresa, there are myths and

10:51

legends surrounding Ballergen. He

10:53

was put on a pedestal. He created

10:56

an insular world where dancers felt chosen

10:58

like you were part of something bigger. And

11:00

it was intoxicating. Dancers

11:03

described him as channeling his artistic vision

11:05

from God, and dancers were

11:07

the vessel for his art. And

11:09

like with mother Teresa, that

11:11

can get very complicated. What

11:16

was Balanchine's role in

11:18

his to answer his lives or

11:20

in your life. She used to say

11:22

I am your mother. In

11:24

class, I am a

11:25

mother. He well,

11:29

he was everything.

11:33

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