The Turning: Room of Mirrors
In every ballet studio, there is a wall of mirrors. It reflects the people within. They’re part of a closed, elite group that asks for sacrifice and devotion from its members. This insular community produces iconic artists. It’s founded on a strict power structure, often with one man at the top. By tracing the origins of this unusual lifestyle, starting with the legacy of choreographer George Balanchine and the intimate stories of young dancers, we expose the beauty of an artform and the complexity of ballet culture.
Episodes
A closed, elite group asks for sacrifice and extreme devotion from its members. It produces elegant dancers, but at what cost?
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PART ONE - "He used to say, 'What are you looking at dear? You can't see you. Only I can see you.'"
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART TWO - "I would experiment a little. I would go to the theater, and the lights would go down, and I would say, 'Okay, I'm going to give you my mood. I'm going to give you all these troubles, and you do something with it,' said I to the stage. And then I would walk out, and I felt like somebody had rinsed me."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtran...
PART THREE - "There are no windows, because we don't need windows, because the outside world doesn't matter. He was God in the theater. Ever observing, ever present. Are you a patriot? Are you a citizen? Are you willing to do whatever I ask you to do?"
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART FOUR - "Balanchine was so fond of perfume that leaves the scent of that dancer behind, and it still permeates."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART FIVE - "Gone unchecked, bad things can happen. And they did."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART SIX - "It feels like this hazy distant silhouette of a thing that doesn’t feel real, like a wild dream that I can’t fully recall."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART SEVEN - "Who decided this? ... Did the skies open up, and the ballet God said, 'This is how it has to be'? No, it's just what we've all been programmed."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART EIGHT -
"Blackness is a vehicle. It's a vehicle to get people where they need to go."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART NINE - "I remember thinking, am I the only one like me who's ever walked these halls?"
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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PART TEN - "If it is going to stick with us forever, it matters that we get it right."
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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The countdown to curtain begins.
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TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts
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A grab-bag of stories and extras.
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As we work on Season 3 of The Turning, we have something special for you: two episodes featuring Karen Valby, author of The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History. The book records the largely forgotten stories of five Black ballerinas who changed the art form. Their stories are surprising and vivid and poignant… and totally worth your time if you ...
Today we present the second of two episodes featuring Karen Valby, author of The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History. The book records the largely forgotten stories of five Black ballerinas who changed the art form. Their stories are surprising and vivid and poignant… and totally worth your time if you enjoyed our most recent season of The Turni...
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