Damian Woetzel Lightning Round

0:05Speaker 1:Hey, everybody, it's worse. Thanks for joining us for another bonus episode of Table for two. First off, Happy New Year. I'm excited for all the interviews we have coming up in twenty twenty five. We're starting off the year with a lunch. I recently had a New York City with the principal ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet from nineteen eighty five to two thousand and six, and now the President of Juilliard, Damian Wetzel. I'm looking forward to sharing the full interview with you next week, but for now, I hope you enjoyed this quick and fun lightning round.

0:45Speaker 2:Okay, so let's star a little quick speed, all right. Favorite ballet either one you dancing or just one that you just love.

0:51Speaker 3:Man, it's such a tough one because I liked dancing so much. I loved what I was dancing all the time. But I will say that my favorite in the end, I think it probably was The Prodigal Sun, which is what I retired with. And it's a It's an epic narrative of strength laid low and sort of a sense of redemption and journey with extraordinary.

1:15Speaker 2:Are your ballets all your ballets. People can go see if they go to the archives.

1:20Speaker 3:You can go to the public library or now you know, I'm you know a little bit from the black and white era basically, but there's but there's plenty of stuff online.

1:29Speaker 4:You know, our dance belts comfortable. They should be.

1:34Speaker 2:Favorite New York thing to do.

1:36Speaker 4:Oh wow.

1:37Speaker 3:In so many ways, like you know, life is in the in between moments, you know. So there's walking our dogs in Riverside Park sometimes feels like literally like this is where.

1:49Speaker 4:This is where I belong.

1:50Speaker 3:This is the sense of it. I look out at the river and there's that. At the same time, I will say, you know, of the moments that really stand out to me, they are outside. I will say, I like being outside of New York. I find there something in nature or a version thereof. We did an outdoor performance on Lincoln Center this this September, just kind of all play. Brought some musicians and some singers together and we did the last movement of Philip blast Is such a Graha, which is basically a prayer for peace. And we were surrounded by trees and everybody, you know, people were walking by with their dogs and it was like, this is New York.

2:27Speaker 4:This is Mines, Yeah, bringing it all together. Yeah.

2:30Speaker 3:I remember spending time in Sheep's Meadow in between classes, and when I wasn't in the library, I'd go to Sheep's Meadow and hang out. And I remember listening to Roxy music more than this. I'm just looking around at the skyline.

2:40Speaker 4:From the moment.

2:42Speaker 2:I mean that album in and of itself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, best advice you've received.

2:47Speaker 3:I'll tell you what came to mind, and I'm not sure it's the best, but it's certainly good.

2:51Speaker 4:Theater advice.

2:51Speaker 3:Jerry Robbins would say to people taking on Prodigal Son, which he danced famously, if.

2:57Speaker 4:You cry, they won't interesting.

2:59Speaker 3:And there was some in that that's like an take yourself so seriously, like be mindful of I can't. It's it's a contextual note something in that. So I think about that, and there's so many more, but you know it's about to me. The best advice is probably get out of your own head.

3:18Speaker 4:Get out to your other people. Yeah, listen to other people.

3:21Speaker 3:Yeah.

3:22Speaker 2:Yeah, heaven the first thing that comes to mind when you think of your wife.

3:28Speaker 3:First ring left New York State Theater Silhouette, watching a dance nineteen eighty.

3:32Speaker 2:Four, falling in Love Baby. Of the first three position one learns first, second or third? Which did you feel more comfortable during.

3:42Speaker 4:That second second?

3:45Speaker 3:Yes, because I was very turned out from the hips, not so much from the feet.

3:49Speaker 4:Okay, so I had to.

3:51Speaker 3:Fake it a little bit in fifth right, perfectly turned in second seconds here, Yeah, this is the first second second.

3:59Speaker 4:We don't really do third more. We're doing it with our hands.

4:02Speaker 1:Yeah.

4:03Speaker 2:Just and see did you ever just say fuck it like a just say?

4:10Speaker 1:It?

4:10Speaker 4:Doesn't sound like you did, because it sounds like no, I'm not much of a fucking person.

4:14Speaker 3:I tend to work the problem to death, just like you know, I often think that that's the you know. I tend to like, if there's a problem, I like look at it, and I'm like, how can I fix, you know, make adjustments. And lately I've actually been thinking a lot about I need to evolve from that to some degree, to change the problem, to make to contextualize that too, and not just fix it because it's like a little bit like oh, we're on stage or something's going on, going to fix this right instead of like looking at the meta of it.

4:41Speaker 4:Sometimes because I think that's where the big thing is.

4:43Speaker 3:You know, it's like, oh, there's actually the larger problem.

4:47Speaker 4:So I'm more and more attuned.

4:48Speaker 2:To that biggest pet Peeve And it could be like for me when I think of pet Peeve's pet Peeve, like co existing in New York City pet Peeve. Now when I go to like I go to shows people an audience, what they do, how they act, what they eat at the car, you know, anything that what's a Damien pie?

5:09Speaker 3:You know? I walk fast, like so when I'm alone, it's different than I'm walking you know, with Heather.

5:17Speaker 4:With people. But if I'm alone, I just I just know I need to move.

5:22Speaker 2:I always say you could tell them when someone's from New York and not on how they walk.

5:26Speaker 3:And you're like, okay, yeah, growing up in Boston and it's really cold, you know, you just walk fast, you know, just like and I love.

5:31Speaker 4:To walk, so you know me too. My one of my goals this.

5:34Speaker 2:Year is to walk from one tip to the other.

5:36Speaker 4:Chip up, Wow, you're gonna do it. Did you read al Pacino's biography? No, I haven't got it.

5:41Speaker 3:He talks about like major walks. It's a new mettle. I don't know him, but I want him to come to Juilliard. Yeah, mister, if you're listening, come and talk.

5:48Speaker 2:To us, all right, Damien, thank you so much for joining me today.

5:51Speaker 4:This is a true, true pleasure, really fun.

5:55Speaker 2:M Thank you for pulling up for share.

6:05Speaker 5:I love our lunches and never forget the romance of a meal. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Table for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeart Radio seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are Bruce Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer is Dylan Fagan. Our editors are Vincent to Johnny and Cas B Bias. Table for two is researched and written by Jack Sullivan. Our sound engineers are Meil B. Klein, Jess Krainich, Evan Taylor, and Jesse Funk. Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table for two's social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks to Amy Sugarman, Uni Scherer, Kevin Yuvane, Bobby Bauer, Alison Kanter Graber.

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