The Grace & Form Podcast

Stories From The Stage: Mira Nadon, Alexa Maxwell, Naomi Corti, Christina Clark and KJ Takahashi

Stories From the Stage brings together five extraordinary dancers: Mira Nadon, Alexa Maxwell, Naomi Corti, Christina Clark, and KJ Takahashi - for an honest, hilarious, and deeply human look at what really happens behind the curtain.
Hosted by Indiana Woodward and Saskia Gregson-Williams, this special Grace & Form stories from the stage talks about moments dancers never forget: costume malfunctions, missed cues, split-second saves, and the beautiful chaos that can unfold onstage when things don’t go to plan.
Whether you’re a dancer, a theatre lover, or someone who’s ever had to think on their feet, this episode celebrates the messy, magical reality of live performance where no two nights are ever the same.
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Tamara Rojo: How to Lead an Art Form Forward

In this episode, Tamara Rojo reflects on a career shaped by courage, curiosity, and conviction. From navigating ballet as an outsider to leading major institutions from within, she shares how intentional leadership, creative risk, and respect for tradition can coexist.
Tamara speaks openly about power and gender in ballet, building healthier cultures for dancers, and why repeating what’s worked before is rarely enough. This conversation explores what it means to lead with intelligence honoring the past while making space for new voices, new audiences, and new ideas.
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Taylor Stanley: Bringing Your Whole Self to the Stage

In this episode, we sit down with Taylor Stanley, principal dancer at New York City Ballet, for a deeply honest conversation about identity, self-acceptance, and what it means to take up space on stage and in life.
Taylor reflects on growing up in ballet, navigating gender and fluidity within a highly traditional art form, and learning to trust an evolving sense of self. We talk about musicality as instinct, softness as strength, and how sensitivity, often misunderstood, can become a source of power. Taylor shares how therapy, community, and creative outlets beyond ballet have helped shape a more grounded, expansive relationship with both art and self.
From redefining masculinity in classical roles, to finding freedom in Balanchine rep, to stepping into Broadway and visual art, this episode explores what happens when you stop trying to fit the mould and instead let your whole identity lead the movement.
A conversation about courage, presence, and creating spaces where dancers, and humans, feel safe to be exactly who they are.
Some links we mention:
Taylor Stanley's Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tgsdrwngs/?hl=en-gb
Taylor's broadway show Gotta Dance: https://www.yorktheatre.org/gotta-dance
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Gonzalo Garcia: A Full-Circle Journey to a New Chapter at Miami City Ballet

In this episode, we sit down with Gonzalo Garcia as he steps into a new chapter as Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet. Gonzalo reflects on the full-circle journey that brought him back to the very studio where his training began in Zaragoza, Spain, a return that now marks the start of his leadership role.
We explore the moments that shaped him: early mentorship under María de Ávila, winning the Prix de Lausanne at just 15, navigating pressure and perfectionism, and rising to principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet before making the leap to New York City Ballet. Gonzalo speaks candidly about hierarchy, patience, ambition, and what it really takes to grow within major institutions.
Now on the other side of the studio, Gonzalo shares his evolving philosophy on leadership. Why vulnerability matters, how trust is built in the room, and what today’s dancers need from those guiding them. He also opens up about injury, emotional resilience, and the responsibility of holding both high standards and human care.
This conversation is an intimate look at what it means to move from dancer to decision-maker and how the values that shaped Gonzalo as an artist continue to guide him as a leader.
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Gillian Murphy: 29 Years at ABT and the Power of Presence

In this episode, we sit down with the legendary Gillian Murphy to reflect on her extraordinary 29-year career at American Ballet Theatre. From joining the company at 17 to her unforgettable final bow as Odette, Gillian shares the moments that shaped her, the roles that changed her, and the mindset that carried her through nearly three decades onstage. A conversation about presence, artistry, fearlessness, and what comes next.
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The Injury Episode P2: Julie Kent, Maria Kowroski, Harrison Coll, Zimmi Coker, Miko Fogarty, Cameron Gomez, Dr. David Williams & Caroline Krumm

In part two of our injury series, we look at injury through connected angles: how company culture is shifting, the perspectives of those who care for dancers’ bodies, and the ways injuries can open the door to unexpected new chapters.
You’ll hear from dancers and practitioners across the ballet world:
Julie Kent on the emotional reality of injury at the highest level of the art form, and how her experiences now inform the way she nurtures dancers in her leadership roles.
Harrison Coll (soloist, New York City Ballet) on how company culture around rest, recovery and ambition is finally changing.
Zimmi Coker (American Ballet Theatre) on navigating a major injury with support, building a “toolbox” for her body, and redefining sustainability on and offstage.
Maria Kowroski (Artistic Director, New Jersey Ballet) on how her own injuries deepened her artistry and now shape how she supports dancers from the other side of the studio.
Cameron Gomez, Dr. David Williams & Caroline Krumm on the science of overuse, stress fractures, tendinopathy and periodisation, and why sleep and rest are non-negotiable training tools.
Miko Fogarty on the injury that quietly planted the seed for her pivot from international ballet star to foot and ankle surgery resident and how she now helps dancers protect the careers she once dreamed of.
Saskia and Indiana also share their own stories: the messy middle of long-term injury, comments that cut deep, and the unexpected gifts that appear when dance is no longer the only definition of who you are.
This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt left behind by their body, stood on the edge of “Is this over?” or wondered what might exist on the other side of an interrupted dream. It’s about culture, care, and the surprising possibilities that open when you start listening to your body and to yourself.
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Patricia Delgado: On Returning to Your Roots & Reimagining What’s Possible

In this intimate and expansive conversation, Patricia Delgado, Tony Award–winning choreographer, Juilliard faculty member, and proud Cuban-American artist opens up about the many chapters that shaped her: dancer, teacher, mother, collaborator, sister, and now, a choreographer discovering her own voice.
Patricia shares what it means to build a classroom rooted in emotional awareness, how motherhood has become her greatest grounding force, and why reconnecting with her Cuban roots through Buena Vista Social Club™ ignited a new creative fire. Together, we explore the complexities of comparison and sisterhood, the delicate dance of artistic partnership, and the courage it takes to listen when life nudges you toward change.
From her early years growing up in Miami City Ballet to the quiet bravery of beginning again in New York with her husband and creative partner Justin Peck. Patricia reminds us that artistry is not a straight line - it’s a lifelong practice of curiosity, connection, and becoming.
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Gilbert Bolden III: Making the Suit That Suits You

Gilbert Bolden III is a newly minted principal dancer with New York City Ballet, a designer, choreographer, and an artist who brings joy, fluidity, and individuality into everything he does. Earlier this year, he ruptured his Achilles mid Scotch Symphony- but instead of spiralling into crisis, Gilbert met the moment with calm, humour, and an almost shocking amount of perspective.
In this episode, we start right where he is today, and then trace the path that brought him here: dancing to Britney in his living room, discovering ballet later than most, rising through the ranks at NYCB, navigating identity inside a traditional institution, and building an entire creative world outside of dance - from drag to fashion to choreography.
Through it all, Gilbert shows us what it looks like to stay grounded, stay yourself, and keep enjoying your life, no matter what chapter you’re in.
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The Injury Episode P1: Craig Hall, Sara Mearns, Thomas Forster, Isabella LaFreniere, Alexa Maxwell, Cameron Gomez

In this special episode of Grace & Form, we’re doing something a little different. This is Part One of our two-part deep dive into injury - a universal experience for dancers, yet one that’s rarely spoken about with honesty and care.
In this episode, we hear voice notes and reflections from dancers around the world, each sharing what injury has meant in their lives and careers, from the first moment it happened to the long journey of recovery that followed.
Featuring:
Alexa Maxwell - New York City Ballet soloist
Craig Hall - former NYCB soloist and current repertory director
Sara Mearns - NYCB principal dancer whose career has redefined resilience and artistry
Isabella LaFreniere - NYCB principal dancer
Thomas Forster - American Ballet Theatre principal dancer
Cameron Gomez - physiotherapist trusted by some of the world’s leading dancers, including those at New York City Ballet
Indiana Woodward, Grace & Form co-founder and principal dancer with New York City Ballet, also shares her personal story — a look into what it truly means to recover, rebuild, and return to the art form you love.
Stay tuned for Part Two, where co-founder Saskia Gregson-Williams will share her own experience, and we’ll explore the culture of injury through the eyes of directors, physiotherapists, and other leading voices shaping dance today.
This episode is a reminder that even in stillness, artistry continues, and that sometimes, the body’s greatest lessons come in the pause.
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Maria Kochetkova: A Career Around the World

From Moscow to London, San Francisco to Copenhagen, Maria Kochetkova has built a career defined by courage, curiosity, and conviction. In this episode, she reflects on her early years at the Bolshoi Ballet School, leaving Russia to find artistic freedom, and the challenges of carving a path in an industry that often tries to box dancers in.
Maria shares what it means to follow intuition over practicality, the importance of great teachers and truthful technique, and how motherhood has reshaped her relationship with dance. She talks about performing while pregnant, adapting her body through each decade, and creating new work that reimagines where and how ballet can exist.
Honest, thoughtful, and full of quiet strength: this conversation traces a life in motion: the work behind the work, and the woman behind one of ballet’s most distinctive careers.
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