President of The Juilliard School, Artistic Director of the Vail Dance Festival, and retired Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet Damian Woetzel is a visionary and arts advocate bringing together today's most creative voices and unlikely pairings in dance and music. In this special episode of Moving Moments, recorded live at Lincoln Center, Damian discusses his early beginnings at age 7 as Fritz in The Nutcracker with the Boston Ballet, how he knew he was destined for a life on stage by age 11, and when he realized his dance career was real. Alicia and Damian reflect on their experiences with famed dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell, the sense of purpose they get from being artists, and the thrill of being on stage. To close it out Damian recounts how his work at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Aspen Institute, and the Jerome Robbins Foundation led to his current role at Juilliard and his vision for the institution. Check out Damian Woetzel on Instagram. For more information about The Juilliard School, visit them on the web and on Instagram. Follow Moving Moments on Instagram. Follow Alicia on Instagram. You can find out more about Artful Narratives Media on Instagram or the web. The Moving Moments theme song was composed by Saul Guanipa for Videohelper. Moving Moments was co-created by Alicia Graf Mack, Jessica Handelman, and David Krauss. This interview has been edited and condensed to fit the time format. Episode copyright © 2024 Artful Narratives Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.