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 Turning.  In our second episode of the series, Karen Valby speaks with...

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 enjoyed our most recent season of The Turning.  On the first...

A grab-bag of stories and extras. For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The countdown to curtain begins. For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART TEN - "If it is going to stick with us forever, it matters that we get it right." For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART NINE - "I remember thinking, am I the only one like me who's ever walked these halls?" For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART EIGHT - "Blackness is a vehicle. It's a vehicle to get people where they need to go."For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunchTRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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." For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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." For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART FIVE - "Gone unchecked, bad things can happen. And they did." For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART FOUR - "Balanchine was so fond of perfume that leaves the scent of that dancer behind, and it still permeates." For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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?" For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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."For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunchTRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PART ONE - "He used to say, 'What are you looking at dear? You can't see you. Only I can see you.'"   For more content, follow us on Instagram @RococoPunch TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/turningtranscripts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A closed, elite group asks for sacrifice and extreme devotion from its members. It produces elegant dancers, but at what cost? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Humans Growing Stuff) set out to do a big, sweeping show on astrology, he didn’t realize the first interview would change the course of his life. But as he tries to put his world back together, he realizes the incredible ways astrology presents itself in modern society: from NASA employees who keep their belief in astrology in the closet, to world leaders who’ve used astrologers to guide foreign policy, to moneyball statisticians who use astrology...

BONUS - Jenna Cooper is a 36-year-old consecrated virgin who lives in Winona, Minnesota. She tells us what that means, what her life is like now, and what it’s like to feel called when you’re 12 years old. For additional content and information, follow the show on Instagram @RococoPunch This series was inspired by Mary Johnson’s memoir, “An Unquenchable Thirst.” Find it HERE - https://amzn.to/3whsTeO Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

PART TEN - “I couldn’t come to any clarity unless I took off the habit and was seen.” For additional content and information, follow the show on Instagram @RococoPunch This series was inspired by Mary Johnson’s memoir, “An Unquenchable Thirst.” Find it HERE - https://amzn.to/3whsTeO TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/transcripts Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

PART NINE - Is this a cult?  How do you leave? For additional content and information, follow the show on Instagram @RococoPunch This series was inspired by Mary Johnson’s memoir, “An Unquenchable Thirst.” Find it HERE - https://amzn.to/3whsTeO TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/transcripts Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

PART EIGHT - "She used to tell us, ‘If ever I will be a saint, I will be the saint of darkness.’ ... And we didn't know what she meant." For additional content and information, follow the show on Instagram @RococoPunch This series was inspired by Mary Johnson’s memoir, “An Unquenchable Thirst.” Find it HERE - https://amzn.to/3whsTeO TRANSCRIPT - https://www.rococopunch.com/transcripts Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com