Testing This Legendary Choreographer’s Music Knowledge | The Track Star Podcast

Justin Peck, New York City Ballet’s youngest ever choreographer in residence, joins The Track Star Podcast for a conversation about how music becomes movement.

Standing on the Lincoln Center stage, Peck explains how a ballet actually gets written: why most pieces begin with a score, how he listens to a song thousands of times before a single step exists, and what happens when choreography meets a real human body in rehearsal. He talks about melody as a kind of architecture, the legacy of Balanchine and Stravinsky, and why Swan Lake still works as the front door to ballet.

The episode moves from the classical canon to modern film, with Peck breaking down his experience on Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. He describes how the camera becomes a second dancer, how sets create new kinds of movement, and what changes when an audience is replaced by a lens.

We also hear from FKA twigs about building the creative world of Eusexua, and step into the history of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a piece that once provoked outrage and now defines modern music.

Listen to our extended playlist for this episode:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20y4jjVXRIEHiqOVcp4fc9?si=a66c2f68c8644b73
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/the-track-star-podcast-episode-20/pl.u-11zBBAyUNrg3rNY
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJwfZsOZW3kWQF_AOZlmT1nFf4uSREk66&si=68StBWJefrkyXET5

This Episode’s Tracklist
00:00 - Intro
6:47 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake
9:09 - Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring
26:29 - Leonard Bernstein – Overture (from West Side Story)
32:44 - Phillip Glass – Opening (from Glassworks)
35:53 - Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
43:50 - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians II
45:12 - Dan Deacon - When I Was Done Dying

New episodes of The Track Star Podcast drop every Wednesday. Let us know what artist, era or theme you want us to explore next!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1d5i6AQX4dZaO4MDCbdhjR
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-track-star-podcast/id1836496108
iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-track-star-podcast-294088650/
More platforms: https://play.megaphone.fm/f-rd86qotxojfhckdq6uaa

Track Star Team: Jack Coyne, Kieran Coyne, Henry Kornaros, Haley Sobel, Noah John, Alex Fabry, Sarah Mann, Ellie Aslanian, Ryan Dirgins, Lauren Kennedy