On Ballet: Fran Lebowitz and Nick Mauss | Live from the Whitney

[@rudyspective1870]

I'd let this woman ramble on about anything and everything, and I could listen to her all day...

[@karlgharst5420]

With the fangs removed along with the venom sac, Fran can harm no one...

[@christinemidora9514]

Wonderful. I will be live in her presence soon in Oct. cannot wait.

[@teresajenkins9056]

me too

[@mlbsilva4433]

Saw her this past Friday at Stockton University. Loved every second!

[@juliemullen365]

Me too😊

[@blahblah1438]

I could listen to Fran for hours

[@mtester8936]

A different kind of person comes to NY now. I moved to NY in 1980 because I absolutely did not want to live in a white Disneyland suburb - which NY has become. Maybe post pandemic fewer tourists, continued lower rents, and life long NYrs (who survived) will be able to move about and enjoy our city again

[@blahblah1438]

@@mtester8936 do you still live in NYC

[@NancyHanna_forwordtv]

That's good bcuz she talks for hours. Interesting, yes! But wow, does she go on.

[@byronchurch]

I with you !

[@thedo6338]

She says the same things at time, but i am willing to hear the same comments again and again.

[@inthevault9603]

He’s a great interviewer. He asked her an open ended type questions and then he let her take the lead and answers and elaborate on the questions and he didn’t, not once, make it about him. 👏 bravo 👏😍

[@firouz4296]

He is German. It is very easy to make something NOT about them. They have nothing to say!

[@secaucuss7344]

An art form.

[@ethannuijens59]

many of her interviews follow the same format and questions it’s refreshing to have an original interview

[@robmoore6556]

i really had the opposite take? he seems mostly invested in hearing himself talk, missed a few moments when Fran tried to make certain jokes or references, spoke over her.

[@priapushk996]

@@robmoore6556 I periodically come back to this interview for its brilliance and cannot agree.

[@couchphotography8861]

I was doing ballet classes around this time that Fran is talking about,and was obsessed with it! It was a different feel in those days, when Nureyev and Baryshnikov and Makarova burst onto the scene..they changed everything. Margot Fonteyn's career took an upward turn as soon as she partnered with Nureyev, it was an amazing time to be a ballet fan!

[@spencersheehan-kalina5990]

Fran Leibowitz is just brilliant, really. What an incredible person. So grateful to find this online.

[@stuartbee5716]

@HappyHalloween you are wrong

[@hayleyannamathieson7261]

I agree.😊

[@ヨーゼーフレムサーン]

ｐか

[@sidv192]

She doesnt love money, so that makes her free to be herself

[@cacaca9116]

I moved to New York in 2004 thinking life could still be like this. It wasn't. But at least Fran's memories capture it.

[@velocitygirl8551]

He is the best... most humble, yet knowledgeable host. He didn’t compete for knowledge etc. He just ... complemented what she shared.

[@Marie0575]

I love Nick Mauss style of interviewing, he is patient and generous to his guest. Thats how its done, no unnecessary interruptions.

[@vincentmaldon7707]

Great interviewer - never interrupted her, was well informed and had good timing with follow-up questions.

[@Margotxmargot]

This conversation was SPECTACULAR. Thank you. It just got better and more interesting, I don't even know how that was possible right to the end. From the oral histories to her hilarious observation about young people being too preoccupied with finding the best sushi instead of just living wildly.....what a genius.

[@patriciax3677]

She's a fascinating raconteur.

[@gailremp8389]

This is such a nice change tonight with all the other BS that is going on in the world. Once in a while you need Fran. And you need calm. But yet you need Fran. Thank you.

[@debhurd8898]

I have never been able to get enough Fran. I love her. TY

[@thomasdeansfineart149]

I was in my 20s and at NYCB for Balanchine’s great final flowering. And Robbins’. At the same time FL was. What she says is absolutely the way it was. I remember clearly one balletomane announcing to our small group how brilliant Suzanne’s [Farrell] pirouette in Chaccone was-daringly off-center, and she added an extra turn. I had no idea what he meant, but I was utterly enthralled by Balanchine’s visualization of the music and Farrell’s almost trance-like brilliance (and beauty). I was there at least several times a week. So was Edward Gorey in his ankle-length raccoon coat and Richard Chamberlain and many other well-known ballet fanatics. The Met Opera was the same.

[@Ktwood1]

for those of you you tube diving this is one of the better fran videos worth the time .

[@tutonelylesnaranjo6311]

I really appreciated Lebowitz’ discussions with Mauss and her historical perspectives on NYC and the arts especially as it related to the ballet in earlier times. Wish she’d write another book but I do love listening to her.

[@fledaring5054]

WONDERFUL!!! She has reminded me of so much from my young adult years in art college and living with dancers at art high school. All fantastic memories!! And, she has taught me a great deal about the ‘why’ for so much I’d not thought of. Such obvious insights gained only through truthful holistic experiences. Thank YOU Fran Lebowitz. I Love to learn from you and I love your brilliance of expression!

[@GordonGibson-q8e]

Unlike most of Fran's interviews online where she just repeats the same answers to the same clichéd questions in this interview she actually talks.

[@panfiloperez6685]

ive watched five times this talk. i do love nostalgic times

[@michaelvasquez1355]

i love this interview, i think ive watched it every other month once i discovered it.

[@brioxl1985]

this is my asmr, give me zen give me calm.

[@susanlodgerelaxations5269]

And mine

[@newvision101]

I needed this. I’m reminded of my years in NYC in the late 80’s when NYC was still affordable. I moved there with 200 dollars my Dad gave, too. Funny. NYC is MAGIC. I passed Fran on the street once and thought I’d finally arrived.,

[@annt7384]

We had the very cheapest seats to NYCB the season Baryshnikov danced with the company, and it was a hoot. Mostly white collar workers of all ages with audible swooning and thunderous applause whenever they felt like it.

[@pushkin4894]

Who are you Fran Leibowitz? Zelig? Gertrude Stein? You were of a time 70s-80s and knew everyone by first names. Went to ballet with Jerry; movies with Marty. Solely on your observations and memory for detail. Everyone stuck to you. Amazing.

[@edienandy]

Who is Jerry tho?

[@jsb818]

@@edienandy the great choreographer Jerome Robbins (who also created the dances for West Side Story)

[@edienandy]

@@jsb818 thank you for culturing me lol I’ve never read too much on ballet, it seems really intimidating to get into. I’m really interested in Nihon-Buyō tho, so I’m not completely without culture lol

[@efthimiakonstantinides4699]

@@edienandy I think he danced with Lauren Bacall at Truman Capote's Black and White Ball.

[@StephenMyers-i8j]

Leibowitz was active in the 2000s as well..

[@keithnichols7926]

Mr. Mauss should know that I appreciate his not trying to compete with Ms Lebowitz by interjecting feeble attempts at humor, or indeed saying anything much at all. And she explained why I go to fewer museums nowadays. It is that my being unfamiliar with the antecedents and culture from which the items evolved leaves me unable to appreciate them. Also, the auto traffic in the background is constantly distracting.

[@GH-oi2jf]

The story about the National Academy of Sciences ribbon is the best Fran story I’ve heard. I also liked the part about going to NYC with very little money. I first went to NYC to visit about the time Fran moved there. I got a room in Manhattan for $1.75 a night.

[@tamasmoricz7707]

So great what she says.... also about money ... !!! Such a great intellect ... :-)

[@gardensofthegods]

... a great intellect . ( not an great intellect )

[@anncassanocomedy]

The cars behind them are especially hypnotic:)

[@moimoi7431]

Distraction!!!

[@mcwarhol17]

lol true

[@kkpaine]

The change in audience in NYC theater was history I never considered, but know it's true by just knowing the gay community where I live. Binge watching Fran!!!!

[@moimoi7431]

Ha ha, Fran Binge #Guilty

[@Richie8a8y]

Audiences died. Dancers died. It was terrible. I couldn’t begin to describe it and neither did Ms Lebowitz. Her version of mood and events of Stonewall was more in depth and spot on.

[@hayleyannamathieson7261]

Fran is fabulous and brilliant.🌹

[@karlgharst5420]

Fran can win an Israeli beauty contest in the morning and finish the day with the Israeli weight-lifting team by sundown... she's fantastic!

[@barbaraconnett5057]

Fran, I love, your thoughts, thank you!

[@nyccheckin]

Arrived in Manhattan in ‘77. Thank gawd.

[@Zoe-pp2wj]

i didn't know who fran lebowitz was at all , until 2 weeks ago. and now i am addicted !

[@janjacobs8260]

And,I too!!?

[@janjacobs8260]

Am addicted to her, am in love with her, can listen to her, endlessly.

[@HEEBEEJEEBEE9123]

I wish this was 3 hours long.

[@patriciax3677]

Marty Scorcese needs to do another film about Fran.

[@nancyhallatr]

@@patriciax3677 Watch Pretend It's a City on Netflix. It's a series, not a movie, but it's a collaboration between the two.

[@rr7firefly]

I wish this was not set in front of moving traffic. That is just ridiculous.

[@annrubino6252]

This is one of the best, of the best. Thank you.

[@LS-ot4ho]

Great to get more insight into Stonewall

[@criticalcookie2579]

That was great. Thank you.

[@maureenharrison1261]

This is so badly mis-titled. It is about SO much more than just ballet. It is one of the most, perhaps THE most quintessential interviews online Fran has done. I know because I have seen every single one….😳❤️

[@louisepotier2784]

I laughed so much - she is great. And I rarely laugh these days. Loooooove.

[@suesskind]

I've never heard a more visually striking comment about how incredibly disasterous the destruction of the gay community by aids was other than with Fran Lebowitz' story at 35:00. The first edition of her book, interely brought by gay people and impossible to find until - suddenly and tragically - the edition was easily available again. Because the people that bought ... it all died.

[@paulgduckworth]

My happy place. I come here often and it always works. 🥰

[@pam0626]

Fran is a great writer, but an even better oral historian.

[@darlamuirhead7619]

I love Fran🥰

[@karlgharst5420]

With the fangs and the venom sac removed, Fran is really stunning!

[@brioxl1985]

the ending hockney painting story was so funny!

[@gardensofthegods]

True but I would love to know who owned the house

[@braga144]

I am Italian, I understand quite well but not enough to catch everything. So I put on subtitles and the automatic subtitler for Fran Lebowitz puts "friendly voice". Somebody should tell her eheheheh

[@teresajenkins9056]

that was great...this is one of the first times I've heard her speak so freely and candidly about the gay community and the arts like she knew them...

[@LaoZi2023]

The traffic is very disappointing, don't they have any curtains?

[@forgottenbooks2395]

Starts at 22:25; Fran Lebowitz comes on at 26:05.

[@tiffytattoo2450]

I can say for myself, interviews with Fran evoke the nostalgia Fran hates the most about the young generation... vicious circle ;)

[@allthatjazzspaz95]

So true!

[@sohohausrules554]

Listen up, Uber people. This video should hit a billion. Nobody wants to learn anything anymore and it is SAD because Fran is here to teach us. She and I have had soooo many nights at Soho House and VF Oscar Parties sharing tales and teaching each other. I request to be at her table as she does I. A singular legend. Period. She is really the only reason to visit New York these days. LA has air. New York has dog sh*t and construction. But then there is always Fran. A sister. A stalwart. A titan. I might love her more than Cher. Knowing her makes me love myself even more than I already do. Come back West soon, Queen Fran. I have a Soho Sour waiting for you. On ice, not too cold. Like you like. X Jackie

[@pjenkins93]

Fran Lebowitz doesn't drink.

[@gardensofthegods]

Very interesting since Fran Lebowitz always makes sure she says how much she can't stand LA .

[@komkommer22]

I don’t think Fran Lebowitz would have a drink - alcoholic or non-alcoholic - with someone who would call her “Queen Fran”.

[@galross8510]

She’s AMAZING !

[@karlgharst5420]

Fran - with the ''fro and dude duds she can does more in one day than most reptiles do in a lifetime. Fantastic!

[@annishilcock4587]

That's why she's so fascinating because she was curious and wanted to learn things, not spend hours posting yourself on Instagram, or Facebook.

[@gardensofthegods]

I like the fact she said what I said years ago about texting ... that it was not progress but going backwards ; and if you have a phone why would you not call the person and let them hear your voice and have a conversation ... I hate texting and I'm glad somebody as intelligent as Fran Lebowitz is not into social media and does not into texting and all the modern-day insanity . .. the only social media I use is KZbin .

[@TimothyJonSarris]

Love how she refers to the cell phone, which she does not use, as monitoring devices!

[@bonniel4325]

What a fun interview! Thank you for this great conversation about the value of art in our lives. We are all so starved for art. Perhaps that is why modern audiences are uncouth sycophants. Let's hope we have a modern WPA to revive the arts around the country. Our young generation see's through the right wing b.s. We must persist in getting them registered to vote. We can't go back to orange turd fascism.

[@mch8156]

She is so right about Charles Ludlum - what a loss! He was irreplaceable.

[@rosemaryparker2567]

Red light green light for the cars. Enjoyed Fran too.

[@leahbeselas8046]

She’s fun... 👍🏻😎❤️

[@patriciax3677]

fun, smart, and funny what a combo

[@Hans6789-j9t]

This is So so so true ... I traveled to see nycb twice and both times standing ovations for mediocre performances ! This does no. Service to our art

[@PsychiatryonlineITA1]

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[@nickbarcheck1019]

I adore Fran Lebowitz.

[@davidanthonystone5165]

As a NYer I love the idea of Fran charge tourists a suitcase charge to enter Manhattan

[@dakiblabla]

"They don't eat, they don't smoke, they're human, they gotta do something." I think the answer is cocaine.

[@gregghanson6095]

WHY IS THERE 24 minutes of nothing at the beginning? Fran is so brilliant!

[@MrBounce01]

Agreed. Confusing.

[@Will-Yin]

What did she say at 1:05:25?

[@1tuinman]

Who was the female dancer that was Robbin's muse?

[@juliabramsen555]

Tranquil Le Clercq. She was married to George Balanchine (his 4th wife) and his muse until she contracted polio at the age of 27.

[@annwright5099]

1tuinman tanequil le clerq I think

[@annaa2919]

I am in love with her :)

[@lauriekahn9061]

who the hell is Jerry? Not Jerome Robbins?

[@GH-oi2jf]

Yes.

[@bruceallensullivan6532]

What Fran is talking about is sooooo true Happened to me after being with eric for 15 years we did get married ..when heb passedf his mother took the last roll of toilet paper

[@foxconner7869]

as a young person who moved to new york city I feel as though I am a snail and fran lebowitz is salting me

[@patriciax3677]

clever boy... you belong there.. find your peeps... Fran would probably appreciate you :)

[@foxconner7869]

​@@patriciax3677 thank you

[@missamae34]

She is to NY Art and culture what Woody Allen is to movies

[@themorticians]

Really interesting stuff--per usual with Fran--but I could have done without the person at the end killing the mood by trying to do a bit and bum a smoke from Fran.

[@reidoconnell4640]

Someone force a cell phone into that woman’s hand so we can pleeease get her insight on what’s going on now

[@patriciax3677]

she knows...she has said trump's an idiot and con man

[@nrizzz]

She knows what's going on now...that's why she doesn't want a cell phone :P

[@_artorical_]

31:00 See Alexander Maupin’s “Logical Family”

[@pushkin4894]

You knew Ballanchine? How about Diagilev, Nijinsky, Fokine?

[@mtester8936]

A nonfiction forest gump! As a long time NYr, she is of like mind & experience - she is priceless

[@gardensofthegods]

@@mtester8936 Forrest Gump ... ? I think not .

[@nancyhallatr]

You need a litttle historical perspective there, buddy. They were all dead before she was born. Nijinsky died the year she was born. Balanchine was a contemporary, whom she knew through Jerome Robbins. Balanchine and Robbins were both choreographers with the New York City Ballet.

[@gailremp8389]

Afhhhhhhh... wonderful.

[@DanielCastillo-md8xp]

Que ansia que diga “you know” cada dos segundos...

[@leewohlfert5462]

Is Fran talking about Tanaqul LaClerque? (sp?) Why call her by her married name, Balanchine?

[@velocitygirl8551]

The ANJ-EHL-IAN LOL??? I’ve been saying that wrong for 30 years?

[@lizthor-larsen7618]

At 38 mins, Fran makes the excellent point that most of us, in the 70s gay (and straight) did not want to get married! We were not interested in committing ourselves to the 'institution.'

[@maymie54]

Was this filmed in front of traffic for a reason?

[@aliciaeramo]

Who is the person giving the 30-minute speech that I don't care about

[@firouz4296]

01:06:15 - 01:10:00 01:10:00 - 01:11:00 Facts Facts Facts

[@tylerlately]

28:28 42:35 1:04:00 1:11:30 1:12:45

[@kirstenbrownrigg5370]

WTF now it's the interviewer doing the UHM mantra

[@katherenewedic8076]

The cars in the back ground Are More than Annoyimg

[@aliciaeramo]

I've seen books with your name on it I saw this show I ordered some books that she did I'm fascinated extraordinary interesting a mind thinker her brain looks like mine to me that's kind of scary but intriguing if I was in New York I would actually probably be outside her apartment screaming for her scaring her to death but I know she doesn't have people at her apartment or in her apartment so this would be an alternative and when she realized I wasn't trying to bodily harm her she might come out and we would have cup of coffee and cigarettes

[@FriendofDorothy]

my god, get a grip!

[@BBean26]

1tuinman: Was it Ann Reinking?

[@LipstickLisa123]

Tanaquil Le Clercq

[@bonniewatts4922]

Ann reinking is Bob Fosse.

[@iridule]

04:00

[@leewohlfert5462]

Galina Ulanova was the worlds greatest dancer.

[@Tojazzer]

03:33 should be "titled" not "entitled".

[@seattledude6277]

Breaking down the myth of Stonewall is what ive been saying for so long! ! I needed to hear her tell that story! I see how queer youth and progressives have turned Sylvia & Marsha into saints that spearheaded this movement, but dont mention that both of them were not celebrated when it happened? As a matter of fact, if they were Martyrs and the voice of the queer liberation ,then why were they left struggling in meager existences and eventually died in poverty? Silvia was political and spoke out more than most ,and used her voice for standing up for queer rights for sure, but why prop her up later and not help her in those years? No one ever mentioned that? What people dont talk about is Silvia lived in a shanty cardboard box by the river! People would come to interview her, but not help her? Where was all the wealthy queers that could have uplifted her and given her more support? Same with Marsha? Why didnt they find out the truth of what happened to Marsha? ---------

[@sammavacaist]

Leonard Bernstein composed the music for "West Side Story" while he was married and had 3 kids.

[@pinwheelart2825]

Yeah. Can't agree with her on that one. Though it may be the case for some. Personally I have never been more inspired or created more art than since I became a mother of four.💖

[@nancyhallatr]

I'll bet he wasn't the primary caregiver for those three kids.

[@georginatalamo2451]

I think she says it just for punch and fun. Gay lifestyle of her time didn't seem compatible with a traditional family life.

[@sammavacaist]

@@georginatalamo2451 I think because she never liked children and feels that having them would have zapped her creativity she assumes that's the case for everyone. And her point doesn't hold up. Lots of artists continued to be creative after marriage and children.

[@georginatalamo2451]

@@sammavacaist Could be that her seeming dislike for children is more a fear factor, she sees it as a great responsibility she'd personally steer away from, or she doesn't like what adults have made them in our times. I think kids would like her a lot, her honesty and desire to communicate and be appreciated for what she is. I think kids respond to that. I never liked kids either until I had my own at a late age. Still don't like them in general, except for my only grandson. LOL

[@marcevan1141]

I would suggest to the admittedly clever and funny Ms. Lebowitz that there are different degrees and kinds of oppression. To say that gay men did not experience oppression because they weren't slaves doesn't cut it.

[@colleenwhalen2924]

Yes, although I am a huge fan of FL since the early 1970s and think she is brilliant, the oppression of gay men includes torture, being murdered, thrown in prison.....ostracized, their families, parents renounce them when the come out of the closet......all for what Oscar Wild called euphamistically "The Love That Dare Not Say It's Name". Oscar Wilde was sentenced to many years in Reading Gaol prision, hard labor, breaking rocks, starved and when his prison term was over, he was a wreck of a broken man.....all because he fell in love with Boise, and other men. What FL ignores is that there are gay men of color - they are discriminated against for their race and their sexual orientation. I think she bungles it when she made that comment - she has made it many times in the past.....she tries to allege that racism is worse than homophobia.....well I believe BOTH are equally horrid. I think she has made remarks in the past that as a lesbian who has always lived out of the closet since the 1970s.....that she thinks pushing for the right to get married and serve in the military for homosexuals should be the LEAST important issue. She doesn't believe in marriage and considers military service to be a wretched condition that no sane person would aspire to. She DOES admit to being somewhat of a highly opinionated "Know It All" and "Smarty Pants" - but that is just part of her incredibly odd sense of humor.

[@marcevan1141]

@@colleenwhalen2924 You make some really good points. There are also two things I would add. One is that there is a lot of homophobia in the black community which makes it very difficult for young gay people. The other point is that Ms. Lebowitz is often unable to extend her understanding past her immediate experience. Ms. Lebowitz is a lesbian and while I'm not denying that lesbians have faced a great deal of discrimination they have not had it as hard as gay men.

[@patriciax3677]

I'm going to listen again because I did not hear Fran say that gay men did not experience oppression. And I don't think she was trying to be "clever and funny" when she talked about this. My impression of Fran, being gay herself, is that she most certainly takes oppression of gays, men and women, very seriously. In fact, I'm quite sure she herself has experienced it.

[@marcevan1141]

@@patriciax3677 Actually what she has said is that blacks have been persecuted but gay people have only been marginalized.

[@patriciax3677]

@@colleenwhalen2924 I live in Florida now unfortunately and despise it...It is a backward country. I feel greatly for anyone who is gay, black , not religious (like me), just thinks....it's a horrible place and it's a graveyard in more than one way. My hubby has to be here for health but as soon as covid's under control, I'm goin' back to the big, bad city of Baltimore where there's life...at least to get a break from Flor-i-duh. I do meet good people who think here and have a heart, but they're so much in the minority.

[@rr7firefly]

Big Loser trophy for the person(s) who decided it would be a good idea to set this up in front of moving traffic.

[@efthimiakonstantinides4699]

Yep, I find it pretensious and distracting.

[@shumiatcher]

Yes, we’ve list a discerning audience as they are no longer educated and cultured as the last generation who fought for Art for Art’s sake. A civilized America.....

[@lisasweeting5317]

Please pronounce ‘ballet’ with the accent on the first syllable

[@gardensofthegods]

They just don't pronounce it like that in America

[@edienandy]

Don’t you mean the stress should be on the first syllable?

[@kirstenbrownrigg5370]

That introduction is UHM, UHM, UHM🤷 I dance?

[@stellapatchouli6652]

She think so much like me.

[@TWAV8R]

Who thought it would be a good idea to have a heavily trafficed street as a backdrop?

[@flanigan_a-go-go]

You ever been to the Whitney?

[@bonniel4325]

Fran's stories were so enthralling, I hardly noticed the traffic.

[@christinemidora9514]

I wonder if she had a cigarette with the last person. Funny commentary on smoking😂