The Turning
4.9/5
Critic Rating
In every ballet studio, there is a wall of mirrors. It reflects the people within. They’re part of a closed, elite group that asks for sacrifice and devotion from its members. This insular community produces iconic artists. It’s founded on a strict power structure, often with one man at the top. By tracing the origins of this unusual lifestyle, starting with the legacy of choreographer George Balanchine and the intimate stories of young dancers, we expose the beauty of an artform and the complexity of ballet culture.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Reggie Ugwu • New York Times • Dec 4, 2023
"(Season: Room of Mirrors) An intoxicating look into the elite, high-pressure world of the New York City Ballet...intimate recollections of life within the windowless confines of his studio paint a nuanced portrait of transformative art mingled with troubling abuse. "
Score: 5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Apr 3, 2023
" Host Erika Lantz and the team returned earlier this year with an equally sensitive look at another insular world containing somewhat similar power dynamics ..."
Score: 5
Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie. • Mar 12, 2023
"My favorite thing about this podcast is how smooth it is. When double checking spellings for the producing team, Erika’s byline on Rococo Punch’s website states that she aims for “musicality” in her work- and this is a beautiful way to describe this narrative reporting...the full emotional journey of a contextualized piece is what makes it staggering instead of entertaining, or in this case informative. This is true for this podcast. The team for The Turning takes care of its audience, content warnings are carefully crafted as the story takes on the harmful side of each of these entities. Overall, The Turning is a journey. Each episode leaves you feeling somewhat dissatisfied and disillusioned with reality, which I honestly find to be a good thing. It’s wrapped in a beautiful, and caring package of a podcast. "
Score: 4.8
Kat Rooney • PodcastReview.org • Feb 15, 2023
"(Season: Room of Mirrors) The show opens with the squeaking, decisive sounds of pointe shoes stretching and striking the floor, maybe warming up or practicing steps. To make sense of the dance world — the hold it had on Balanchine and his ballerinas, and the hold they had on each other — Lantz begins with the granular, and gradually works her way out. Like the beginning of Serenade, it’s a slow build, but an entrancing one."
Score: 5
PR Staff • PodcastReview.org • Feb 1, 2023
"(Season: Room of Mirrors) While listening to The Turning: Room of Mirrors, a podcast about the culture inside George Balanchine’s ballet studio, it’s hard not to think of Black Swan. The opening monologue seems deliberately discombobulating, spinning and whirling as it feeds us provocative spoonfuls of setting and character...The opening monologue seems deliberately discombobulating, spinning and whirling as it feeds us provocative spoonfuls of setting and character."
Score: 5
Hollie Richardson • The Guardian • Jan 19, 2023
"(Season: Room of Mirrors) those who know the real cost of working with the New York City Ballet…"
Score: 5
humanistfreedoms • Humanist Freedoms • Jul 20, 2021
"(Season: The Sisters Who Left) ...deserving of recognition for their own type of courage and their own humanist character, inevitably linked to their times and social conditions..."
Score: 4.8
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • May 22, 2021
"(Season: The Sisters Who Left) The Turning is rich with enough curious, compelling details to warrant interest. The series is also much less sordid and melodramatic than the title initially suggests it to be. Between host Erika Lantz’s careful handling of the narration and the sensitivity of the script, the production approaches its tricky subject matter with admirable care."
Score: 4.5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • May 22, 2021
"(Season: The Sisters Who Left) There are moments that remind you of Gilead, and a lot that recalls a cult."
Score: 5
Michelle Goldberg • New York Times • May 21, 2021
"(Season: The Sisters Who Left) Indeed, there have been so many recent podcasts about cults... In many ways the compelling new podcast “The Turning: The Sisters Who Left,” which debuted on Tuesday, unfolds like one of these shows. What makes “The Turning” unique is its focus on the internal life of the Missionaries of Charity. The former sisters describe an obsession with chastity so intense that any physical human contact or friendship was prohibited..."
Score: 5
Ashlie D. Stevens • Salon • May 19, 2021
"(Season: The Sisters Who Left) One of the most striking things about the new podcast "The Turning: The Sisters Who Left" is how some of the former nuns describe their experiences with life behind the walls of Mother Teresa's world-famous order, the Missionaries of Charity: in language reminiscent of the way we talk about cults."
