Gemma D. Alexander

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PNB@Home: Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2020 Virtual Season

After Covid cancelled half a season of Pacific Northwest Ballet performances, and Seattle Dance Collective put out a great virtual summer season, I bought season tickets to PNB@Home without paying much attention to what it involved. I just knew I wanted to support the company and make sure it was still around when “real” ballet was possible again. But then I saw the first program of the virtual season, and to my surprise, I enjoyed it just as much as a night at McCaw Hall. So now I’m taking a closer look at the rest of the season.

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Clearly False

I am not a particularly superstitious person. And even very superstitious people usually think of fortune cookies as just-for-fun. But thanks to a very accurate fortune cookie I got in high school, I tend to pay a little closer attention to them than they probably deserve. But not this time. This fortune cookie was clearly meant for someone else.

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Pacific Northwest Ballet, PNB@Home, Rep 1

More of PNB@Home Rep 1

I can never curb my enthusiasm over a good night out at the ballet. I didn’t expect to have the same problem with a virtual ballet performance. But the first program of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s digital 2020-2021 season was just as good as anything I’ve seen live. Of course there are trade-offs, but I discovered that recorded ballet can be worth buying tickets to. And as much as I loved what I saw in Act 1 of Rep 1, Act 2 topped it.

PNB soloist Dylan Wald in The Calling. Photo © Angela Sterling c/o PNB

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Pacific Northwest Ballet, PNB@Home, Rep 1

PNB@Home Rep 1

This is the post where I put the cart before the horse. Between paid work and keeping up with Seattle Opera’s weekly online releases, I haven’t had a chance to preview Pacific Northwest Ballet’s virtual season. But PNB@Home Rep 1 posted last night, and it’s only available until Monday, so I have to write about it now or anyone who reads this won’t have a chance to see it. And missing this program would be a shame.

I’ve watched a lot of art online since the pandemic started, and while virtual performances are better than nothing, they are rarely better than live ones. But I rank this first program of PNB’s online 2020-2021 season among some of my favorite nights of ballet since that fateful Nutcracker in 1992 that hooked me on the art form.

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Marcy Stonikas, opera online, opera recital, Seattle Opera

Marcy Stonikas in Recital at Seattle Opera is a Snack

Coming from the extremely privileged position of someone who has only ever been exposed to opera through live performances of full productions by one of the country’s top opera companies in one of the world’s best acoustically-engineered opera houses, I’m surprised by how much I’ve been enjoying the virtual fall opera season. I’m getting new perspectives on the music and the performers. And it’s no substitute for dressing up and going out, but there is a certain pleasure to be had in experiencing opera curled up on the couch in your PJs with a cocktail in hand. I most recently enjoyed that experience with Seattle Opera’s release of Marcy Stonikas in Recital.

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PNB@Home: Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2020 Virtual Season