Category Archive Dance

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The Comfort of Swan Lake

The ballet Swan Lake needs no introduction. But a blog post does. So by way of introduction let me start by saying that if you are only going to see one ballet in your lifetime, it should probably be Swan Lake, and Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of the best places to see it. I’m not going to do a full review because I’ve done that before, and except for the person sitting behind me who told his friends, “I didn’t look at the booklet, like at all, because I didn’t want any spoilers,” I think most people have a pretty good idea what to expect anyway. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say about it.

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Leta Biasucci and Kyle Davis with company dancers in Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake, on stage April 15 – 24, and streaming digitally May 12 – 16, 2022. Photo © Angela Sterling.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Plot Points

Rep 4 of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2021-2022 season is Plot Points, a mixed rep program of four pieces that play with the concept of storytelling. I’m a little late to the party because I attended on the second weekend. There’s a world premiere and a PNB premiere by choreographers who are already well-loved by PNB audiences. The (almost) title piece, Plot Point, is already an audience favorite.

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Crystal Pite’s Plot Point. Photo © Angela Sterling. c/o PNB
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Here & Now from Seattle Dance Collective

I saw on social media last summer that Seattle Dance Collective was working with choreographers in some kind of residency. But the summer came and went without a performance – live or virtual – and I thought maybe there wouldn’t be an SDC production this year. Then I got an announcement that their new program, Here & Now, would be available for streaming on Veteran’s Day. Just as I’ve come to expect from SDC, the program was both enjoyable and challenging, often at the same time.

SDC dancers in 5 Favorite Things. Photo by Bruno Roque c/o SDC
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Beyond Ballet at PNB

PNB dancers in Alonzo King’s The Personal Element. Photo © Angela Sterling. c/o PNB

Beyond Ballet is Pacific Northwest Ballet’s second post-lockdown in-person program and the third in McCaw Hall, which also hosts Seattle Opera. I’ve attended all three programs, so by now you’d think watching shows in person would be back to normal. Or at least the new normal. It is not. But that does not mean it isn’t worth it. And it does get easier.

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Singularly Cerrudo at PNB in Person (and Online)

Friday, September 24, 2021 may not go down in the history books as anything special, but it was a momentous occasion for me. It was my first night out since the pandemic started. The last time I attended a public event was Charlie Parker’s Yardbird at Seattle Opera on March 7, 2020, just days before the first lockdown. Under those circumstances, the experience itself would threaten to upstage whatever performance I went to see. Except that I saw the Singularly Cerrudo program at Pacific Northwest Ballet. And nothing upstages Cerrudo.

Ezra Thomson with company dancers in Alejandro Cerrudo’s Little mortal jump, which PNB will Photo © Angela Sterling c/o PNB
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