Dance – Page 4 – 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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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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Alexander Hoeppner, Bruno Roque, James Moore, Noelani Pantastico, Seattle Dance Collective, The Space Between Us

The Space Between Us and Seattle Dance Collective

Seattle Dance Collective completed its second season last Thursday with the online premiere of The Space Between Us by Bruno Roque. It was a perfect closer that united many of the elements from previous pieces while commenting on the conditions that created the program Continuum – Bridging the Distance.

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Amanda Morgan, Hannah Mayree, Nia-Amina Minor, Seattle Dance Collective

Musings From the Seattle Dance Collective

Seattle Dance Collective continues its second season with the fourth of five pieces, Musings by Amanda Morgan. As usual, the piece premiered online on a Thursday. But by now, the individual pieces are beginning to feel like a program that is organized along a gradient of tradition. Beginning with the beautifully filmed ballet Home, the pieces become progressively more experimental. A Headlamp or Two felt like a film whose content happened to be dance. Musings feels like a multimedia artwork in which the media are film, dance, and spoken word.

Category Archive Dance

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