Seattle – Page 22 – Gemma D. Alexander

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, which PNB is presenting as part of a two-part Robbins Festival to kick off its 2018-2019 season, September 21 – 29, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.

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Chopin, Circus Polka, Dances at a Gathering, Jerome Robbins, Jerome Robbins festival, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Concert

Jerome Robbins Festival Program B

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Lesley Rausch as The Ballerina in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody), which PNB is presenting as part of a two-part Robbins Festival to kick off its 2018-2019 season, September 21 – 29, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.

PNB dancer Lesley Rausch in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert Photo © Angela Sterling.

This year PNB is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Jerome Robbins’ birth with a Jerome Robbins Festival. Artistic Director Peter Boal created two separate programs using seven of the twelve Robbins’ pieces in the PNB repertory. Tickets for the two programs are sold separately. It’s a lot of ballet for one weekend, but I think it’s worth attending both programs. If you have to pick one, Program A is a little easier to process. That said, I think I liked Program B best.

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, which PNB is presenting as part of a two-part Robbins Festival to kick off its 2018-2019 season, September 21 – 29, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.

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Afternoon of a Faun, Chopin, Circus Polka, Debussy, In the Night, Jerome Robbins, Jerome Robbins festival, musical theater, Other Dances, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Stravinsky, West Side Story

Jerome Robbins Festival Program A

PNB dancers in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night Photo © Angela Sterling.

This year PNB is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Jerome Robbins’ birth with a Jerome Robbins Festival. Artistic Director Peter Boal created two separate programs using seven of the twelve Robbins’ pieces in the PNB repertory. Tickets for the two programs are sold separately. I recommend seeing both, but it’s a lot of ballet to take in all at once. So what if you can only make it to one? Here is my take on Jerome Robbins Festival Program A. Read More

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Seth Orza and Noelani Pantastico in Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances, which PNB is presenting as part of a two-part Robbins Festival to kick off its 2018-2019 season, September 21 – 29, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.

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Jerome Robbins, Jerome Robbins festival, Pacific Northwest Ballet

Jerome Robbins Festival at Pacific Northwest Ballet

PNB principals Seth Orza and Noelani Pantastico in Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances, Photo © Angela Sterling.

If you’ve been to the ballet more than a few times, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen something by Jerome Robbins. Pacific Northwest Ballet has 12 of his ballets in their repertory (New York City Ballet has sixty). This year PNB is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of his birth by kicking off their 2018 season with a Jerome Robbins Festival. For balletomanes, this is a major opportunity to see some of the most beloved works of a man who made modern ballet what it is. But why would normal people bother to see two whole programs by someone they’ve never heard of?

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1755, Amorphis, Atoma, Blood and Thunder, Dark Tranquillity, El Corazon, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Queen of Time, The Burning Cold, The Necromancer's Cantos

At El Corazon: Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Blood and Thunder

Esa Holopainen of Amorphis photo c/o Casey Tanasse

I had some music lined up for a regular Music I Liked post today. But I’m going to punt it to next week because on Thursday I saw Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, and Blood and Thunder at El Corazon. It was all music I liked.

Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo

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Gershwin, Gershwins, Porgy and Bess, Seattle Opera

Should You See Porgy and Bess?

Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo c/o Seattle Opera

Porgy and Bess is the first opera in Seattle Opera’s 2018-2019 season, and probably the one I was most curious about. Like Madame Butterfly, Porgy and Bess is either loved as a pillar of the opera canon or reviled as a racist tool of oppression, depending on who you’re talking to. I couldn’t wait to find out which side of the fence I’d be on. As with most things, the answer is buried in nuance somewhere between the opposing views. In the end, I didn’t love Porgy and Bess, but not for the reasons you’d expect.

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Jerome Robbins Festival Program B

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Jerome Robbins Festival Program A

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Jerome Robbins Festival at Pacific Northwest Ballet

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At El Corazon: Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Blood and Thunder

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Should You See Porgy and Bess?

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Jerome Robbins Festival Program B

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Jerome Robbins Festival Program A

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Jerome Robbins Festival at Pacific Northwest Ballet

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At El Corazon: Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Blood and Thunder

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Should You See Porgy and Bess?

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