I hardly know where to begin talking about Pacific Northwest Ballet’s latest rep, Kylian + Pite, but I’m afraid that once I start, I won’t be able to stop. Like my recent experience with Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm at Decibel Festival, this performance forced me to reconsider the very definition of one my favorite art forms.
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Kylian + Pite Redefine Ballet
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La fille du régiment at Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera kicked off its 50th season with Donizetti’s La fille du régiment. It seemed like a strange choice to me, because, well, it is not the best opera. In fact, it almost doesn’t seem like opera. It reminded me more of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance than a comedic bel canto like Così fan tutte. Read More
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Twyla Tharp, A I R at PNB
The seasons changed this weekend. Friday night was my last summer music festival. Saturday afternoon Pacific Northwest Ballet kicked off the fall arts season with a mixed program choreographed by Twyla Tharp. Like Vin Diesel says in xXx, “I live for this shit.” It is no accident that my house is exactly 3 miles from Seattle Center. Google Maps claims it takes 11 minutes from my driveway to the McCaw Hall parking garage. So when I left my house an hour before AIR Twyla, it was only because my date for the performance – my 9-year-old daughter – was getting antsy. It was a good thing we left early, because it took us over an hour to get there.
We slipped into the empty back row to see the PNB premiere of artist-in-residence Twyla Tharp’s “Brief Fling,” already in progress. I find it disconcerting to miss even the first few seconds of a performance. Not so my kid. Moments after we sat down, she stage-whispered, “I love this one already!”
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Optical 2: Erased Tapes Showcase at Decibel Festival
Subtitle: Who the hell is Nils Frahm and why haven’t I heard of him before?
Nils Frahm (obviously a press photo and not one of mine)
Seattle’s Decibel Festival turns 10 this year, which means it was born just about the same time I quit following electronic music. While I wasn’t paying attention, Decibel grew into a world class celebration of underground and experimental electronic music. The only reason I went this year was to see Ólafur Arnalds. But what I will remember most is Nils Frahm.
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Feeling The National and Frightened Rabbit at the Paramount
With The National and Frightened Rabbit sharing the Paramount stage, I knew it would be a night for feeling all the feels. And it was. But not quite in the way I expected. Read More