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A sudden rush of deadlines and a visit from out-of-state family meant that I didn’t get to prepare as thoroughly for Director’s Choice this year as I normally do. Fortunately, since my family were all visiting, I got to attend with a friend who is herself a dancer. She was happy to attend the pre-lecture and the Q&A afterwards. Plus, I was able to hear some of her insights, which are so much more informed than mine.
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Director’s Choice is always a Pacific Northwest Ballet season highlight for me. This year, it comes in the middle of a visit from out-of-town family, but they won’t miss me if I disappear for one night. And yes, I’m trying to convince them to join me. Since I’m making the argument in favor of this innovative program anyway, I might as well share it here.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet dancer Miles Pertl and Lindsi Dec in Slingerland Duet 2018. Photo © Lindsay Thomas.
“Slingerland Duet (Pas de deux)” is only eight minutes long. But what wonderful minutes they are. “Slingerland Duet” is the second of four pieces presented at this year’s Director’s Choice at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Director’s Choice is my favorite rep of the season most years, but this year was the best yet. Artistic Director Peter Boal says he chooses pieces that he wants audiences to understand “are worth their attention and exploration.” That is certainly true of “Slingerland Duet.” Read More
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PNB’s Jerome Tisserand and Leta Biasucci in Perpetual State. Photo © Angela Sterling.
Every year, Director’s Choice is my favorite rep at Pacific Northwest Ballet, but this year, Peter Boal knocked it out of the park with his selections. I’ve described Director’s Choice as omakase in the past. Boal himself says he chooses pieces he “wants audiences to understand are worth their attention and exploration.” He has also said that this year, a theme emerged after he chose the four pieces: each piece was choreographed by a dancer who was “given a chance” by their ballet director. The first piece of Director’s Choice, appropriately, was choreographed by one of PNB’s own dancers, Ezra Thomson. Read More
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PNB dancers Lindsi Dec and Jerome Tisserand in Red Angels, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.
Last Friday, I got to watch a professional ballet rehearsal through PNB’s Friday Previews program. I’m not sure whether the assortment of peripheral ballet experiences has expanded in recent years, or if it’s only my awareness of them. For ages, I religiously attended every Pacific Northwest Ballet rep while studiously avoiding any activities that might increase my knowledge and understanding of ballet. It was some kind of misguided hippie idea about pure experience or something, I don’t know. So I don’t know when Pacific Northwest Ballet started selling tickets to rehearsals, but I’m so glad they did. Last Friday, I attended a Friday Preview of Director’s Choice, and from now on, attending ballet rehearsal is going to be part of my experience of every production. Read More