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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.
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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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Elizabeth Murphy and Karel Cruz in Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata. Photo © Angela Sterling.
Last weekend I took my daughter to see the final program in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2017-2018 season. It was the mixed rep “Love and Ballet.” The program began with Christopher Wheeldon’s “Tide Harmonic” and the pas de deux from “After the Rain,” which I wrote about earlier this week. The other pieces in the program were Benjamin Millepied’s “Appassionata” and Justin Peck’s “Year of the Rabbit.” There were several reasons I was excited to for this program of non-narrative ballets. Read More
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Photo © Angela Sterling c/o PNB
Omakase, written with the character for trust, is the word you use when you order chef’s choice at a sushi restaurant. It shows that you trust the skill of the chef to know better than you what is in season and what will taste best together. When you say omakase, instead of giving an order, you are trusting the chef to create the best experience for you, like a DJ controlling the atmosphere of a party by selecting the right beats. You are likely to be served dishes outside of your comfort zone, and while you might not like all of them, a good chef will create a more delicious and memorable meal than you could have selected for yourself.
Each spring, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Director’s Choice program is ballet omakase. The mixed rep program is Director Peter Boal’s opportunity to express his own taste and to stretch the audience and the dancers with dances that are more challenging or unusual than the regular season fare. Read More
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The Director’s Choice program is always one of my favorite ballet performances of the year. I look forward to Peter Boal’s selection of modern, intriguing, challenging pieces all year. So when I ran a 102 F temperature the day before I was supposed to go, I hated the thought of missing it. Fortunately, as a season subscriber, I was able to call the box office and change my dates without any fees. Unfortunately, on the day of the final performance, I was still completely out of commission, so I ended up sending my husband and daughter. My daughter has been attending the ballet for half of her life. That’s only five years of ballet, so her opinions are not necessarily the same as mine. But her opinions (lightly edited) are the ones you’re getting today.