Pacific Northwest Ballet – Page 12

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Director's Choice, One Flat Thing, One Flat Thing reproduced, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Red Angels, rehearsal, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe

Friday Preview of Director’s Choice at Pacific Northwest Ballet

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

Lesley Rausch as Odette© Angela Sterling

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Jerome Tisserand, Lesley Rausch, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky

The Evolution of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Swan Lake

Photo by Angela Sterling c/o PNB

Swan Lake is almost the definition of “canon” for classical ballet. What could be more rigid and tradition-bound than the most famous ballet? It turns out, a lot of things can. Swan Lake has changed a lot from its premiere in 1877, and even today, every performance is a little different. Since it’s also performed every three or four years in Seattle, we can actually watch the evolution of Swan Lake. Read More

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Afternoon Ball, Angelica Generosa, Benjamin Griffiths, Crystal Pite, Her Door to the Sky, Her Story, Jessica Lang, Lucien Postlewaite, Noelani Pantastico, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Plot Point, Twyla Tharp

Her Story at Pacific Northwest Ballet

“You never take me to the modern ballets,” my 8-year-old complained. “I only get to go to the story ballets.” Was she right? Conventional wisdom tells us to introduce kids to ballet through story, but I’ve never really bought it. After all, little kids are far more likely to spontaneously erupt into abstract dance than adults are, so why would they have a harder time understanding it? But as a reviewer, I do tend to take the kid closest to the age that readers are likely to want to bring, so maybe my artistic younger daughter had been unfairly sequestered in the story ballet ghetto? Fortunately, Pacific Northwest Ballet came to rescue with Her Story, a mixed rep of contemporary ballet choreographed by three of the world’s leading choreographers. The title implied a feminist theme, but the only link between the three pieces is that the choreographers are all women, and all three pieces are magnificent. Read More

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Amanda Morgan, Angelica Generosa, Balanchine, Calista Ruat, George Balanchine, James Moore, Jerome Kaplan, Jewels, Leta Biasucci, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peter Boal

50 Years of Jewels

Milestone birthdays inspire reflection. Especially when the milestone in question is 50 years, and Jewels are being reflected. This year, Jewels, the collection of three gemstone-themed ballets by George Balanchine, turns 50. I’ve been watching Pacific Northwest Ballet for nearly half that time – I fell in love with ballet at PNB’s Nutcracker in 1993. Read More

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ballet, David Dawson, Director's Choice, Empire Noir, Greg Haines, Her Door to the Sky, Jessica Lang, New Suite, Pacific Northwest Ballet, William Forsythe

Choice Time at Pacific Northwest Ballet

In kindergarten, almost every kid has the same favorite subject in school – Choice Time. Choice time usually disappears in third grade, but when it does appear in later life, it’s usually still a favorite. For me, that means the annual Director’s Choice program at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Of course, it’s the director’s job to pick the programs, so in a sense every program is the director’s choice. But the idea behind Director’s Choice is that for this one program, the director picks ballets he likes best without consideration for budgets and ticket sales. I doubt that the director is ever free from those considerations, but it’s a nice idea and it is true that Director’s Choice includes more premieres and bolder works than other programs throughout the season. Which is why I always end up liking it best.

This year was even more special to me, because for once, I only brought my kids to the introduction of the blog post, but was free to attend and enjoy the actual ballet for myself, without consideration for what kind of value it may have for kids or how to help kids understand and enjoy it. Even better, my companion for the evening is a dancer herself, so I could share her insights that I would never get on my own. Read More

Tag Archive Pacific Northwest Ballet

Friday Preview of Director’s Choice at Pacific Northwest Ballet

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The Evolution of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Swan Lake