NEXT STEP is Pacific Northwest Ballet’s annual choreographers showcase. NEXT STEP is a one-night-only, all-premiere event with choreography by company dancers, dancing by the PNB School’s Professional Division students, and music by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. This year called NEXT STEP: OUTSIDE/IN, the evening began OUTSIDE, with three free performances. The ticketed second part took place IN McCaw Hall.
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NEXT STEP: IN at Pacific Northwest Ballet
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NEXT STEP: Outside
In the past, my ballet exposure was limited to regular season performances. But this year I busted out of that narrow approach. I attended preview dress rehearsals, lectures, the season encore, and now, NEXT STEP. NEXT STEP is Pacific Northwest Ballet’s annual choreographers showcase. Managed by former PNB soloist Kiyon Ross, NEXT STEP is a one-night-only event where company dancers rise as choreographers, and the PNB School’s Professional Division students take center stage in an all-premiere program. This year it busted out of McCaw Hall, spilling onto the grounds of Seattle Center. Called NEXT STEP: OUTSIDE/IN, it featured (almost) all-new choreography (mostly) by PNB dancers. Appropriately, the evening began OUTSIDE.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet Season Encore
Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers Amanda Morgan and Sarah Pasch with company dancers in Diamonds from Jewels, 2017. Photo © Angela Sterling.
This is the first season that I’ve attended any of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “extra” events – like performance previews, lectures, and now the Season Encore performance. Although it’s called a season encore, it’s not just a highlights reel of the past season. As I wrote yesterday, it’s also a farewell to departing dancers. In fact, several pieces performed at Season Encore were not even from the last season.
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Farewell Karel
I’ve attended regular season ballet performances since I was 18. But this is the first season that I’ve attended any of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “extra” events – like performance previews, lectures, and now the Season Encore performance. Although it’s called a season encore, it’s not just a highlights reel of the most popular dances of the past season. The Encore program is also a farewell to company members who are leaving for other companies or retiring.
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Love and Ballet and Christopher Wheeldon at PNB
After the Rain. 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 first two pieces in the program were Christopher Wheeldon’s “Tide Harmonic” and the pas de deux from “After the Rain.” There were several reasons I was excited for this program of non-narrative ballets.