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Beyond Ballet is Pacific Northwest Ballet’s second post-lockdown in-person program and the third in McCaw Hall, which also hosts Seattle Opera. I’ve attended all three programs, so by now you’d think watching shows in person would be back to normal. Or at least the new normal. It is not. But that does not mean it isn’t worth it. And it does get easier.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers Lesley Rausch and Lucien Postlewaite in Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.
When I watched part of the rehearsal for Director’s Choice at Pacific Northwest Ballet, my attention was captured by another piece (more on that one later). But during the performance, “Red Angels” was the one that stood out. When the piece ended and the lights came up, my nine-year-old (who usually prefers a more traditional style of ballet) turned me wide-eyed and said, “That was amazing.”
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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