Quick Time

Noelani Pantastico in Quick Time.
Photo © Angela Sterling

Music: Camille Saint-Saëns (Variations on a Theme of Beethoven, Op. 35, 1874)
Choreography: Christopher Stowell
Costume Design: Mark Zappone
Lighting Design: Lisa J. Pinkham
Duration: 20 minutes
Premiere: April 14, 2005; Pacific Northwest Ballet

For his second creation for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Christopher Stowell has drawn upon a brilliant 20-minute duo-piano work by Camille Saint-Saëns, a set of variations and a fugue based on a theme from Beethoven’s sonata for piano, op. 4, no. 3. The exuberance and vitality of the music inspired Stowell to depict a cycle of extroverted dances performed by a lead couple and an ensemble of eight. Ballet dancers, he believes, are as thrilling to observe and as worthy of adoration as rock stars. His choreography exploits their skills as exponents of dazzling balletic feats.

The two pianos form part of the stage décor, and the costumes are flamboyant in design, reflecting the influence of Emilio Pucci’s popular haute couture. In this high-spirited display the issues of classical dancing are juxtaposed on a pop-art ambience, set to a 19th-century musical composition that supports the drive and flow of the dances.

Notes by Leland Windreich.