Pacific Northwest Ballet delivers a gaggle of goosebumps with GHOST STORIES. Featuring works by George Balanchine and Alejandro Cerrudo, and an Edgar Allen Poe-infused world premiere by Kyle Davis.
November 6 – 15 2026
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center
Seattle, WA 98109
Seven Performances Only!
Friday, November 6 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 7 at 2:00 and 7:30 pm
Friday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 14 at 2:00 (audio-described performance) and 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 15 at 1:00 pm
SEATTLE, WA—Pacific Northwest Ballet embraces the dark days and full moon of November for the second program of its 26-27 season, with a mixed-plate program designed to chill: George Balanchine’s haunting one-act story ballet, La Sonnambula, tells the gothic tale of doomed love, with a beautiful sleepwalker at its center. The program also features The Raven, a world premiere from Kyle Davis, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem. The evening is rounded out by Alejandro Cerrudo’s moody Silent Ghost and cheeky PACOPEPEPLUTO.
GHOST STORIES run for seven performances only, November 6 through 15 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $43 (fees inclusive.) The program will also stream digitally November 19 – 23: Digital access is available by subscription only: See TICKET INFORMATION, below, for more details. For tickets and additional information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org.
The dancing continues through the intermissions: Students from PNB School’s New Voices II choreography class will be performing on six tiny stages throughout the McCaw Hall lobby during both intermissions of GHOST STORIES at all performances (with the exception of the Sunday, Nov. 15 closing matinee.) For more information, see SPECIAL EVENTS, below.
In honor of the spooky season, patrons attending the Friday, November 13th performance are encouraged to come dressed as Edgar Allen Poe or in similarly goth-inspired attire. (See SPECIAL EVENTS, below, for more info.)
PERFORMANCE LINE-UP
Silent Ghost
Music: Ólafur Arnalds, Jon Hopkins & Kenny Anderson, Nils Frahm, Dustin Hamman
Choreography: Alejandro Cerrudo
Staging: Pablo Piantino
Costume Design: Branimira Ivanova
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Running Time: 22 minutes
Premiere: July 10, 2015, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
PNB Premiere: November 2, 2018
Alejandro Cerrudo’s Silent Ghost was the third Cerrudo work to enter Pacific Northwest Ballet’s repertory, following the world premiere of Memory Glow in 2014 and the PNB premiere of Little mortal jump in 2016.
PACOPEPEPLUTO
Music: Songs sung by Dean Martin and Joe Scalissi
Choreography: Alejandro Cerrudo
Staging: Pablo Piantino
Costume Design: Rebecca M. Shouse
Lighting Design: Matt Miller
Running Time: Eight minutes
Premiere: June 7, 2011, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
PNB Premiere: November 19, 2020 (digital season, First Look gala)
Three solos for male dancers set to songs popularized by “the king of cool,” Dean Martin, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, PACOPEPEPLUTO shows Alejandro Cerrudo’s skill at balancing aesthetic austerity and sharp wit.
The Raven [WORLD PREMIERE]
Music: Alexander Dreyschock
Choreography: Kyle Davis
Scenic and Lighting Design: Jim French
Costume Design: Emma Kingsbury
“I am unremarkable in my fascination with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven – a work that has been chilling readers since its 1845 publication. Its haunting atmosphere, rhythmic structure, and deeply tragic look at love and loss easily entrance any reader and inspire every storyteller. I have loved Poe’s words since I was a child, but it was not until I heard Alexander Dreyschock’s Morceau de concert, Op. 27, that I imagined the text as a dance.
“It is rare in ballet to find a classical composition that is dynamic – both bravura and lyrical – that has not already been chosen by another choreographer as the mechanism to drive their steps. But nearly 15 years ago I ‘discovered’ Dreyschock, who – despite his musical talents – is relatively unknown. Dreyschock composed Morceau de concert for piano and orchestra in 1843 and played the solo piano part through the 1850s and into the 1860s. Dreyschock died in 1868 and the composition seemed to die
with him. Luckily, in the late 1960s, pianist Frank Cooper founded the Festival for Neglected Romantic Music, reviving Dreyschock’s work.
“Cooper recorded Morceau de concert in 1977 with the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra. For the next 35 years, this composition went unplayed until Howard Shelley recorded the piece with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra – I cannot count the number of times I have listened to this recording. When asked to create a new ballet for Pacific Northwest Ballet, I presented Peter Boal with a shortlist of concepts, at the top of which was The Raven. I could only imagine the PNB Orchestra bringing this score to life, all the while knowing the challenge we’d face in finding the score and parts.
“Finding Dreyschock’s music was no easy task. The PNB Orchestra is very well-connected and yet finding Morceau de concert required every personal contact and favor. No stone was left unturned. A box filled with yellowed, tattered pages – incomplete and barely legible – was found in the depths of the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music at the Free Library of Philadelphia, less than a mile and a half away from Edgar Allan Poe’s Philadelphia home.
“For more than a decade I have contemplated the creation of this ballet. The mix of Poe’s haunting tale, the mysterious components of Poe’s life, my own fascination and love of birds, and my ‘discovery’ of a nearly forgotten musical composition almost 15 years ago, have all played parts in my desire to translate The Raven into a ballet for three characters: the Man, Lenore – the ghost of his lost love – and the Raven. This ballet is an expression of the discord in one’s mind when hope and grief contend.” –Kyle Davis
La Sonnambula
Music: Vittorio Rieti, based on themes by Vincenzo Bellini
Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Scenic and Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Costume Design: Christine Joly de Lotbiniere after original design by Karinska
Running Time: 37 minutes
Premiere: February 27, 1946, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
PNB Premiere: March 15, 2007
Set in a darkly mysterious masked ball, Balanchine’s one-act La Sonnambula (originally called Night Shadow) tells the story of a Poet who pays suit to a Coquette, who is escorted by the Host. After a series of exotic divertissements, the elegantly attired guests go in to supper, leaving the Poet to himself. In a moment, an apparition in white enters, a beautiful Sleepwalker. Entranced, the Poet tries repeatedly to wake her, but she eludes him. [Spoiler Alert!] The jealous Coquette informs the Host of the Poet’s advances to her; enraged, he stabs the Poet. The Sleepwalker reappears to bear the Poet’s lifeless body away. [Excerpted notes © The George Balanchine Trust]
SPECIAL EVENTS
PNB CONVERSATIONS & DRESS REHEARSAL
Thursday, November 5, 5:30 pm
Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Join PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal, in conversation with The Raven choreographer Kyle Davis, along with members of his creative team. PNB Conversations offer in-depth interviews with artists involved in putting our repertory on stage. Attend the Conversations event only or stay for the dress rehearsal of GHOST STORIES. Tickets (suggested donation $40) are available through the PNB Box Office.
BALLET TALK
Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Join dance historian Doug Fullington (Nov. 6 – 7) and choreographer Kyle Davis (Nov. 13 – 15) for a 30-minute introduction to each performance, including discussions of choreography, music, history, design, and the process of bringing ballet to the stage. One hour before performances. FREE for ticketholders.
PopUP! performances by PNB School’s New Voices II students
Kreielsheimer Promenade, Grand Lobby, and First Tier lobbies at McCaw Hall
Two-dozen student dancers will be performing on six tiny 4×4 stages located throughout the McCaw Hall lobby during both intermissions of GHOST STORIES. (Excludes the Sunday Nov. 15 performance.) These short pieces were created by students of the New Voices choreography class directed by instructor Eva Stone. Each dance is unique, and dancers will change location so that audiences will see different performances during each intermission. New Voices is a two-year choreography program for female-identifying students at PNB School. PopUP! dances are presented as part of RELEVÉ, PNB’s new initiative to empower young creators through the art of dance. RELEVÉ is generously supported by Allen Family Philanthropies. For more information, visit PNB.org/releve.
TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA NIGHT
Friday, November 13th
You didn’t think we could let a Friday the 13th – falling during the run of a program featuring a ballet based on an Edgar Allen Poe poem – pass unnoticed, did you? In honor of the day, patrons attending GHOST STORIES on Friday, November 13 are encouraged to come dressed as Poe (or your favorite spooky character.) Please, no birds or other non-humans, living or dead.
SPOTLIGHT LUNCHEON
Saturday, November 14, 2026, 11:00 AM
McCaw Hall
Dive into the heart of the art with an exclusive glimpse into the creative process of Kyle Davis’s latest work, The Raven. Guests will enjoy lunch and an intimate conversation with Davis, discovering what it takes to create a ballet, followed by an exclusive viewing of company class as dancers prepare for the stage. The Spotlight Luncheon supports PNB’s mission to create new works, elevate emerging voices, foster artistic exploration, and ensure that PNB’s stage remains vibrant with innovation. Tickets ($75 – $150) are available through the PNB Box Office or online at PNB.org/support/special-events.
MEET THE ARTIST
Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Skip the post-show traffic and enjoy a Q&A with members of PNB’s Artistic team and PNB dancers, immediately following each performance. FREE for ticketholders.
TICKET INFORMATION & DISCOUNT OFFERS
Tickets to GHOST STORIES as well as PNB’s entire 2026-27 Season are available through the PNB Box Office:
· Phone – 206.441.2424
· In Person – 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center
· Online 24/7 – PNB.org
Subject to availability, tickets are also available 90 minutes prior to show times at McCaw Hall. Advance tickets through the PNB Box Office are strongly suggested for best prices and greatest availability.
Tickets to GHOST STORIES are $47 – $270 (fees inclusive), with discounts available for children 14 and under. Groups of ten or more may enjoy discounts of up to 20% off regular prices (not valid on lowest-priced tickets or combined with other offers.) Visit PNB.org/season/group-sales for more information.
PNB offers select audio-described performances for visually-impaired and blind patrons at $20 per ticket. The audio-described performance of GHOST STORIES is Saturday, November 14 at 2:00 pm. PNB’s Audio Dance Description program is generously underwritten by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. For additional accessibility info, visit PNB.org/accessibility.
PNB’s digital presentation of GHOST STORIES (October 8 – 12) is available by subscription only. For tickets ($350, tax inclusive) and more information, click here. (Some digital season programming may vary from the onstage performances.)
PNB offers many generous ticket discount programs to make ballet affordably accessible. For information about special ticket offers including group discounts, The Pointe (for audiences under 40), Pay-What-You-Can, senior and student rush tickets, Beer & Ballet night, TeenTix, and more, visit PNB.org/offers.
Caveat Emptor: Like many other performing arts, PNB struggles with ticket resellers. At their most benign, third-party sites buy up less expensive tickets and sell them for a profit. At their most malignant, they sometimes sell invalid tickets. For ease of mind and to enjoy the show at the best available prices, always purchase tickets directly from PNB. Suspected scams should be reported to the Better Business Bureau.
The show must go on! PNB is committed to honoring its performance calendar. Shows will not be cancelled for weather, traffic, or acts of Congress. In the unlikely event that the status of a performance does change, an announcement will be posted on PNB.org.
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The 2007 PNB premiere of George Balanchine’s La Sonnambula was generously underwritten in part by the PNB Advisory Board of Trustees. The works of George Balanchine performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet are made possible in part by The Louise Nadeau Endowed Fund. PNB’s restaging of Alejandro Cerrudo’s Silent Ghost was made possible in part through the support of the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Fund. PNB’s 2026 performances of Alejandro Cerrudo’s PACOPEPEPLUTO are sponsored by Alison Heald & Alfred Lee. The world premiere of Kyle Davis’s The Raven is principally supported by Alison Heald & Alfred Lee, with additional support from Sally Maimoni.
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2026-27 season is proudly sponsored by 4Culture, ArtsFund, Microsoft, and The Shubert Foundation. PNB’s digital season is made possible by Katherine Graubard and William Calvin. PNB media sponsorship provided by The Seattle Times.
