Dances at a Gathering
Opening Solo
Music: Frederic Chopin (Mazurka, Op. 63, no. 3. 1846)
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Staging: Philip Neal & Jenifer Ringer
Costume Design: Joe Eula
Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton, recreated by Randall G. Chiarelli
Christina Siemens, piano
Lucien Postlewaite
Premiere: May 22, 1969; New York City Ballet.
PNB Premiere: May 28, 2009
The 2009 Pacific Northwest Ballet premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering was generously underwritten by Jeffrey & Susan Brotman.
Dances at a Gathering was the first ballet Jerome Robbins made for New York City Ballet upon his return to the company in 1969, following a 12-year absence during which he choreographed some of his best-known Broadway musicals. An hour-long suite for ten dancers, set to solo piano works by Frederic Chopin, Dances at a Gathering began as a pas de deux. Robbins selected more music and the ballet grew. He invited Balanchine to see a rehearsal, asking him if the ballet wasn’t a bit long. Balanchine watched the rehearsal, then said, “More. Make more!”
F O I L
Excerpts
Music: Nadia Boulanger (Trois Pièces for cello and piano, 1914, No. 1. Modéré)
and Clara Schumann (Trois Romances pour le pianoforte, Op. 11, No. 1, 1. Andante, 1853)
Choreography: Eva Stone
Costume Design: Melanie Burgess
Lighting Design: Amiya Brown
Page Smith, cello Christina Siemens, piano
II – Be Still
Cecilia Iliesiu Amanda Morgan Juliet Prine
IV – Wait
Abby Jayne DeAngelo
Mark Cuddihee Juliet Prine Kuu Sakuragi Yuki Takahashi
Premiere: November 8, 2019; Pacific Northwest Ballet
The 2019 world premiere of Eva Stone’s F O I L was commissioned by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and was principally supported by Deidra Wager with additional support from Anne Holmes, Elizabeth Yntema, and an anonymous donor.
“And so she built the house with a steady hand, room by room, until the walls held tight every secret of the Universe, and the neighbours, their hands pressed to the glass, watchful of the radiance within.” ‒ Anonymous
One Body
Excerpt
Music: John Kennedy (“Prayer for the Great Family” from One Body, 1998)
Choreography: Albert Evans
Staging: Peter Boal
Costume Design: Mark Zappone
Lighting Design: David Moodey
Christopher D’Ariano
Premiere: January 9, 2003; Peter Boal Solos (New York, NY)
PNB Premiere: October 15, 2020; Pacific Northwest Ballet (digital release)
The 2020 Pacific Northwest Ballet presentation of Albert Evans’ One Body is supported by Aya Stark Hamilton.
“Prayer for the Great Family” from One Body (1998) by John Kennedy, text by Gary Snyder Performed by Essential Music, Bruce Rameker, voice “Prayer for the Great Family” copyright © 1974 by Gary Snyder Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.
After an 18-year slumber, the solo was seen again, and Albert’s offering seemed deserving of a new audience at a time when beauty, sincerity, and reflection are more needed than ever. Knowing Albert’s life ended abruptly at age 51 makes this offering and the extension of his artistry all the more meaningful. Thank you, Albert, for this love letter and for all the joy you brought to me and to so many others. May your contribution live on.
– Peter Boal
Swan Lake
Excerpts
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Op. 20, 1875-1876)
Choreography: Kent Stowell
Staging: Francia Russell (after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov)
Scenic Design: Ming Cho Lee
Costume Design: Paul Tazewell
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Members of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Conductor Emil de Cou
Musical arrangement by Doug Fullington
Pas de Trois Variation
Kyle Davis
Odette Variation
Elizabeth Murphy
Siegfried Variation & Coda
Steven Loch
Odile Variation & Coda
Angelica Generosa
Original Production Premiere: February 20, 1877, Imperial Ballet, Moscow, choreography by Julius Reisinger; restaged on January 15, 1895, Imperial Ballet, St. Petersburg, choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Stowell/Russell Production Premiere: October 1, 1976; Frankfurt Ballet
PNB Premiere: April 8, 1981; new production September 25, 2003
Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake was made possible by the E.L. Wiegand Foundation.
Swan Lake is considered by many to be the greatest classical ballet of all time. With its fantastical plot filled with romance, sorcery, and betrayal, Swan Lake offers ballerinas the ultimate challenge of a dual role—Odette, trapped in the body of a white swan while awaiting an oath of true love to set her free, and Odile, the temptress daughter of Baron Von Rothbart, who plots the downfall of Odette’s true love, Siegfried. Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 1981 production was a significant milestone as the first full-length ballet re-created for the Company. The current production of Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake, in a revised staging and featuring new designs, premiered in 2003 to open PNB’s inaugural season in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.
Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Staging: Elyse Borne
Scenic and Costume Design: Jérôme Kaplan
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Emeralds
Bracelet solo
Music: Gabriel Fauré (Pelléas et Melisande, 1898, II. La fileuse)
Michael Jinsoo Lim, violin
Christina Siemens, piano
Leta Biasucci
Rubies
Pas de Deux
Music: Igor Stravinsky (Capriccio for piano and orchestra, 1929)
By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
Christina Siemens, Josh Archibald-Seiffer, pianists
Kyle Davis Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan
Diamonds
Scherzo
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, 1875, first movement omitted)
Members of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Conductor Emil de Cou
Musical attangement by Doug Fullington
Lesley Rausch Jerome Tisserand
Madison Rayn Abeo Ryan Cardea Joshua Grant Sarah Pasch
Miles Pertl Leah Terada Ezra Thomson Genevieve Waldorf
Premiere: April 13, 1967; New York City Ballet
PNB Premiere: June 1, 2006; new production September 22, 2017
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s Jewels was made possible by Patty Edwards.
Presenting support for the 2017 Pacific Northwest Ballet production of George Balanchine’s Emeralds was provided by Dan & Pam Baty, with additional support from Lynne E. Graybeal & Scott Harron.
The works of George Balanchine performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet are made possible in part by The Louise Nadeau Endowed Fund.
Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds premiered on a mixed bill that closed with Balanchine’s Prodigal Son. The matinee three days later opened with Balanchine’s one-act Swan Lake, followed by the three new ballets. Critic Clive Barnes suggested calling the collective ballets “The Jewels” (apparently this was Balanchine’s working title) in his New York Times review on April 17, which bore the headline, “Appraising Balanchine’s ‘Jewels.’” Barnes asserted, “[It] still has no title on the program, but it has to be called something,” and he used “The Jewels” as a surrogate throughout the review. In an interview two weeks after the premiere and also published in The New York Times, Balanchine wasn’t bothered by the lack of a title: “How do you name ballets anyway? I wanted to call it ‘Le Diamant,’ in French. ‘Diamond’ in English is no good. The ballet has nothing to do with jewels, the dancers are just dressed like jewels.” This sort of illusory statement was typical of Balanchine. When asked what Rubies was about, he reportedly answered, “It’s about twenty minutes.”
The quest to uncover meaning and intention in Balanchine’s works has long fascinated the dance world, and Jewels is no exception. Ideas, analyses, and commentaries abound. Sometimes these have been aided by Balanchine’s words, others times stymied, but more often their effect is simply intriguing because of his general silence. What seems clear are three things: one, Balanchine made Jewels to display the breadth and diversity of his New York City Ballet talent in its new and spacious New York State Theater; two, he created leading roles carefully tailored to his star dancers; and three, he paid tribute, consciously or otherwise, to three countries, their music, their schools of dance, and their contributions to his development as a choreographer.
Music: Anonymous, French, late 12th-early 13th century (“O Maria, stella maris”)
Arranged by Doug Fullington
Choreography: Jessica Lang
Film Directors: Jessica Lang and Kanji Segawa
Costume Design: Elena Comendador
Costume Concept: Jessica Lang
Lighting Design adapted by: Nicole Pearce
Staging: Kanji Segawa
Sarra Sharif Doyle, mezzo soprano
Dylan Wald
Premiere: October 15, 2006 (as part of Splendid Isolation II); Ailey II (Baltimore, Maryland)
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: June 7, 2015
The 2015 Pacific Northwest Ballet premiere of Jessica Lang’s The Calling was generously underwritten by Aya Stark Hamilton.
The 2020 Pacific Northwest Ballet presentation of Jessica Lang’s The Calling is supported by Aya Stark Hamilton.
Singers: Sarra Sharif Doyle with Orrin Doyle, Margaret Obenza, Markdavin Obenza, and Christina Siemens.
Music: C.P.E. Bach (Cello Concerto in A minor, Wq. 172, third movement)
and The Cramps (“Surfin’ Bird”), written by Al Frazier, Carl White, Turner Wilson Jr., Sonny Harris
Choreography: Marco Goecke
Staging: Sean Suozzi
Costume Coordination: Mark Zappone
Lighting Design: David Moodey
Members of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Conductor Emil de Cou
Page Smith, cello
James Yoichi Moore
Premiere: March 16, 2004; Peter Boal and Company (New York)
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: November 3, 2005
The 2005 Pacific Northwest Ballet premiere of Mopey was made possible by Glenn Kawasaki.
Peter Boal met Marco Goecke in 2002 when the young German choreographer was invited to participate in New York City Ballet’s New York Choreographic Institute. Impressed with Goecke’s work for NYCB dancer Sean Suozzi, Boal commissioned a new work for Suozzi for performances by Peter Boal and Company at the Joyce Theater in 2004. Set to music by C.P.E. Bach and the 80’s rock band The Cramps, Mopey is an inwardly reflective yet volatile solo work—dark, moody and potentially unsettling. Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Timescalled it “a tour de force” and “a touching piece of alienation,” while Laura Shapiro of New York Magazine praised Suozzi’s interpretation as “riveting in a portrait of madness so eloquent it looked like Shakespeare without words.” In addition to performances by Pacific Northwest Ballet, Mopey has been performed at the Jacob’s Pillow Festival, at the Biennale in Venice and at the 2004 Pina Bausch Festival in Wuppertal.
The Trees The Trees
Pas de Deux
Music: Kyle Vegter (The Trees, The Trees, 2018)
Mixed and mastered by Kyle Vegter
Choreography: Robyn Mineko Williams
Words: Heather Christie
Scenic and Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Costume Design: Branimira Ivanova
Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Conductor Emil de Cou
Alicia Walter, Vocalist (2019)
Elle Macy Dylan Wald
Premiere: March 15, 2019; Pacific Northwest Ballet
The 2019 world premiere of Robyn Mineko Williams’ The Trees The Trees is principally supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and Deidra Wager, with additional support from Ms. Toni Hoover & Mr. Alfred Nettles and T.R. Ko. Music commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
The Trees The Trees sparked a spectacular collage of imagery in my mind that I wanted to bring to life through movement. Each of the piece’s vignettes is built on a poem from the book, inspiring a mélange of scenes rooted in the everyday and sprinkled with fantastical, heart-punching moments. —Robyn Mineko Williams
Red Angels
Finale
Music: Richard Einhorn (Maxwell’s Demon, 1988-1990)
Choreography: Ulysses Dove
Staging: Peter Boal
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: Mark Stanley
Michael Jinsoo Lim, violin
Cecilia Iliesiu William Lin-Yee
Amanda Morgan Lucien Postlewaite
Premiere: May 9, 1994; New York City Ballet (Diamond Project)
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: September 17, 2005
Red Angels is a ballet of intense dramatic impact that is calculated to charge all the senses. Dressed in scarlet leotards and bathed in white and red hot light, four dancers perform with powerful athleticism to a riveting score for electric violin. Ulysses Dove commented on working with the dancers of New York City Ballet: “I wanted to deal with aspects of the Balanchine aesthetic I find appealing: the speed, legginess, the formality. As for the title, I think the dancers are angelic. And for me, the angels of the senses are red.” Composer Richard Einhorn has described Maxwell’s Demon as “a conscious attempt…to transmute American popular music into art…with a nod towards direct expression and to an audience steeped in American rock ‘n roll.”
Acknowledgements
The Dancers and Stage Managers of Pacific Northwest Ballet are members of AGMA—the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.
Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra is represented by the PNB Orchestra Players Union.
Stage Crew is represented by I.A.T.S.E., Local #15.
Wardrobe Attendants are represented by Theatrical Wardrobe Union #887, I.A.T.S.E.
These performances of excerpts from Emeralds and Diamonds, Balanchine Ballets®, are presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and have been provided in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® service standards established and provided by The Trust.
My husband I very much enjoyed the virtual concert!!!
Thank you, PNB for offering this digital season. For the first time since 1983, I will be without my Saturday ballet matinees. While they certainly can’t replace my season tickets, I can at least get a taste of ballet to tide me over until live performances resume. And there is the advantage of “rewinding” a particular segment and watching it again.
Just watched Rep I of the 2020-21 season on a rainy Sunday. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Of course, I miss dressing up and attending in person, sometimes hearing the dancers breathing onstage and the thump of ballet slippers hitting the stage, and people-watching during the intermissions, and just the excitement of live performance. That said, I praise the dancers for their dedication to their art, keeping in shape when there is no end in sight, their flexibility in performing in a void for these taped performances. We are in a strange time, but this, too, shall pass. I have been a season ticket holder since 1987; I’m not going anywhere. I hope you will keep your spirits up and look forward to the day when we can all return to McCaw Hall and give you the attention and applause you so rightly deserve. Kudos to all for Rep I.
How about for next rep a downloadable program/cast list so we can refer to it while watching performances ??? Include with email link to show.
A beautiful program, elegantly executed, as usual! Thank you for making Dance Happen in a most creative and beautiful way.
An amazing alternative to being there. Incredibly moving – especially during this time. Much gratitude for all the effort and ingenuity to make this digital version possible.
Thank you! What a balm and antidote for this time. How beautiful. Thank you for all the pieces, especially for Act II. And for the finale of one of my favorite in the world,Red Angels. And beautiful lighting throughout, and the music.