Swan Lake Programs Through the Years
When Swan Lake premiered at Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1981, PNB was a small, relatively unknown company. On opening night of the production, PNB, still relying on big-name ballet stars to sell tickets, hired Gelsey Kirkland and Patrick Bissell to perform the principal roles. However, PNB company dancers Deborah Hadley and Jory Hancock’s performance the following evening cemented PNB as a respected ballet company. After the show, Jon Blake of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote that PNB was “on the edge of national stature.” Over 40 years later, Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake is still beloved by audiences. Take a look at PNB’s 14 Swan Lake programs through the years, and let us know which one is your favorite!
1981
Deborah Hadley, photos © John Turner.
1982
Deborah Hadley and Jory Hancock, photo © David Cooper.
1984
“Russian Freighter on Puget Sound” by John W. Moilanen. This cover was created when ArtsLine, the program publisher, didn’t create custom covers.
1986
Created by ArtsLine.
1989
Patricia Barker and Sterling Kekoa, photo © Ben Kerns.
1992
Patricia Barker, photo © Ben Kerns.
1996
Louise Nadeau, photo © Ben Kerns.
2003
Patricia Barker and Jeffrey Stanton, photo © Kurt Smith.
2007
Patricia Barker, photo © Angela Sterling. Background image © Ben Kerns.
2009
Carla Körbes and Casey Herd, photo © Angela Sterling.
2013
Laura Tisserand and Karel Cruz, photo © Angela Sterling.
2015
Carla Körbes, photo © Patrick Fraser.
2018
Lesley Rausch, photo © Angela Sterling.
2022
Lesley Rausch, photo © Lindsay Thomas.
Come see PNB’s most recent production of Swan Lake, running February 2nd through 11th, 2024, and grab a program of your own! You can purchase tickets online here or by calling the box office at 206-441-2424. Or, if you’re interested in learning more about Swan Lake’s history, check out this post on the PNB blog!
