Student Matinees
2025-26 Student Matinees
Each year thousands of audience members attend student matinee performances at McCaw Hall and experience stories coming alive through breathtaking dance, music, costumes, and scenery!
Student matinees are the perfect introduction to the magic of live dance performance—all in the elegance of McCaw Hall. Student matinees are open to classrooms serving students pre-K-12. In-school pre- or post- performance workshops are also available.
These experiences are designed to align with WA State Arts Learning Standards in Dance and National Core Arts Standards. Many student matinees connect to English Language Arts curriculum through storytelling, flexible communication strategies, identifying key ideas and details to make meaning, and integrating student knowledge and experience. Contact 206-441-2424 or tickets@pnb.org.
Upcoming Performances
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®
Introduce your students to one of the world’s most famous ballets with a student matinee of the full two-hour performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. The Nutcracker features epic performances by the PNB Company, the enchanting musical score by Tchaikovsky played live by the PNB Orchestra, the whimsical and charming sets and costumes designed by celebrated children’s author/artist Ian Falconer (Olivia the Pig), and roles danced by dedicated students from the PNB School.
Recommended ages: pre-K through grade 12.
When:
Friday, December 5, 2025 at 11:00am
Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 11:00am
Where:
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
Tickets:
$20 students/$30 chaperones (minimum group size of 15 students required)*
To purchase tickets, contact 206-441-2424 or tickets@pnb.org.
Cinderella
Travel with Cinderella from her wistful fireside, through a magical fairyland, to a dazzling palace ball in this one-hour, narrated student matinee. The performance features excerpts from Kent Stowell’s Cinderella performed by PNB Company dancers, Prokofiev’s musical score, a behind-the-scenes demonstration of lighting and scenic elements, and additional educational components designed to spark curiosity about the elements of live performance- including choreography, music, costumes, scenery, lighting, the stage crew, and more!
Recommended ages: pre-K through grade 12.
This performance includes live-captioning.
When:
Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 11:00am
Where:
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
Tickets:
$18 each ($11 and $6 tickets available for public schools based on school low-income percentage; minimum group size of 15 students required)*
To purchase tickets, contact 206-441-2424 or tickets@pnb.org.
Momotaro (Peach Boy)
Follow the adventures of Momotaro as he befriends animals, fights ogres, and seeks his fortune. Based on the popular Japanese folk story of Momotaro (Peach Boy), this hour-long production — choreographed by Jessica Lang & Kanji Segawa and danced by PNB School students — is the perfect introduction to ballet for young audiences!
Recommended ages: pre-K through grade 6.
When:
Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 11:00am
Where:
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
Tickets:
$18 each ($11 and $6 tickets available for public schools based on school low-income percentage; minimum group size of 15 students required)*
To purchase tickets, contact 206-441-2424 or tickets@pnb.org.
*PNB student matinees are reserved for groups of 15 or more school students, not including chaperones, in grades Pre-K through 12. Student matinees are subsidized with the goal of introducing as many children as possible to our productions; we work to ensure tickets are being maximized by students. Your school group should consist of many more students than chaperones. In some circumstances we allow a ratio of 1:1, typically for preschool groups.
Pre-Performance Workshops
In-school pre- or post- student matinee workshops — Grades PK–12
Add an in-school pre- or post- performance workshop to enhance your students’ theater experience of live dance. Each workshop is tailored to the student matinee your class is attending and features:
- A PNB teaching artist coming to your school to lead activities
- Information specific to the ballet
- Experiential creative movement activities to investigate elements of dance and choreography
- Viewing or reflection questions to help students make meaning of their matinee experience
- An up-close look at ballet costumes and shoes
Workshop Prices
$165 per classroom. Discounts are available for booking multiple workshops at a school. Schools with a published free/reduced lunch status of more than 50% may also qualify for sliding-scale workshop fees.
Scheduling a Workshop
Workshops may be scheduled for any school day in the three weeks before or after your student matinee performance, depending on availability. We are not available to schedule workshops the same day as student matinee performances. Each workshop has a maximum of 30 students. Contact education@pnb.org or 206.441.2432 to schedule