Firebird

Music

Igor Stravinsky
(Firebird (1910))

Choreography

Kent Stowell

Scenic Design

Ming Cho Lee

Lighting Design

Randall G. Chiarelli

Costume Design

Theoni V. Aldredge

Duration

37 minutes

Cast

30 dancers

Premiere

September 29, 1989
Pacific Northwest Ballet (Kennedy Center)

Ever since 1910, when the impresario Serge Diaghilev masterminded the original Firebird for the second Paris season of his Ballets Russes, the story of the legendary creature who helps two noble lovers overcome an evil wizard has captivated audiences and artists alike. With an iridescent score by Igor Stravinsky (his first for ballet), opulent sets and costumes by Alexander Golovin and Léon Bakst, and startlingly innovative choreography by Michel Fokine, that first Firebird was a multi-media extravaganza which, like other Ballets Russes productions to follow, helped to shape ballet’s modern identity and to establish it unequivocally as a serious art form.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production, which Kent Stowell conceived in 1989 in collaboration with designers Ming Cho Lee and Theoni Aldredge, both honors and revitalizes that tradition. Lee’s sets, Aldredge’s costumes, and Stowell’s choreography combine with Stravinsky’s matchless score to create a spectacle that, while entirely new, is faithful to the aesthetic spirit of the original. But the scenario has been modified somewhat so as to eliminate a weakness that, for all its popularity, has always beset the ballet, whether in Fokine’s original version or in numerous later revivals, including several by Balanchine. In all of these, Tsarevich Ivan’s relationship with the Firebird is what engages us most, and the human drama of his love for the Princess is of lesser emotional and theatrical interest. As a result, according to Stowell, when the grand wedding/coronation finale occurs, it is unsatisfying because we have no sense of what the lovers have risked to achieve this victory.

In PNB’s production, the balance has been righted. The love between Ivan and the Princess is more poignant and tender from its inception, and it now clearly motivates the couple during the skirmish with the monsters and Kastchei. During the scenes when the Firebird is absent, there is no falling off of power, as there was in earlier versions, because we are engrossed in the dynamics and consequences of the love relationship. When the Firebird does return to help the lovers, she seems less a supernatural agent acting independently of human effort than a source of inspiration deep within Ivan himself that he draws on to complete the battle. As a result, the grand finale, which in all versions is so impressive musically and visually, is now also psychologically powerful for modern audiences, because it is the earned reward for love’s ordeal.

Premiering during PNB’s performances at the Kennedy Center in September 1989, Firebird was first seen by Seattle audiences in May 1990 and was a popular favorite during the Goodwill Games Arts Festival later that year.

Notes by Jeanie Thomas.

Artist Biographies

Kent Stowell

Kent Stowell was Artistic Director and principal choreographer of Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1977 until his retirement in June 2005.

Mr. Stowell began his dance training with Willam Christensen at the University of Utah, later joining San Francisco Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet in 1962 and was promoted to soloist in 1963. In 1970, he joined the Munich Opera Ballet as a leading dancer and choreographer. In 1973, Mr. Stowell was appointed ballet master and choreographer of Frankfurt Ballet, and he was named, with Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Director of the company in 1975. In 1977, Mr. Stowell and Ms. Russell were appointed Artistic Directors of Pacific Northwest Ballet. During his tenure, Mr. Stowell choreographed thirty-six ballets for the Company. His many contributions to the repertory include Swan Lake, Cinderella, Stowell & Sendak Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, Firebird, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Hail to the Conquering Hero, Carmen, and Silver Lining.

In 2001, the University of Utah honored Mr. Stowell with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Stowell’s other awards and honors include the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award, the Dance Magazine Award, an Honorary Doctor of Arts from the University of Washington, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Seattle University. In 2004, Stowell received the ArtsFund Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award, the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was recognized by the King County Council for his achievements in the arts.