The Window
Music
Shannon Rugani
Choreography
Dani Rowe
Lighting Design
Reed Nakayama
Costume Design
Emma Kingsbury
Duration
25 minutes
Cast
3 dancers
Premiere
November 3, 2023; Pacific Northwest Ballet
The 2023 world premiere of Dani Rowe’s new work is generously supported by T.R. Ko.
Program Notes
The Window is a one-act ballet in five chapters with three characters: The Watcher, The Man, and The Woman. This work is inspired by “The Living Room,” a true story recounted by Diane Weipert about a woman who watches her neighbors through a window. The Window abstracts and physicalizes the uncanny experience of witnessing life’s most urgent moments as they happen to other people in our lives. Often, our most intimate relationships happen with complete strangers. The ways we share – and feel – one another’s brightest and darkest moments of life are what comprise our mutual existence. — Dani Rowe
chapter one:
i waited unknowingly
chapter two:
i watched their young love
chapter three:
they weren’t there any more
time moved on
i missed them
chapter four:
they returned altered
he was sick
she cared for him
i kept vigil
chapter five:
she wiped her tears away
i knew then
she did not know me
i knew her
through the window
Bios
Shannon Rugani
Composer
A California native, Shannon Rugani trained with San Francisco Ballet School on a full merit scholarship, joining San Francisco Ballet in 2004 as one of the youngest company members in history. Shannon left SFB to join the original cast of Tony Award winning An American In Paris. In 2019, Shannon decided to focus on her music career as a singer/songwriter, releasing her debut EP in June 2021 under the stage name EMPRESS®.
Emma Kingsbury
Costume Designer
Emma Kingsbury has designed extensively for film, ballet, opera, television, and theater. Emma has designed for a number of American ballet companies including San Francisco Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Tulsa Ballet. Recent projects include sets and costume design for the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of Cinderella, Texas Ballet Theater’s The Firebird, and Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible. Emma is currently costume designing The Ring Cycle for Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Reed Nakayama
Lighting Designer, PNB Resident Lighting Designer/Coordinator
Reed Nakayama is a Seattle-based lighting and projection designer. He joined PNB in 2013 as a stagehand, and in 2019, was promoted to caretaker of the company’s copious designs. Here, he has illuminated stages in collaboration with artists such as Alexei Ratmansky (Wartime Elegy), Jessica Lang (Ghost Variations), Dani Rowe (The Window), and Christopher Wheeldon (Curious Kingdom). He received a BFA in Performance Production from Cornish College of the Arts.