The active use of imagination and dreaming of what might be possible without limits should never be underestimated as forces for youthful creativity. We at PNB take a lot of pride in our youth, and in our future, which is why we are continuing to provide teens around the Seattle area with a […]
George Balanchine rarely spoke about his ballets or the process of making them. Didn't the ballets speak for themselves and, besides, aren't the critics always offering their analysis of what the artist was thinking? He made an exception for Apollo, though, calling Stravinsky's score "a turning point in my life. It seemed to tell me that I could dare not to use everything—that I, too, could eliminate."
I have an insatiable need for speed as both a dancer and a choreographer! I‘m not quite sure when it began, but for me the faster it can be the more exciting. Much of the work that the audiences here in Seattle have seen from me has a vitality and fervor that is […]
PNB: Your company in Montreal is called RUBBERBANDance Group. Where did that name come from?
VQ: Partly an identity of a time back when I was in Los Angeles dancing in ciphers, in underground hip-hop spots. That’s part of it. And then […]
There is a new tradition brewing around Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Phelps Center this time of year, and that is the beginning of the wonderful process of NEXT STEP. This distinctive performance where PNB Company dancers choreograph new works for our most advanced students in PNB School’s Professional Division is set for June 16, […]
Director’s Notebook: Don Quixote
Dear Friends,
Join us in sunny Barcelona this weekend without the airfare or the time change! Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote is here, and what a spectacular, over-the-top, inspiring moment for PNB. Here are a few facts you may not know:
Behind the Scenes: Don Quixote with Principal Dancer Maria Chapman
What role(s) are you learning for Don Quixote? Have you danced in other Don Quixote productions before?
This will be my first production of Don Quixote, and I am learning two roles; Mercedes and the Queen of […]
Act I, Scene I
In Don Quixote’s study, his niece Joanna is talking to Carasco, his servant. They are worried about the Don, who is slowly but surely being driven mad by all his reading. They therefore decide to hide the Don’s books.
Meanwhile, Don Quixote comes into the study, totally […]
Act II, Scene I
On a plateau in the mountains, a troupe of traveling actors has set up camp. Kitri and Basilio appear and ask the actors to help them escape. While the group performs, Kitri and Basilio put on costumes and join in. When Lorenzo and Gamache arrive at the camp, they are […]
Act III, Scene I
Kitri and Basilio are enjoying themselves with Espada, Mercedes, and a group of friends in a tavern filled with gypsies, bullfighters, and other high-spirited folk. Kitri thinks she has escaped her forced marriage to Gamache. Unfortunately, it is not so easy, as her […]