Ever wonder about the timeline for creating a new ballet? Famously Jerome Robbins took two years to choreograph Dances at a Gathering. George Balanchine believed in one minute of choreography for every hour in the studio, cranking brilliant works out in days and weeks. As you might imagine, […]
Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal has announced the line-up for PNB’s 50th Anniversary Season, running from September 2022 through June 2023. Highlights include six world premieres, a major PNB premiere from Crystal Pite, and story ballets Giselle and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as works by George Balanchine, Edwaard Liang, Penny Saunders, and PNB Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell.
One day, in the not-too-distant future, we’ll have well-researched books, brilliant movies, pithy podcasts, and all historical accounts—complete with hindsight and scholarship—on the topic of this extraordinary time in our lives, but for now, we rely on recent and raw memories. The memories are deeply painful with hardship, sickness, separation, and loss. Each […]
Dear PNB Subscribers,
Every fall since PNB’s founding, we have welcomed back audiences with the same back-to-school-season excitement: a fresh start, new faces, and the shared anticipation of being together in the same space. We’ve never, though, issued this welcome after a hiatus of 18 months. Our September welcome today […]
September at PNB has been busy! Company dancers are back in rehearsal, the PNB School is back in session, and we’re all busy preparing for our return to McCaw Hall this month. With a mixture of joy and trepidation, we’re stretching our collective muscles, breathing deeply, and turning our eyes on the horizon. […]
As a stream of earth-toned silk slices through space, a dancer vanishes before our eyes. It is a fleeting, yet memorable moment. So piercing and sudden, we question if our eyes deceived us. This is not the smooth hand of a magician, or the clever edit of a skilled cinematographer, it is choreographer […]
Following a year that nobody wants to revisit anytime soon, Artistic Director Peter Boal has optimistically announced the line-up for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 49th season, running from September 2021 to June 2022. A love letter to PNB’s loyal fans, highlights of PNB’s return to the McCaw Hall stage include full-evening programs devoted to […]
Language changes based on the times we are living in. New words are introduced. Words that used to mean one thing take on a whole new meaning. This past year has provided a watershed of new terms. Let’s start with “Zooming” and “Zoom fatigue” and “Zoom bombing” and then add double-masking, social distancing, […]
Mona Butler has been a bassoonist in Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra since the orchestra was founded in 1989, and PNB’s Music Librarian since the position was created in 1996. Marketing Assistant Maris Antolin sat down with Mona in late February to talk about what a Music Librarian does, the years-long process of putting […]
Dear Friends,
I have always enjoyed writing these notes to all of you before each program. Ordinarily, I share surprising facts and humorous anecdotes. A week ago, I might have mentioned our orchestra’s mastery of Philip Glass’ score, or the colossal scale of John Otto’s set that takes 45 minutes […]