Peter Boal on Jewels
With each Pacific Northwest Ballet production, Artistic Director Peter Boal creates a Director’s Notebook. We’re inspired today to bring you his latest editorial for JEWELS, giving you a glimpse into the business behind ballet.
By Peter Boal
Sometimes, just after the curtain […]
The Making of PNB’s New Jewels
George Balanchine’s Jewels celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and we’re throwing the biggest birthday party possible! All new costumes and sets are coming to PNB’s production of Jewels. But these things don’t happen overnight. Read on for breathtaking photos AND facts about the process of stitching it all together!
- A total of 79 […]
Behind the scenes at PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
On opening night of each repertory production, Artistic Director Peter Boal sends a note to PNB staff with a few bullet points about the show. Secrets are revealed, names are dropped, and questions are answered! We look forward to these behind-the-scenes notes as each production comes around the corner.
PICTURES AT […]
Artistic Director’s Notebook: La Source, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Pictures at an Exhibition
Artistic Director’s Notebook: La Source, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Pictures at an Exhibition
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION is a program of three PNB premieres: George Balanchine’s La Source, Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Read on for PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal’s notes on the program, including […]
Director’s Notebook: American Stories
Anyone ever heard of Lincoln Kirstein? It’s okay if you haven’t; even George Balanchine didn’t know who he was when Kirstein walked up to him in Paris in 1933. In the post-Diaghilev era in Europe, Balanchine was trying to find footing as a choreographer. He had just presented his new venture, titled Les […]
Q&A: Matthew Renko on NEXT STEP

Matthew Renko is from Tampa, Florida. He studied at Columbia Conservatory of Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts with Warren Conover, Kee-Juan Han, and Melissa Hayden, and on […]
American Stories: Dylan Wald, Company dancer
I remember clicking on what looked to be another ballet video on YouTube. This time though, the women were in black and the men in white. It was the first time I had seen a ballet like this. I was captivated by a male solo. I later learned it was Peter Boal in George Balanchine’s […]
American Stories: Marjorie Thompson, Assistant Principal, PNB School

My parents were proud to be Young Democrats for Kennedy, but I never took my own patriotism very seriously until I landed at the School of American Ballet as a young dancer. The passion Mr. Balanchine exuded for all things […]
