Today on the PNB Blog, we are featuring James Yoichi Moore, who returns to PNB as a PNB School faculty member! A former PNB Principal dancer, Mr. Moore brings a wealth of expertise to our students. Click here to learn more about James Yoichi Moore’s career, his advice to students, and more!
When Crystal Pite suggested [Emergence] for PNB, she explained that her inspiration came from a book on ants, brains, cities, and software... On opening night in 2013, I wondered how audiences would react as a hot flood light interrupted endless silhouettes of writhing dancers, while the descending curtain signaled a statement made. After seconds of stunned silence, a deafening ovation filled the house. In that moment, we were united in wanting more of Crystal Pite’s singular brilliance. Great art has a way of unifying us and allowing us to see humanity in its most expressive, poignant, and powerful ways.
Whether it be in the Phelps’ Center dressing room, emphatically discussing fantasy football picks, or on McCaw Hall’s stage, charming the audience as one of the sailors in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, James’ enthusiasm is infectious and his presence irreplaceable. As a San Francisco native looking north, never in a million years did he expect to end up at PNB: “It was a very tall company at the time [I was hired]—long legs, slender bodies—there was a look. That wasn’t me.” However, over his twenty-year tenure with PNB, James has set himself apart as one who defines what the company is today, and for years to come. Learn more about James and his career at PNB in this blog.
Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer James Yoichi Moore has announced that after a 20-year career with the company, he is retiring at the end of PNB’s 2023-24 season. Moore joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2004 and was promoted to soloist in 2008 and principal in 2013. His two decades with the company will be celebrated at the Season Encore Performance, Sunday, June 9 at McCaw Hall.
The story of Roméo et Juliette offers many takeaways: humor, drama, tears, and passion, to name a few. From my first read of the play in Mr. Crosby’s seventh-grade classroom to a recent viewing of the new Steven Spielberg film version of West Side Story, I’ve enjoyed a lifetime of […]
You might have seen a few rehearsal videos from PNB lately, either in our emails or on our social media accounts. Why’s that?
We’re performing three works that are brand new to the company. It’s a very exciting time, with lots of anticipation for what we’ll see onstage November 2–11.
This spring, Pacific Northwest Ballet celebrates the conclusion of principal dancer Kaori Nakamura’s brilliant, 17-year career with the Company. Ms. Nakamura will retire from performing in June of 2014 and join PNB School’s distinguished faculty. With over 40 lead roles to her name and guest appearances worldwide, her accomplishments and contributions to the art […]
You already know how this story goes.There’s a sense of anticipation when the lights in the theater go down. A hush comes over the audience and the orchestra tunes their instruments. The conductor walks out and we hear the first few notes of Tchaikovsky’s wonderful score. The curtain goes up and the magic begins…
Twyla Tharp is no ordinary person. One look at her bio and you get that. It’s not just the mountains of awards, medals, prizes, fellowships, and honorary degrees, or the three books, six films, twelve television specials, four Broadway shows, two figure skating routines, […]
Peter Boal’s World Premiere staging of Giselle marks the first time an American ballet company has revived a classic based on original material researched by Stepanov notation expert Doug Fullington in collaboration with leading Giselle scholar Marian Smith.
Our work on Giselle continued in early January with a week of rehearsals […]