Posts about Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility (I.D.E.A.) at Pacific Northwest Ballet
PNB Pride Night 2025
Join us on Friday, June 6, 2025, for a special PNB Pride Night celebration! Click here for details and tickets.
Recognizing Jewish American Heritage Month at PNB
In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, PNB School Faculty member Miriam Landis asked individuals celebrating this month to share their stories. Read more about PNB staff members Eva Stone, Samuel Maifield, Tara Stepenberg, and Ikolo Griffin and what Jewish American Heritage Month means to them.
Have you heard of STG Dance for PD?
STG Dance for PD offers eight weeks of free classes, using dance, live music, and community to support students in developing artistry and grace while addressing PD-specific concerns, like balance, flexibility, coordination, isolation, and gait. Learn more about the program and its effects in this quick article!
The Impact of Institutional Giving
Krishna Washburn, artistic director for Dark Room Ballet, the co-director of Telephone, blind teacher of audio description for dance, and activist, explains the reason why audio description for dance performance is so important.
Celebrating Kabby Mitchell III
As a part of Black History Month 2025, Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is celebrating Kabby Mitchel III, the first Black dancer at PNB. Mitchell danced with PNB from 1979 to 1984 and taught at PNB School. PNB Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Ross shares, "To speak his name is to speak of resilience, generosity, and an unshakable love for dance. To remember him is to remember a man who paved the way for so many, including me, with a grace and determination that transcended the stage."
Pay What You Can at the Ballet
Everyone could use a little ballet magic in their life, and we don’t want the cost of tickets to keep anyone from attending. That’s why Thursdays are Pay What You Can night at PNB! Every Thursday performance, PNB guests can choose the tickets and price that works best for them (subject to availability). These tickets will be available 90 minutes before the performance at the McCaw Hall Box Office.
New Audio Dance Description Program at PNB
The old dictum, “timing is everything,” is everywhere in dance—the precise timing of a lift, the coordination of a musical phrase with a physical gesture, a moment of complete unison from the corps de ballet—timing is at the core of everything PNB does. Last year, we received a generous grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to expand our accessibility offerings. We saw the opportunity to grow our accessibility options to include the Blind and Visually Impaired community by introducing Audio Dance Description to our regular season programming. In November 2023, the timing lined up, and a bit of fate intervened... Click here to read how PNB's Audio Description programming began!
Hispanic Heritage Month at PNB Roundup
This year, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, PNB is excited to share that we've created a podcast version of our 2023 Baila Conmigo Panel discussion, with transcripts in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Click here to access the podcasts, as well as many other resources PNB has curated in honor of this celebratory month!
Pride Month 2024 Reading List
To celebrate Pride Month this year, the PNB community shared some of their favorite LGBTQ+ related media. From books, films, and more, PNB staff have some great recs for you. Thank you to all our PNB community members who sent in suggestions. And if you've got a media recommendation for us, let us know! PNB's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Committee is currently developing a Little Free I.D.E.A. Library to share resources and materials with the PNB Community. Email IDEA@pnb.org with suggestions or to donate a book!
PNB AANHPI Heritage Month Profiles
In honor of AANHPI Heritage Month, PNB asked individuals celebrating this month to share their stories. Read more about PNB Director of Access Programs Naomi Glass, PNB Violinist and Concertmaster Michael Jinsoo Lim, and PNB Lighting Designer/Coordinator Reed Nakayama and what AANHPI Heritage Month means to them.