Category: Inside the Production

Artistic Director’s Notebook: The Window, Wartime Elegy, Love and Loss 

Dear Friends,  When we think of storytelling, we think of words – spoken, signed, sung, or written. Recall a favorite novel or poem. Words illuminate plots and plays bringing them to vivid existence. How does dance tell a tale without words? Classical ballets have relied on two methods of communication – mime and program notes. I […]

Executive Director’s Notes: The Window, Wartime Elegy, Love and Loss

Dear Friends,  Welcome to PNB’s November program and the place in our season we often mark by presenting new and contemporary work – a very PNB counterpoint to The Nutcracker immersion already taking place in our studios. This program is also an excellent expression of the interconnectedness of the dance world. Each of these three dancemakers has a […]

Meet the “Cac-tet” of Alexander Ekman’s Cacti

Written by Emma Love Suddarth Emma danced with PNB from 2008-2021. Her writing appears in Pointe and Dance Magazine, as well as for PNB. A handful of small, poky, green cacti.  16 boxes, lying flat or intricately stacked.  Light rails dropping to precariously low heights above the dancers.  The overpowering sounds of dancers smacking boxes, slapping their chests, […]

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, Cacti

Michael Jinsoo Lim performing in Alexander Ekman’s Cacti at PNB, photo © Angela Sterling

Dear Friends,  George Balanchine’s influence over ballet in America is unmatched. One could trace the origins of his reach to New York City where he established the company he helmed for 35 years. With Balanchine’s encouragement, dancers from New York City Ballet went on to found or shape regional companies from San Francisco to Harlem, and […]

Ezra Thomson on Why New Works Matter

Former PNB dancer Ezra Thomson reflects on the importance of new choreographic works and how they shape a ballet company’s artistic identity and growth.