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 […]
Our youngest Nutcracker performers, all students at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, are some of the most dedicated kids in the ballet world. Each year, from late September to late December, they devote themselves to telling this timeless holiday story. From our littlest golden angels, to Clara’s bed rollers, each and every student […]
By Phil Chan, co-Founder, Final Bow for Yellowface
As a Chinese person, the second act of The Nutcracker has always bugged me. Looking more broadly at the historic depictions of “Chinese” people on the Western performing arts stage, we see fantasy elements of what Europeans thought Chinese people looked like […]
Dear Friends,
From all of us at PNB, welcome to The Nutcracker! We are so wildly happy you’re here. The 2020 holiday season was simply not the same without you. You’ll see that our production and McCaw Hall’s festive atmosphere are adapted for the most up-to-date health and safety reasons. […]
Artistic Director’s Notebook: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ 2021
“This cannon fires cheese,” Mr. Gio explained in a recent battle scene rehearsal for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, prompting all the nine and ten-year-old Soldiers to giggle uncontrollably.
“What kind of cheese?” asked Soldier Number Seven, […]
This is a list of possible sensory impacts you may experience while viewing this performance. Part of the magic of live dance and performance is that unexpected things happen, so not every moment can be accounted for. This guide was created for PNB by Dr. Ferdico at Sensory Access.
Thank you for joining us today at McCaw Hall or from your digital viewing space—wherever that may be! It is difficult to describe the elation we […]
Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us today at McCaw Hall or from your digital viewing space—wherever that may be! It is difficult to describe the elation we […]
It happened. On September 22, the curtain rose, the orchestra played, bejeweled costumes caught the light, and dancers floated. It was exactly as we had witnessed countless times before, and yet, it felt […]
Internationally renowned as a thinker, choreographer, artist, and teacher, Alonzo King’s ballets bring new awareness to the form. Beginning his San Francisco company, Alonzo King LINES Ballet in 1982, King has long championed an approach that grounds and embeds inquiry within ideas of transcendence. His works call upon legacies found in our collective bodily histories, importantly integrating music, belief systems, […]
By Doug Fullington
Jewels. The name sounds expensive and perfect for a box-office hit. But when Balanchine’s “plotless full-length ballet,” as it was touted, premiered at New York City Ballet on April 13, 1967, it had no title, only three sections called Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. (Balanchine explained, “I thought of doing sapphire, too—I […]