We said Pacific Northwest Ballet's Broadway Festival was an enormous amount of fun, and it sounds like plenty of you figured that out for yourselves. Artistic director Peter Boal just sent out this "Next round's on me!" email: "With 5,250 tickets purchased to date, we have broken the old record for single tickets sold for a mixed repertory program. It is also the highest grossing mixed repertory program in our company's history, surpassing the old record set by Valentine in 2006." Two shows left: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. more ›

It's admittedly contrary of us to be looking for a way "in" to George Balanchine's Jewels (TM). Jewels are meant to be looked at. That's why we've put the photos up at the top of this post. Why type our fingers to the bone when you can just take a gander online and decide if that's your kind of thing? more ›

Macho, moody, and whimsical, PNB's All Robbins program is a stand-up triple, if not a home run (at McCaw Hall through June 8; tickets: $20-$150). Actually the Mariners could learn a lot from the raw athleticism, discipline, and teamwork on display. Opening night's Fancy Free sparked and fizzed erratically; conductor Stewart Kershaw, swinging the baton sans panache, kept Bernstein's charged score sounding off-kilter. But PNB rallied during In the Night, and by the time The Concert wrapped up, even the golf-clappers in the audience were on their feet cheering. more ›

"Ah, this is ballet," sighed one white-haired woman to another. And then, for emphasis, "This is ballet." Originally choreographed by George Balanchine, this is Francia Russell's staging of the master's A Midsummer Night's Dream (at McCaw Hall through April 13, tickets $20-$150). It's "real" ballet in the way that a Cheever short story signifies the New Yorker. But we're not here to beat up on oldsters, according to our parole officer--and neither is the Peter Boal-led Pacific Northwest Ballet, which approached the work with a captivating intensity, driving straight for its muscular, passionate heart. more ›

First we heard that principal dancer Casey Herd was moving to Amsterdam to join the Dutch National Ballet; now we learn that 27-year-old Noelani Pantastico is spreading her wings to join Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which is led by Jean-Christophe Maillot. We totally would not have praised his choreography so much if we'd known he was going to steal one of our dancers. more ›

PNB's Director's Choice opened last night (through March 22 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St; tickets: $20-$150) with a mixed program that seemed designed to rouse sleepers and ruffle feathers. Seattle is not really a walk-out-in-a-huff town--it's more likely to seethe-silently-and-save-up-catty-comments. But still, we did see two separate people march out of William Forsythe's One Flat Thing, reproduced, secure in the knowledge that it was the last piece on the bill. more ›

Seattlest went to the opening night of Pacific Northwest Ballet's Contemporary Classics last night for two favorites: Kiss and Caught. PNB has wisely brought these two pieces into it's repertory fold, continuing to signal Artistic Director Peter Boal's commitment to exploring choreography that is traditionally outside the realm of most ballet companies. Overall, PNB rose regally to the challenge. more ›

McCaw Hall, tickets $20-$80 more ›

As we mentioned the other day, Seattlest was very excited for the PNB production of Carmina Burana, but we left a bit perplexed and frustrated. To start, we enjoyed Mark Morris' Pacific, a light and dreamy piece that found our thoughts wandering in a pleasant way about halfway through, befitting of a day spent listening to the ocean advance and retreat while pretending to read a book. It was a short and "limited" (to borrow from Seattlest Michael's summation) composition, but the perfect exemplar of Morris' work: seamless integration of ballet's technique and precision with the freedom and rule-free whimsy of modern dance. We love that he breaks ballet traditions by having group pieces with three men and one woman, all performing the same choreography (sure, later in Carmina Burana we have a woman with three men but stereotypically she's a harpy and they are pining for her), and the costumes were simple and perfectly suited to the choreography. more ›

You've got tonight (7:30pm), Saturday (7:30pm) and Sunday (1pm) if you want to catch Pacific Northwest Ballet's latest potpourri program. Tickets are $18 - $145. We apologize for the late notice, but it seems like everyone will like at least one piece on this all-mixed-up bill. more ›

After hearing "emerging Seattle choreographer" Zoe Scofield and PNB's Peter Boal at a talkin-'bout-dance panel Sunday, we were looking forward to Monday, which featured performances by Scofield and PNB. Non-dance highlights were our uber-local, fast-talking, Spalding-Grayish Matt Smith monologuing about manliness and his move to Bainbridge Island, the new wave rearrangements of cover band Nouvelle Vague (including a sing-along to "Too Drunk To Fuck"), and finishing the day inside a sweaty knot of teens listening to CocoRosie getting all rapped-up with vocal beat boxing and shiznit. We know that sounds sexy.
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All music all the time wears us out, so we decided to hopscotch around Bumbershoot this year and take advantage of the talks, arts performances, and art exhibits. more ›