Executive Director’s Notes: The Veil Between Worlds, The Times Are Racing, Black Wave

Welcome to the fall arts season in Seattle and PNB’s first repertory program of our performing year. We hope that with this program, and the rest of our 2024/25 season, you encounter the warmest welcome from PNB and experience the universal connection and sense of well-being that ballet can so often provide. We deeply appreciate your support and presence in our community – from all of us at PNB, thank you for joining us.

Zoe Meadows-Sahr2024-10-24T12:08:32-07:00September 13th, 2024|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances, PNB on Tour|Tags: 2024/25 Season, Ellen Walker, The Times Are Racing, The Veil Between Worlds|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes: Coppélia

Welcome to Coppélia, PNB’s final repertory program of the 2023/24 season. It’s been several years since we last presented the luminous, lighthearted world of Coppélia, and it’s a joy to bring this beautiful production back to life. If you joined us for our most recent two programs, you may find it hard to believe that the company of classical dancers onstage before you could possibly be the same group of artists who so totally committed to the contemporary choreography of Crystal Pite, Alejandro Cerrudo, Matthew Neenan, Twyla Tharp, and Jessica Lang in March and April.

Zoe Meadows-Sahr2024-05-24T16:43:03-07:00May 24th, 2024|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2023/24 Season, Coppelia, Ellen Walker|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes: Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake

Welcome to Swan Lake, one of Kent Stowell’s most stunning contributions to PNB’s repertoire. This production of Swan Lake and I arrived at PNB at the same time, in the summer of 2003. I was struck by the magnitude of the physical production, and still find new details in Ming Cho Lee’s magnificent sets and Paul Tazewell’s opulent costumes. For a new-to-PNB arts administrator, I could not have encountered a more beautiful ballet beginning.

Zoe Meadows-Sahr2024-01-29T09:13:23-08:00January 29th, 2024|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2023/24 Season, Ellen Walker, Kent Stowell, Rico Chiarelli, Swan Lake|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® 2023

On behalf of everyone at PNB, thank you for choosing to celebrate the season with us. Over the years we’ve heard from many in our audience about what this production means to you. It may mark the official start of your holidays, be the destination for a much anticipated annual outing with visiting family, or offer a nostalgic antidote to a too-busy time of year...

Zoe Meadows-Sahr2023-11-20T15:22:37-08:00November 20th, 2023|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances, The Nutcracker|Tags: 2023/24 Season, Ellen Walker, George Balanchine, The Nutcracker|Comments Off

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

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.

Zoe Meadows-Sahr2023-10-30T14:06:49-07:00October 30th, 2023|Categories: Choreographers, Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2023/24 Season, Alexei Ratmansky, Dani Rowe, Donald Byrd, Ellen Walker, Inspire Washington|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes – Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, Cacti

Welcome to the first repertory program of PNB's 51st season, and the beginning of the fall arts season in Seattle. Like the start of a new school year, this phase of our season is full of promise, some uncertainty (we love snow, for example, but not so much during The Nutcracker...), and excitement around anticipated moments ahead. Like many of you, I can't wait to see the return of Crystal Pite's The Seasons' Canon, Donald Byrd's Love and Loss, and Kent Stowell's mesmerizing Swan Lake, among others.

Maris Antolin2023-09-21T14:20:12-07:00September 19th, 2023|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2023/24 Season, Ellen Walker, Inspire Washington, Petite Mort|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes – Brief Fling, Sweet Fields, Waiting at the Station

Executive Director’s Notes: Brief Fling, Sweet Fields, Waiting at the Station

Welcome to the final program of this historic season. Whether you are newly back to in-person performances with us of you’ve been along for the thrilling ride all season, it’s wonderful to see you. So much has transpired since our cautious […]

Maris Antolin2023-09-21T14:25:24-07:00June 2nd, 2022|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2021/22 Season, All Tharp, Ellen Walker, Twyla Tharp|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes – Before I Was, Caught, Plot Point, The Times Are Racing

Executive Director’s Notes: Before I Was, Caught, Plot Point, The Times Are Racing

Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe that we haven’t been in McCaw Hall for a full, two-weekend, seven-performance mixed repertory program since November of 2019. We’re grateful for every milestone on the road to recovery, and […]

Maris Antolin2023-09-21T14:15:31-07:00March 15th, 2022|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2021/22 Season, Ellen Walker|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes – Roméo et Juliette

Dear Friends,

As I write this, we are in the homestretch of 37 performances of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. Without a doubt, this was our most complicated production in many years, with Covid protocols alone requiring multiple PNB teams to implement. And yet, what a joy […]

Maris Antolin2022-10-31T09:27:09-07:00February 4th, 2022|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: 2021/22 Season, Ellen Walker, Roméo et Juliette|Comments Off

Executive Director’s Notes – The Nutcracker 2021

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. […]

Maris Antolin2022-11-02T12:05:22-07:00November 24th, 2021|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances, The Nutcracker|Tags: 2021/22 Season, Ellen Walker, Kristen Ramer Liang, Maris Antolin, PNB is Listening, The Nutcracker|Comments Off