Costume designer Paul Tazewell is at the top of his field. He has designed for all types of productions, from the silver screen to the opera, and he has received multiple prestigious awards for his work. PNB is a special fan of Paul, as he is the costume designer for our production of Swan Lake and the new The Sleeping Beauty. Read on to learn more about Paul and see beautiful behind-the-scenes images of his costume designs for 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!
George Balanchine once said that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's music made him fall in love with ballet, and many ballet lovers echo Balanchine’s sentiment. To this day, some of PNB’s most popular ballets (Swan Lake and The Nutcracker) are set to Tchaikovsky’s music. Read on to learn about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s turbulent life and his iconic ballets!
Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal and principal dancer Jonathan Porretta have announced that after a 20-year career with the Company, Mr. Porretta – one of PNB’s most beloved dancers since 1999 – will retire at the end of the 2018-19 season. Mr. Porretta’s acclaimed career will be celebrated at PNB’s Season Encore Performance on Sunday, June […]
A fairy tale come to life!
You won’t want to miss Pacific Northwest Ballet’s last performances of this beloved production… Love it for the last time!
By Artistic Director Peter Boal
In 1890, Seattle was a relatively lawless frontier town. There was little plumbing, plenty of mudflats, and too many taverns. The Duwamish and Suquamish were losing land and rights to the countless fortune-seekers pouring into and passing through […]
You might be surprised to learn about all that goes into presenting a performance of The Sleeping Beauty. For the performers, step one is the casting, which I do in September and again in November. After my first two passes, the ballet masters and the head of the Costume […]
Dear Friends,
Tonight the curtain rises on Ronald Hynd’s wonderful production of The Sleeping Beauty. After eight weeks of preparation, we are ready for performance. There are as many as five casts of some roles and many premieres. Try to catch as many as you can. […]