Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director, Peter Boal examines the works on the current repertoire.

Artistic Director’s Notes: The Sleeping Beauty

Artistic Director’s Notebook: The Sleeping Beauty

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 […]

2023-10-10T13:30:20-07:00January 27th, 2014|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notes: The Sleeping Beauty

Peter Boal on Crystal Pite’s Emergence

Peter Boal on Crystal Pite’s Emergence

I expect there will be a great deal of discussion about Crystal Pite’s Emergence this week, and I thought I might kick it off by offering my perspective on the work. Not since programming William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing, reproduced, have I seen such a polarizing and thought-provoking […]

2023-10-10T13:33:26-07:00November 8th, 2013|Categories: Choreographers, Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Peter Boal on Crystal Pite’s Emergence

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, Forgotten Land, Emergence

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, Forgotten Land, Emergence

In April of 2011, I had the pleasure of traveling to Den Hague in the Netherlands to meet with one of the greatest choreographers of our time, Jiri Kylian. Jiri doesn’t travel far from home, so I went to him. I was there to […]

2023-10-10T13:38:11-07:00October 25th, 2013|Categories: Choreographers, Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, Forgotten Land, Emergence

Choreographer’s Notebook: Crystal Pite on Creating Emergence

“Even the most optimistic champions of self-organization feel a little wary about the lack of control in such a process. But understanding emergence has always been about giving up control, letting the system govern itself as much as possible, letting it learn from the footprints.”

Steven Johnson

“The […]

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Brief Fling, Sweet Fields, Waiting at the Station

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Brief Fling, Sweet Fields, Waiting at the Station

Twyla Tharp is no ordinary person. One look at her bio and you get that. It’s not just the mountains of awards, medals, prizes, fellowships, and honorary degrees, or the three books, six films, twelve television specials, four Broadway shows, two figure skating routines, […]

2023-10-10T13:43:58-07:00September 24th, 2013|Categories: Choreographers, Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: Brief Fling, Sweet Fields, Waiting at the Station

Director’s Notebook: Peter Boal on Apollo & Carmina Burana

George Balanchine rarely spoke about his ballets or the process of making them. Didn't the ballets speak for themselves and, besides, aren't the critics always offering their analysis of what the artist was thinking? He made an exception for Apollo, though, calling Stravinsky's score "a turning point in my life. It seemed to tell me that I could dare not to use everything—that I, too, could eliminate."

2022-08-30T12:32:42-07:00April 12th, 2012|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Director’s Notebook: Peter Boal on Apollo & Carmina Burana

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Don Quixote

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Don Quixote

Dear Friends,

 

Join us in sunny Barcelona this weekend without the airfare or the time change! Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote is here, and what a spectacular, over-the-top, inspiring moment for PNB. Here are a few facts you may not […]

2023-10-10T13:48:09-07:00February 2nd, 2012|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: Don Quixote

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Polyphonia, After the Rain, Carousel (A Dance), Variations Sérieuses

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Polyphonia, After the Rain, Carousel (A Dance), Variations Sérieuses

 
https://youtu.be/dAp502GFuD0

Dear Friends,

We have presented entire programs by one choreographer before, with several by George Balanchine and others featuring Jerome Robbins and Twyla […]

2023-10-10T14:06:50-07:00September 22nd, 2011|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: Polyphonia, After the Rain, Carousel (A Dance), Variations Sérieuses

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia

Artistic Director’s Notebook: Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia

 
https://youtu.be/MOhvllhQo8A

POLYPHONIA©

Music: György Ligeti (Desordre from Études pour piano, premier livre, 1985; Arc-en-ciel from Études pour piano, premier livre, 1985; No. 4 Tempo di Valse from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53; Invention, 1948; No. […]

2023-10-10T13:55:55-07:00September 13th, 2011|Categories: Choreographers, Director's Notebook, Performances, Tell the Tale|Tags: , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia

Artistic Director’s Notebook: After the Rain

Artistic Director’s Notebook: After the Rain

 
https://youtu.be/WFx6ezYeDVg

After the Rain pas de deux
Music: Arvo Pärt (Spiegel im Spiegel, 1978)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Staging: Damian Smith
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: Mark Stanley

PREMIERE: January 22, 2005; New York […]

2023-10-10T14:12:02-07:00September 8th, 2011|Categories: Director's Notebook, Performances, Tell the Tale|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Artistic Director’s Notebook: After the Rain
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