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Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold Are Retiring at the End of the 2016-17 Season


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I just received an email from PNB:

Quote

 

Peter Boal, with principal dancers Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold, announced today that Ms. Imler and Mr. Bold will retire at the end of this season.

"Both Carrie and Bold have been such central parts of PNB, it's hard to imagine the Company after their retirements," said Mr. Boal in his announcement. "Tens of thousands of us have applauded their work and a smaller number has treasured every moment working alongside these two over the past two decades. Their contributions to the Company are beyond measure and they will be missed."

 

Read more about their careers and view photos of each performer on our blog.

 

 

There is death in my soul.

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I'm not totally surprised, but my heart is saddened today.

 

Sunday when Carrie made her entrance as SPF I was so glad when a lot of the audience applauded, and I didn't even need to initiate it!

 

I noticed she had some musical accents different than other SPFs, it was neat to see her make it her own.

 

I hope Bold can teach some other guys to land big jumps without any sound.  And he's a pretty big guy!

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This is the press release:

 

Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancers Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold Announce Retirements

 

Their two decades of dance will be honored at Season Encore Performance, June 11, 2017.

 

SEATTLE, WA — Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal, with principal dancers Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold, has announced that Ms. Imler and Mr. Bold will retire at the end of the 2016/2017 season. Their acclaimed careers will be celebrated at PNB’s Season Encore Performance on Sunday, June 11, 2017. (Tickets go on sale to the public in March 2017.)

 

“Both Carrie and Bold have been such central parts of PNB, it’s hard to imagine the Company after their retirements,” said Mr. Boal in his announcement. “Tens of thousands of us have applauded their work and a smaller number has treasured every moment working alongside these two over the past two decades. Their contributions to the Company are beyond measure and they will be missed.”

 

Carrie Imler is from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She trained on scholarship at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School and attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 1995 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 1996, soloist in 2000, and principal in 2002.

 

In announcing her retirement, Ms. Imler said, “As a little girl I remember turning to my mother, after watching PNB at the Kennedy Center, and telling her that I was going to dance in Seattle when I grew up. For the past 22 years, I have had the distinct pleasure and honor of dancing for Seattle audiences. From Balanchine to Forsythe and Quijada to Gaines, I have had a career beyond anything that little girl could have ever imagined. [PNB Founding Artistic Directors] Kent Stowell and Francia Russell hired an eager ballerina, nurturing and refining me. Peter has opened my eyes to several new choreographers and ballets. Without each of them, I would not have had such an incredible and unbelievably satisfying career.”

 

“To describe Carrie Imler’s dancing requires a long list of superlatives,” said Mr. Boal. “Carrie is an absolute master of technique and musicality. She is a dancer’s dancer, understanding choreography and musicality innately. Add to this an impeccable work ethic and you have a remarkable ballerina. There is no challenge Carrie can’t meet and for this reason, she has fascinated choreographers like William Forsythe, Alexei Ratmansky, and Twyla Tharp. Equally at home in the contemporary and classical, Carrie has danced in over 100 leading roles with PNB over the past 22 years. That’s a lot of fouettes! As Carrie steps gracefully from the stage at the conclusion of this season, we thank her for leaving us with so many treasured memories and a profound legacy.”

 

Batkhurel Bold is from Ulan Bator, Mongolia. He trained at the Perm Choreographic Academy in Russia. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 1996 and was promoted to soloist in 1999 and principal in 2004.

 

“Early on, Bold earned the nickname ‘Air Bold’ because of his gravity defying leaps, and the name still fits,” said Mr. Boal. “A technical powerhouse, a consummate partner, a dramatic stage presence, Bold has been a true mainstay of this Company. Though he’s played every leading male role in the book and excelled in each, I won’t forget his dramatic performances in Nacho Duato’s Rassemblement. Here we saw the tenderness that is such an integral part of this man. Offstage and on, Bold cares deeply for those around him; from his current partner to the newest member of the Company, he’s a prince to all.”

 

In a statement, Mr. Bold added, “Dreams do come true. Thanks to the amazing generosity of Kent Stowell, Francia Russell, Peter Boal and every single person both past and present at Pacific Northwest Ballet. I am truly blessed, humbled and forever grateful.”

 

TICKET INFORMATION

 

Ms. Imler and Mr. Bold are scheduled to dance in several more performances, including George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, before the end of PNB’s 2016/2017 season. Ms. Imler is currently cast as Sugar Plum Fairy on December 11 (5:30) and 20 (7:30), and Dewdrop on December 21 (7:30), and Mr. Bold is scheduled to dance as Cavalier on December 22 (7:30). The Nutcracker runs now through December 28. For up-to-date casting information, check performance details on PNB.org/Nutcracker.

 

PNB’s Season Encore Performance will be presented one night only, Sunday, June 11 at 6:30 pm. The performance will include a special tribute to Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold. Tickets to the Season Encore Performance will go on sale to subscribers in early 2017, and the general public in March 2017.

 

Tickets may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org. Programming and casting are subject to change. For further information, please visit PNB.org.

 

ADDITIONAL ARTIST BIO INFORMATION

 

Carrie Imler has danced leading roles in George Balanchine’s ApolloBallet ImperialBrahms-Schoenberg QuartetChaconneConcerto Barocco, CoppéliaDiamondsDivertimento No. 15The Four TemperamentsA Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania, Hippolyta), The Nutcracker®, RubiesSerenadeSquare DanceStars and StripesSymphony in CSymphony in Three MovementsTchaikovsky Pas de DeuxTheme and VariationsStravinsky Violin ConcertoLa Valse, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?; Peter Boal’s Giselle (Myrtha); Val Caniparoli’s The Bridge, LambarenaThe Seasons, and Torque; Alejandro Cerrudo’s Memory Glow; David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to My Skin; Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels and Vespers; Nacho Duato’s Jardí Tancat and Rassemblement; William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated, New Suite, One Flat Thing, reproduced and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow (Hanna) and The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora, Lilac Fairy, Gold and Silver pas de trois); Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten LandPetite Mort, and Sechs Tänze (Six Dances); Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Lady Capulet, Nurse); Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries; Mark Morris’ A Garden and Pacific; Kevin O’Day’s Aract; Kirk Peterson’s Amazed in Burning Dreams; Marius Petipa’s Le Corsaire Pas de TroisDon Quixote (Kitri), and Paquita; Crystal Pite’s Emergence; Victor Quijada’s Suspension of Disbelief; Alexei Ratmanksy’s Concerto DSCH and Don Quixote (Kitri, Mercedes); Jerome Robbins’ The ConcertDances at a Gathering, and In the Night; Kent Stowell’s CarmenCarmina BuranaCinderella (Cinderella, Fairy Godmother), Coppélia (Dance of the Hours, Dawn, Discord and War), Delicate BalanceDumbarton OaksFirebirdHail to the Conquering Hero, Kammergarten TänzeNutcracker (Clara, Flora), Poème St. SaënsQuaternarySilver LiningSwan Lake(Odette/Odile, Queen Mother), and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Juliet, Lady Capulet); Richard Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances; Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Mercury; Paul Taylor’s Roses; Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper RoomNine Sinatra Songs, and Waterbaby Bagatelles; Rudi van Dantzig’s Ginastera; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Variations Sérieuses (Ballerina). Ms. Imler has originated leading roles in Andrew Bartee’s arms that work, Kiyon Gaines’ M-Pulse and Sum Stravinsky, Nicolo Fonte’s Almost Tango, Morris’ Kammermusik No. 3, Quijada’s Mating Theory, Christopher Stowell’s Zaïs, Susan Stroman’s TAKE FIVE…More or Less, Tharp’s Opus 111 and Waiting at the Station, and Olivier Wevers’ Shindig.

 

Ms. Imler danced in the BBC’s 1999 film version of PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filmed at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. She was also featured in Children with a Dream, a PBS documentary about Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

 

Batkhurel Bold has danced leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, ApolloBallet ImperialBrahms-Schoenberg QuartetConcerto Barocco, Coppélia (Discord and War), DiamondsThe Four TemperamentsA Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania’s Cavalier, Theseus, Divertissement pas de deux), The Nutcracker®, SerenadeStars and StripesSymphony in CSymphony in Three MovementsTchaikovsky Pas de DeuxTheme and Variations, and La Valse; Peter Boal’s Giselle (Albrecht, Hilarion); Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena and The Seasons; Donald Byrd’s Subtext Rage; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of HeavenRed Angels, and Serious Pleasures; David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to my Skin; Nacho Duato’s Jardí Tancat and Rassemblement; Nicolo Fonte’s Almost Tango; William Forsythe’s Artifact IIIn the middle, somewhat elevated, and One Flat Thing, reproduced; Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow and The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund); Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land and Petite Mort; Edwaard Liang’s Für Alina; José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane; Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Tybalt); Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries; Mark Morris’ Pacific; David Parsons’ Caught; Toni Pimble’s Two’s Company; Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote and Paquita; Crystal Pite’s Emergence; Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH and Don Quixote(Basilio, Espada); Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a GatheringGlass Pieces, In the Night, and West Side Story Suite (Bernardo); Kent Stowell’s CarmenCarmina BuranaCinderella (Prince), Dumbarton OaksDuo FantasyFirebirdKammergarten TänzeNutcracker (Prince), Orpheus PortraitQuaternaryThe Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt), Silver LiningSwan Lake (Prince Siegfried), and Zirkus Weill; Price Suddarth’s Signature; Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring and Voluntaries; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper RoomNine Sinatra Songs, and Waterbaby Bagatelles; and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain pas de deux and Polyphonia.

 

Mr. Bold has originated leading roles in Kiyon Gaines’ Interrupted Pri’si’zhen and Sum Stravinsky; Benjamin Millepied’s 3 Movements; Twyla Tharp’s Opus 111; Olivier Wevers’ Shindig; Christopher Wheeldon’s Tide Harmonic. Mr. Bold performed the role of Theseus in the BBC’s 1999 film version of PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filmed at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. In 2007, Mr. Bold performed in the worldwide company debut performance of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. He also has performed as a guest artist on the Vail International Dance Festival’s “International Evenings of Dance” galas.

                                                                                                                

#   #   #

 

Programming subject to change. For further information, please visit: PNB.org.

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21 minutes ago, pherank said:

Don't you just hate these "end-of-an-era" times? Some people are never really replaceable.

 

Yes! I know just what you mean. A couple of years ago I began to panic when I realized that nearly all of my favorite dancers had been born within five years of each other and were in their mid-to-late thirties. I dreaded the thought that soon, like Imler and Bold, they would begin retiring. To be sure, there are a few I admire who are a bit younger, and few who are older and, thank heavens, still performing. But for me this has led to an uptick in ballet tourism, as I race around trying to see them dance while I still can. What truly fills me with dread is the thought that in ten years I may not be going to the ballet anymore, because what I see among the under-30 set (Tiler Peck excepted, of course) doesn't fill me with much hope: the dragonfly limbs, the marionette-like lack of centeredness, the really skewy skeletal alignment, the banana-foot fetish, which seems to override even a basic inability to move with coordination. Ech...

 

I'm going to go cry in my eggnog now. :(

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2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

 

What truly fills me with dread is the thought that in ten years I may not be going to the ballet anymore, because what I see among the under-30 set (Tiler Peck excepted, of course) doesn't fill me with much hope: the dragonfly limbs, the marionette-like lack of centeredness, the really skewy skeletal alignment, the banana-foot fetish, which seems to override even a basic inability to move with coordination. Ech...

 

Don't write them all off too soon -- I often see fairly wobbly performers find their center and start to really dance after they spend a couple years on stage.

 

Quote

I'm going to go cry in my eggnog now. :(

 

Careful -- you don't want to make it salty.

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7 hours ago, Helene said:

There is death in my soul.

 

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

 

Imler is the first dancer who I've really followed all the way from corps through principal...and the second full-career dancer I'll see retire this year.

 

Sigh...I am now officially old.

 

[This would hurt less if she were losing steam...but she was the best Kitri(!) that they fielded two years ago...]

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On 12/7/2016 at 1:09 PM, Helene said:

There is death in my soul.

I knew it was a matter of time, and that does not soften the blow one damn bit.

I've never seen Imler dance without bringing something brilliantly individual, special, and irreplaceable to the role, whatever it is.

Her Square Dance was my favorite after Patricia Wilde's, and that includes Ashley's and Nichols' which were both scintillating. The *wit* in her inflections (not to mention the ludicrously flawless petit allegro.......)

Her Polyhymnia. Her Black Swan. I'll stop now. It's unutterably depressing.

Edited by jsmu
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On 12/7/2016 at 9:06 PM, vipa said:

Miler is one of the few dancers that, here in NYC I'd hoped to see live.  I didn't go to see R&J when she was the nurse.  I wish there was more or her available on youtube. The little I've seen is fab.

If you can, go to Seattle this winter/spring and see her. The videos do not begin to convey her brilliance.

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On 12/7/2016 at 4:15 PM, volcanohunter said:

 

Yes! I know just what you mean. A couple of years ago I began to panic when I realized that nearly all of my favorite dancers had been born within five years of each other and were in their mid-to-late thirties. I dreaded the thought that soon, like Imler and Bold, they would begin retiring. To be sure, there are a few I admire who are a bit younger, and few who are older and, thank heavens, still performing. But for me this has led to an uptick in ballet tourism, as I race around trying to see them dance while I still can. What truly fills me with dread is the thought that in ten years I may not be going to the ballet anymore, because what I see among the under-30 set (Tiler Peck excepted, of course) doesn't fill me with much hope: the dragonfly limbs, the marionette-like lack of centeredness, the really skewy skeletal alignment, the banana-foot fetish, which seems to override even a basic inability to move with coordination. Ech...

 

I'm going to go cry in my eggnog now. :(

Could not agree with you more. Peck is an anomaly, sadly (well, there's Ashley Laracey, if Martins ever sees fit to promote her to the principal status AND ROLES she deserved seven or eight years ago) and the ballerinas even remotely like Imler (Margaret Severin-Hansen at Carolina Ballet and Frances Chung at SF Ballet) are going to be retiring soon as well, uggggggh. I call the dreadful phenomenon you have mentioned 'the asparagus ballerina.' it's enough to make one stop attending the ballet.

Edited by jsmu
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I just noticed a (new to me) photo of Carrie Imler on the PNB website.  It's the main photo for Rep 6.  It's the same photo of her in a long black dress that's posted outside McCaw Hall.  But on the website she balancing in a gold frame, which implies she'll be dancing in Pictures at an Exhibition.

 

It was such a treat to see Carrie and Jonathon Poretta close out New Suite tonight! They really looked like they were enjoying themselves and having fun.

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9 hours ago, seattle_dancer said:

I just noticed a (new to me) photo of Carrie Imler on the PNB website.  It's the main photo for Rep 6.  It's the same photo of her in a long black dress that's posted outside McCaw Hall.  But on the website she balancing in a gold frame, which implies she'll be dancing in Pictures at an Exhibition.

Now that I think about it, just because a dancer is in a photo doesn't mean she's in that ballet.  I remembered that Lindi Dec was featured in the Vertiginous costume and I don't believe she ever actually danced it.

 

Sorry for the possible false alarm - late night wishful thinking on my part.  We'll see what happens...

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The second week-end of All Forsythe Jahna, Carli and Liz had their debuts.  Chelsea was the only taller gal who danced it and I was really impressed since it is so fast.  

 

Lindsi did not dance at all at last year's NYC tour as she had just had her baby, which was kind of funny because she was the poster girl in a Kisses leotard.  Angelica had her Vertiginous debut on this tour.

 

At Celebrate Forsythe it was Leta, Carrie, and Maggie for one cast and the other was Rachel, Liz, and Angelica.

 

Dang!  The Encore program is still not announced.  I thought it might be today since tickets went on sale to the public but no dice.  Sigh...

 

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22 hours ago, seattle_dancer said:

Dang!  The Encore program is still not announced.  I thought it might be today since tickets went on sale to the public but no dice.  Sigh...

 

 

I asked, and was told "soon."  Which is rather like jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today.

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Seattle's last chance to see Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold is everyone's chance:  PNB will live stream the Encores program on June 11, 6:30pm Pacific Time/9:30pm Eastern Time.

 

Program:

Theme and Variations (excerpt) -- Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust

 

3 Movements
Music: Steve Reich
Choreography: Benjamin Millepied

 

Nine Sinatra Songs (excerpt: “Something Stupid”) -- Carrie Imler and Jonathan Porretta
Music: Sung by Frank Sinatra
Choreography: Twyla Tharp

 

Cinderella (Act III pas de deux) -- Batkhurel Bold and Lesley Rausch
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: Kent Stowell

 

“Folly” à deux
Pièce d’occasion featuring Carrie Imler and Jonathan Porretta
Music: Philip Glass
Choreography: Kiyon Gaines

 

Carousel (A Dance)
Music: Richard Rodgers
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

 

Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux) -- Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Kent Stowell (after Marius Petipa)

 

 

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