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AIR TWYLA!


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This is very interesting, and I'm wondering if it was Boal's idea or Tharp's. Russell and Stowell were very wary of bringing in guests -- they wanted to give company dancers as many opportunities as possible. When he came to Seattle, Boal spoke about the guesting culture, which he knew from the NYCB version, and felt that it gave a certain edge to those experiences, for both performers and audience. We got Rasta Thomas early on (and then Raphael Bouchard last year as an emergency replacement in R&J) but he really hasn't followed along with any other guest gigs that I'm aware of.

I've only seen Brief Fling once, and don't really remember what the male roles are like, except that it's Tharp -- tricky patterns and unusual step combinations. It will be interesting for us to see someone with significant experience in the work, but I'm actually more interested in what the local dancers will make of it.

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You're right -- I'd forgotten Weese was a guest before she joined up. And I think the idea of Coppetiers guesting was a last-minute solution to Korbes getting injured and having to step away from the work. But since his first couple of seasons, Boal doesn't seem to have pursued guests, though we don't know what happens behind scenes...

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Although any number of soloists at NYCB could be in the great soloist vacuum -- promoted, and suddenly they aren't being cast anymore -- the schedule, especially the Spring season, was a killer, and while guest artists could mean extra rehearsals for their partners, by the second month of Spring, when the cast change inserts in the program were a full page long due to injuries and illness, and those left standing were held together with duct tape, I'm sure guests were important.

While certain PNB reps were impacted by multiple injuries, such as "Love Stories," which had a lot of switching around, on the whole, the performance schedule -- normally three performances first weekend and four the second -- is relatively calm, compared to what was eight, later seven shows a week for eight weeks straight at NYCB, and, according to Boal, 90 ballets. Ib Andersen noted being bombarded (my description) with 30 roles when he first joined NYCB.

A silver lining at PNB has been the occasional change from single partnerships in each ballet to casting partners with more than one dancer so that an injury to an original partner doesn't always mean losing the rep for the season.

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To download a PDF of this press release, click here.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET PRESENTS

AIR TWYLA

Featuring the World Premiere of Waiting at the Station, the PNB Premiere of Brief Fling, and the return of Nine Sinatra Songs.

Special guests to include acclaimed New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint, and American Ballet Theatre soloist Sascha Radetsky.

September 27 - October 6, 2013

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

321 Mercer Street, Seattle Center

Seattle, WA 98109

September 27-28 & October 3-5 at 7:30 pm

September 28 at 2:00 pm

October 6 at 1:00 pm

SEATTLE, WA Curtains up! AIR TWYLA propels Pacific Northwest Ballet into its new season with a trio of works by its first artist-in-residence, renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp. The program includes the world premiere of Waiting at the Station with a commissioned score by New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint. Sharing the program with Waiting at the Station are the Scottish-inspired Brief Fling (a PNB premiere) and Tharps homage to Ol Blue Eyes and ballroom dance, the unforgettable Nine Sinatra Songs. AIR TWYLA runs for only seven performances, September 27 October 6 at Seattle Centers Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $28 and may be purchased by calling 206.441.2424, online at pnb.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office at 301 Mercer Street. AIR TWYLA is made possible through the generous support of presenting sponsor The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Lets face it, Twyla Tharp seems to have a second home and its right here in Seattle, said PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal. With AIR TWYLA, PNB presents our eighth work by the choreographer, our third world premiere, and our third all-Tharp program. She is truly one of the great innovators of our time. We are so pleased to welcome Twyla back to our studios and to our city once again.

Mr. Boal continued, Im especially looking forward to the opportunity to hear Twyla talk about the creation process during an on-stage lecture demonstration prior to the premiere. In conjunction with AIR TWYLA, PNB is offering a special preview event on Wednesday, September 25 at 6:30 pm: TWYLA THARP ON STAGE. The presentation will feature Ms. Tharp as she rehearses the Company in Waiting at the Station. For more information, see SPECIAL EVENTS, below.

PNB is honored to welcome two very special guest artists performing with the company during AIR TWYLA. R&B great Allen Toussaint will join the PNB Orchestra during the opening weekend performances of his Waiting at the Station. And American Ballet Theatre soloist Sascha Radetsky will be joining the PNB dancers in the September 27 and 28 evening performances of Brief Fling. Sascha has worked extensively with Twyla in the past, said Mr. Boal. His appearance as a guest with PNB not only showcases this exciting performer, but honors Twylas long standing relationship with American Ballet Theatre. (See ABOUT THE ARTISTS, below, for more information.)

ABOUT THE LINE-UP

BRIEF FLING PNB Premiere

Music: Michel Colombier & Percey Grainger (Country Gardens, 1918; Handel in the Strand, 1912)

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Staging: Matthew Dibble

Original Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi

Original Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton

Premiere: February 28, 1990; American Ballet Theatre (San Francisco, California)

Brief Fling has a punning title that refers to the Scottish motifs in Miss Tharp's choice of music and costumes, but this is not a wee bonny ballet. It is an admirably fierce and aggressive plunge into what a dance language can express within self-imposed limits. Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times

Brief Fling was Mikhail Baryshnikovs last commission from Twyla Tharp during his tenure as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre. The title references both the traditional Scottish dance and a short-lived romance.

Isaac Mizrahi's tartan costumes divide the dancers into clans of blue, red, green and off-white. In the opening section, two couples in red and a quartet in green punch out syncopated phrases to a military tattoo. The principal couple clad in blue performs an extended set of variations to an English folk song backed by the ensemble dancers dressed in off-white. The finale features each clan in succession, compounding into a furioso fugue.

The score by Michel Colombier intersperses Percy Graingers sunny interpretations of traditional melodies from the United Kingdom with an ominous electronic score. (Program notes courtesy of twylatharp.org)

WAITING AT THE STATION World Premiere

Music: Allen Toussaint

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Costume and Set Design: Santo Loquasto

Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls

Pacific Northwest Ballets world premiere of Twyla Tharp's Waiting at the Station is generously underwritten by Peter & Peggy Horvitz.

NINE SINATRA SONGS

Music: Songs sung by Frank Sinatra (Softly As I Leave You, Strangers in the Night, One For My Baby [And One More For the Road], Somethin Stupid, All the Way, Forget Domani, Thats Life, My Way)

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Staging: Shelley Washington and Matthew Dibble with Paul Gibson

Original Costume Design: Oscar de la Renta

Original Scenic Design: Santo Loquasto

Original Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton

Premiere: October 14, 1982; Twyla Tharp Dance, Vancouver, British Columbia

PNB Premiere: February 2, 2006

Twyla Tharp dedicates Nine Sinatra Songs to Rhoda and Jerry Oster. PNBs performances acknowledge, with appreciation, Sinatra Enterprises and The Frank Sinatra Foundation.

Following the workings of her Sinatra-inspired 1976 duo, Once More, Frank, and in the wake of her investigation of the methods of turn-of-the-century exhibition/ballroom dancing for the movie Ragtime, Twyla Tharp created Nine Sinatra Songs in 1982. The work has become a popular classic and a mainstay in the repertories of professional dance companies worldwide, presenting its view of 1950s social dancing through the nostalgic and yet sharpened eyes of the 1980s. Oscar de la Rentas dresses and tuxedos flash with a similar double edge of past and present ages.

Each of the songs Tharp has chosen has its own musical and dance/theater character. Her choreography reinforces traditional ballroom dancing, but upscales it with the active participation of the female dancer. The opening, Softly As I Leave You, is based on the theme of infatuation. A tango-flavored Strangers in the Night is followed by One For My Baby, featuring a couple in late-night, knowing rapport. After My Way re-gathers the first three couples, a fourth lends tart, comic relief with Somethin Stupid. Unhurried and subtle glamour bathes All the Way, while Forget Domani is a true showpiece. This duo plays it straight, fast, front and center, in the manner of actual ballroom competition entrants. The capstone couple is engrossed in a battle of wits and maneuvers. Dancing to Thats Life, they engage in fast and furious one-upmanship. The final swell, for all couples, is a later version of My Way.

SPECIAL EVENTS

BALLET PREVIEW FREE

Tuesday, September 24, 2013, 12:00 pm

Central Seattle Public Library, 1000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle

Join PNB for a free lunch-hour preview lecture at the Central Seattle Public Library. Education Programs Manager Doug Fullington will offer insights about AIR TWYLA, complete with video excerpts.

TWYLA THARP ON STAGE

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

6:30-8:00 pm at McCaw Hall

Hear from iconic choreographer Twyla Tharp, PNBs first Artist-in-Residence, as she rehearses the Company onstage at McCaw Hall in Waiting at the Station, her latest creation for PNB. Set to a newly crafted score by legendary New Orleans jazz/R&B artist Allen Toussaint, Ms. Tharps new work exemplifies the genius and wit that has made her an American dance legend. Tickets are $25, available through the PNB Box Office.

PNB LECTURE SERIES & DRESS REHEARSAL

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Lecture 6:00 pm, Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Dress Rehearsal 7:00 pm, McCaw Hall

Join PNB artistic director Peter Boal and acclaimed dance, theatre and film designer Santo Loquasto (Waiting at the Station) during the hour preceding the dress rehearsal. Attend the lecture only or stay for the dress rehearsal. Tickets, $12 for the lecture or $30 for the lecture and dress rehearsal, may be purchased through the PNB Box Office.

FIRST LOOK: A Brief Fling

PNBs Season-Opening Gala

Friday, September 27 at 4:30 pm

Join PNBs signature celebration to start the new season. Guests of this festive evening enjoy an exclusive cocktail party, an elegant black tie dinner, and raise-the-paddle. The party continues post-performance with drinks, dessert, and dancing onstage. Pre-performance dinner tickets start at $300 per guest (includes onstage after-party and valet parking). Onstage after-party tickets start at $40. (Note: AIR TWYLA performance tickets sold separately.) FIRST LOOK is sponsored by The Boeing Company and Lane Powell. To purchase tickets, contact PNB Special Events at 206.441.2429 or events@pnb.org.

PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURES

Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Join Education Programs Manager Doug Fullington for a 30-minute introduction to each performance, including discussions of choreography, music, history, design and the process of bringing ballet to the stage. One hour before performances. FREE for ticketholders.

POST-PERFORMANCE Q&A

Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall

Skip the post-show traffic and enjoy a Q&A with Artistic Director Peter Boal and PNB dancers immediately following each performance. FREE for ticketholders.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to AIR TWYLA ($28-$174) and special events are available through the PNB Box Office:

  • Phone: 206.441.2424 (Mon.-Fri. 9am6pm; Sat. 10am5pm)
  • In person: 301 Mercer Street, Seattle (Mon.-Fri. 10am6pm; Sat. 10am5pm)
  • Online: pnb.org (24 hours a day, seven days a week)

Tickets are also available, subject to availability, 90 minutes prior to each performance at McCaw Hall, located at 321 Mercer Street.

DISCOUNT OFFERS

$15 TICKETS FOR AGE 25 & UNDER

All Thursday and Friday performances: September 27, October 3 and 4 at 7:30 pm

One ticket for $15 and two for $25 for patrons 25 years and younger! To purchase tickets, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424 or visit 301 Mercer Street. This offer is good for September 27, October 3 and 4 performances only. Offer is subject to availability and not valid on previously purchased tickets. Each attendee must present valid I.D. upon ticket retrieval.

TEEN TIX

PNB is a proud participant of the Teen Tix arts access program. Teen Tix members 13 to 19 years old can purchase tickets to PNB performances and other music, dance, theater and arts events for only $5. To join Teen Tix or view a list of participating organizations, visit teentix.org.

GROUP SALES

Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For group tickets, please call 206.441.2416, email juliej@pnb.org or visit pnb.org/Season/GroupTix.

STUDENT AND SENIOR RUSH TICKETS

Half-price rush tickets for students and senior citizens (65+) may be purchased in-person with valid ID, beginning 90 minutes prior to show time at the McCaw Hall box office. Subject to availability.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works, 129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, and two figure-skating routines. She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 1965 Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for their creativity, wit and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different forms of movement such as jazz, ballet, boxing and inventions of her own making Ms. Tharps work expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dancer. In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has created dances for Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, PNB, Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Ms. Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with When We Were Very Young, followed by her collaboration with David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel and later by Singin in the Rain. In 2002, Ms. Tharps dance musical Movin Out, set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel, ran for three years and then toured nationally for three years. For Movin Out Ms. Tharp received the 2003 Tony Award, the 2003 Astaire Award, the Drama League Award for Sustained Achievement in Musical Theater; and both the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography. For the London production Ms. Tharp won Best Choreography (Musical Theatre) Award of the UK's Critics' Circle National Dance Awards 2006. Ms. Tharp later worked with Bob Dylans music and lyrics in The Times They Are A-Changin, and Come Fly Away, set to songs by Frank Sinatra.

In film Ms. Tharp has collaborated with director Milos Forman on Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, with Taylor Hackford on White Nights and with James Brooks on Ill Do Anything. Her television credits include choreographing Sues Leg for the inaugural episode of PBS' Dance In America, co-producing and directing Making Television Dance, which won the Chicago International Film Festival Award; and directing The Catherine Wheel for BBC Television. Ms. Tharp co-directed the television special Baryshnikov by Tharp, which won two Emmy Awards as well as the Director's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement.

In 1992 Ms. Tharp wrote her autobiography Push Comes to Shove. She went on to write The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life, followed by The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together both of which were published by Simon and Schuster. Today, Ms. Tharp continues to create. For more information, visit twylatharp.org.

Allen Toussaint (Composer, Waiting at the Station) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer and one of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B. Mr. Toussaint has crossed many paths in his illustrious 40+ year music career. He has produced, written for, arranged, had his songs covered by, and performed with such musical giants as The Judds, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Patti LaBelle, Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, Aaron and Art Neville, Joe Cocker, The (original) Meters, Glen Campbell, The Band, Little Feat, The Rolling Stones, Devo, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas, Etta James, Ramsey Lewis, Eric Gale and countless others.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and, in 2009, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011, and the Song Writers Hall of Fame in 2012.. Mr. Toussaint was also awarded the Grand Prix from Frances Academia du Jazz, making him the first non-traditional jazz artist to be awarded such an honour. The honors have not slowed down in 2013, with Mr. Toussaint receiving an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts from Tulane University along with Dr. John, Natasha Trethewey and his Holiness, the Dali Lama.

Santo Loquasto (Set and Costume Designer, Waiting at the Station) is a designer for dance, theatre, and film. Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove marked the beginning of his relationship with American Ballet Theatre. For his work with ABT he has also collaborated with choreographers Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kenneth MacMillan, Agnes de Mille, and Mark Morris. As designer for the Paul Taylor Dance Company he has designed such works as Speaking in Tongues, Spindrift, Company B, and Funny Papers. His design work has also been seen at the National Ballet of Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, San Francisco Ballet, and the Hubbard Street Dance Company.

In 1989, Mr. Loquasto won both the Tony and Drama Desk awards for his set design of the New York Shakespeare Festival's Cafe Crown, and, in 1990, he again won both the Tony and Drama Desk awards for his costume design for Grand Hotel. He received his first Tony in 1977 for costume designs for The Cherry Orchard. For other work in the theatre, he has received an Obie, the Joseph Maharam Award, and both Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desks awards. Other productions for which his set designs have received Tony nominations are That Championship Season, What the Wine-Sellers Buy, The Cherry Orchard, American Buffalo, The Suicide, Long Days Journey Into Night and Glengarry Glen Ross. For film, Loquasto has received Academy Award nominations for his production design for Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and Radio Days, and for his costume design for Allens Zelig. Other film credits include Desperately Seeking Susan, Big, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives.

Sascha Radetsky (Guest Artist, Brief Fling evening performances, September 27 and 28) began his ballet studies in the San Francisco Bay Area with Damara Bennett and Ayako Takahashi. At the age of 15, he was invited to study at the Bolshoi Academy under world-renowned men's teacher Pytor Pestov. After a year in Russia, he studied on scholarship at the Kirov Academy in Washington, D. C. under Rudolph Kharatian and Andrei Garbouz. He toured with the Kirov Ballet throughout the United States and internationally. He also studied on scholarship at the summer programs of the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre's School of Classical Ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov, the San Francisco Ballet School and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Vail, Colorado. Radetsky joined American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in 1995, became a member of the corps de ballet in 1996 and a Soloist in 2003. Radetsky has danced the works of acclaimed choreographers such as George Balanchine, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, John Cranko, Agnes de Mille, Jorma Elo, Jerome Robbins, Ann Reinking, Christopher Wheeldon and Jiri Kylian. He has been a frequent guest performer and teacher with ballet companies across the United States and abroad. In 2000, Radetsky starred in the movie Center Stage as well as in pop singer Mandy Moore's music video "I Wanna Be With You" from the Center Stage soundtrack. He is married to ABT Soloist Stella Abrera.

# # #

Pacifc Northwest Ballets AIR TWYLA is made possible by presenting sponsor The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The world premiere of Twyla Tharps Waiting at the Station is generously underwritten by Peter & Peggy Horvitz. Twyla Tharp dedicates Nine Sinatra Songs to Rhoda and Jerry Oster. PNB performances acknowledge, with appreciation, Sinatra Enterprises and The Frank Sinatra Foundation. Pacific Northwest Ballets 2013-2014 Season is proudly sponsored by ArtsFund and Microsoft Corporation. The season is also sponsored in part by 4Culture, and Office of Arts & Culture Seattle. Media sponsors are The Seattle Times and KOMO 4.

Schedule and programming subject to change. For further information, please visit www.pnb.org.

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In 2006, I saw Foster/Yin and Lallone/Maraval. In 2008, I saw Foster/Lin-Yee and Dec/Tisserand.

Lallone/Maraval were reviewed on Opening Night 2006:
Seattle Weekly
Seattle PI

Most of the 2008 reviews were heavy on the two new works, "Afternoon Ball" and "Opus 111," and, in general, "Strangers in the Night" is not one of the few, like "That's Life," that gets singled out for individual mention when there are two-three lines about the work.

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Most of the 2008 reviews were heavy on the two new works, "Afternoon Ball" and "Opus 111," and, in general, "Strangers in the Night" is not one of the few, like "That's Life," that gets singled out for individual mention when there are two-three lines about the work.

Guilty as charged -- sometimes it feels like you can't really add much to the discussion of a work that's had so much commentary already.

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I received the casting for the first weekend of AIR TWYLA!; it's not up on the website yet, but I assume it will be there shortly.

If you're and active member (Group=New Member, Members, or Senior Member) or Moderator and logged in, you can download this Excel spreadsheet (.xls) with full details, including the ensembles:
2013-14 Rep 1 performance casting week 1.xls

Just to note: three women in the Company got married and have changed their names since the end of last season:

  • Laura Gilbreath is now Laura Tisserand
  • Emma Love is now Emma Love Suddarth
  • Leah O'Connor is now Leah Merchant

On the casting spreadsheet, the women, including Sarah Ricard Orza, who are married to men in the company are referred to by their maiden names (Gilbreath, Love, and Ricard) to avoid confusing them with their husbands. Eric Hipolito, Jr. is listed as "Hipolito."

Principal and featured casting, as always, subject to change and the same for all three performances unless otherwise noted, is:

Brief Fling

  • Blue: Kaori Nakamura and Sasha Radetsky (Guest Artist, Fri 27 Sep & Sat eve 28 Sep) or Jerome Tisserand (Sat mat 28 Sep)
  • Red: Kylee Kitchens/Eric Hipolito, Jr. and Maria Chapman/Benjamin Griffiths
  • Green: Leta Biasucci, Jonathan Poretta, Kiyon Gaines, and Ezra Thomson

Waiting at the Station

  • Principal Couples: Carrie Imler/Kiyon Gaines and Rachel Foster/Jonathan Porretta
  • Character Men: James Moore and Price Suddarth
  • Golden Girls: Chelsea Adomaitis, Elle Macy, Sarah Pasch
  • Cross-over Couples: Angelica Generosa/Steven Loch and Jahna Frantziskonis/Andrew Bartee

Nine Sinatra Songs

  • "Softly As I Leave You": Lesley Rausch (Fri 27 Sep & Sat mat 28 Sep) or Kylee Kitchens (Sat eve 28 Sep) and Joshua Grant
  • "Strangers in the Night": Lindsey Dec/Batkhurel Bold (Fri 27 Sep & Sat mat 28 Sep) or Laura (Gilbreath) Tisserand/William Lin-Yee (Sat eve 28 Sep)
  • "One for My Baby": Maria Chapman/James Moore (Fri 27 Sep & Sat eve 28 Sep) or Leah Merchant/Ezra Thomson (Sat mat 28 Sep)
  • "Somethin' Stupid": Carrie Imler/Jonathan Porretta (Fri 27 Sep) or Brittany Reid/Ryan Cardea Sat mat & Sat eve 28 Sep)
  • "All the Way": Sarah Ricard Orza/Karel Cruz (Fri 27 Sep & Sat eve 28 Sep) or Elizabeth Murphy/Charles McCall (Sat mat 28 Sep)
  • "Forget Domani": Margaret Mullin/Benjamin Griffiths (Fri 27 Sep & Sat mat 28 Sep) or Carli Samuelson/Kiyon Gaines (Sat eve 28 Sep)
  • "That's Life": Kaori Nakamura/Seth Orza (Fri 27 Sep & Sat mat 28 Sep) or Rachel Foster/Jerome Tisserand (Sat eve 28 Sep)

There's also a contest going on for people on Facebook or willing to sign up for Facebook. Deadline is 20 September (no time listed). The prizes are:

  • Two tickets to AIR TWYLA! for 28 September. The fine print doesn't say whether for the matinee or evening or a choice of both, but may imply evening.
  • Overnight in the Prima Donna Suite on 28 September.
  • $100 to spend at Petite Toulouse, which is across the street from the hotel. The food is great, but in my experience, it's too late for Sunday brunch reservations for Sunday 29 September.

To enter, "Like" PNB on Facebook, fill in your name and email on this form, and submit.

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Apparently they are going to live-stream part of the upcoming lecture-demonstration. They've been live-streamed at the Guggenheim, but this is a first for the company at home.

From the press release:

Pacific Northwest Ballet to Live-Stream a Portion of Lecture-Demonstration with Twyla Tharp

Tune in to PNB.org/LIVE

6:30 pm Pacific (9:30 pm East Coast)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

SEATTLE, WA — As Pacific Northwest Ballet gears up for the opening of its season with AIR TWYLA, the company has announced that a portion of its lecture-demonstration, TWYLA THARP ON STAGE, will be live-streamed (via PNB.org/LIVE) for audiences who are unable to attend the September 25 evening at McCaw Hall.

TWYLA THARP ON STAGE will feature Ms. Tharp, PNB’s first artist-in-residence, in conversation with Artistic Director Peter Boal and New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint, as well as the company rehearsing excerpts from Brief Fling and a run-thru of Waiting at the Station. (Please note that the live-stream will only include a portion of the lecture-demonstration: The rehearsal of Waiting at the Station will not be included in the live-stream. To see the full lecture-demonstration including Waiting at the Station, tickets are available through the PNB Box Office, 206.441.2424 or pnb.org.)

With AIR TWYLA, its third all-Tharp program, PNB adds two more works by the choreographer into its repertory, including a third world premiere, the jazzy Waiting at the Station. Said PNB artistic director Peter Boal, “Twyla is truly one of the great innovators of our time. We are so pleased to welcome her back to our studios and to our city once again. I’m especially looking forward to the opportunity to hear Twyla talk about the creation process during the on-stage lecture demonstration.”

AIR TWYLA presents a trio of works by Twyla Tharp. The program includes the world premiere of Waiting at the Station with a commissioned score by Mr. Toussaint, the Scottish-inspired Brief Fling (a PNB premiere), and Tharp’s homage to Ol’ Blue Eyes and ballroom dance, the unforgettable Nine Sinatra Songs. AIR TWYLA runs for only seven performances, September 27 – October 6 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets may be purchased by calling 206.441.2424, online at pnb.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office at 301 Mercer Street.

For more information about AIR TWYLA, click here.

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I just received Weekend 2 casting, and I consolidated the spreadsheets for both weeks:

Air Twyla Rep 1 performance casting week 2.xls

The additions to second week Principal casting are:

In "Brief Fling,"

In the "Blue" couple, Jerome Tisserand partners Lesley Rausch on Friday-Sunday, 4-6 October. He partners Kaori Nakamura on Thursday, 3 October.

In "Waiting for the Station,"

In Couple 2, Jonathan Porretta partners Laura (Gilbreath) Tisserand on Sunday, 6 October. He's paired with Rachel Foster in all other performances.

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In "Waiting for the Station,"

In Couple 2, Jonathan Porretta partners Laura (Gilbreath) Tisserand on Sunday, 6 October. He's paired with Rachel Foster in all other performances.

Really?!? Now there's a height difference if ever I heard one.

I saw them in a runthrough last week and it seems to work just fine. They're dancing fairly character-driven parts, which helps with that.

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I don't know how much of the lecture was on the live stream (I was in the theater) but I have to say that Tharp really knows how to work a room. She has a reputation as a feisty interview, and does not suffer fools, but she was poised and prepared in a way that few choreographers I've seen in this context have been.

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There has been some cast shifting. Laura Tisserand danced with Jonathan Porretta in "Waiting for the Station" all three performances this past weekend. Rachel Foster makes her debut in the role on Thursday, as well as in Brief Fling" with Eric Hipolito Jr, and Carli Samuelson and Kyle/Davis debut as the other Red couple on Thursday. Friday, Angelica Generosa, Price Suddarth, and Steven Loch join Ezra Thomson in the Greens. On Saturday, Generosa debuts in "Forget Domani" in "Sinatra."

Alastair Macaulay was in the house last weekend, and those who know what Stella Abrera looks like saw her in the audience to see her husband, Sasha Radetsky, perform in "Brief Fling" on Saturday night.

(Sorry for the original typos: I was posting from my phone.)

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Abrera must have been a bit jet-lagged then, i suppose, as she danced "His Friend's Wife" in THE MOOR'S PAVANE last night at Fall for Dance at NY's City Center.

i know that Alastair Macaulay is back again in the city, so jet setting may be the theme of the weekend.

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NYT Alastair Macaulay finally likes Carrie Imler!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/arts/dance/pacific-northwest-ballet-presents-air-twyla.html?ref=dance&_r=0

Nobody who sees “Waiting at the Station” would want the piece presented without Carrie Imler, whose character is like nothing else in ballet. She breezes onstage in a dress and cardigan, vaulting powerfully and rippling to the music, a housewife with the vivifying force of a minor goddess. Her mettlesome spirit might be the stuff of comic soap opera. Kiyon Gaines, playing her husband, keeps showing too much interest in another woman, and the robust Ms. Imler is far from amused. But thanks to Ms. Tharp, Ms. Imler sails through with an intoxicating, vehement musical impulse that turns this near caricature into a vital force.
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