2015-16 Season Announced

[Helene]

PNB posted its 2015-16 to its website: the Company will perform four triple bills, two full-lengths in addition to the new production of George Balanchine's "Nutcracker," and the PNB School will perform "Le Corsaire" in March!


SEE THE MUSIC

September 25–October 4, 2015

Tide Harmonic (Joby Talbot / Christopher Wheeldon)
Prodigal Son (Sergei Prokofiev / George Balanchine)
The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody) (Frederic Chopin / Jerome Robbins)



EMERGENCE

November 6–15, 2015

Sum Stravinsky (Igor Stravinsky / Kiyon Gaines)
The Calling* (Trio Medieval / Jessica Lang)
New Suddarth** (Vivaldi Updated to Barret Anspach / Price Suddarth)
Emergence (Owen Belton / Crystal Pite)




Roméo et Juliette

February 5–14, 2016

Music: Sergei Prokofiev / Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot




DIRECTOR'S CHOICE

March 18–27, 2016

Rush (Bohuslav Martinu / Paul Gibson)
Little mortal jump* (TBC recordings / Alejandro Cerrudo)
Year of the Rabbit* (Sufjan Stevens / Justin Peck)



Coppélia

April 15–24, 2016

Music: Léo Delibes / Choreography: Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust (after Marius Petipa)


AMERICAN STORIES

June 3–12, 2016

Fancy Free (Leonard Bernstein / Jerome Robbins)
Square Dance (Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli / George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust)
Waiting at the Station (Allen Toussaint / Twyla Tharp)


NON-SUBSCRIPTION PERFORMANCES


George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™

November 27–December 28, 2015
More Details
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust / Sets & Costumes: Ian Falconer




Le Corsaire: A Pirate’s Tale

March 20–26, 2016

Music: Adolphe Adam with additional music by Léo Delibes and Cesare Pugni / Choreography: Marius Petipa (after Joseph Mazilier, in part) / Costumes: PNB Costume Shop

[Helene]

Here are some excerpts from Cerrudo's "Little Mortal Jump", which looks like a work for four women and four men:

A description and photos from Jessica Lang's 4-minute solo, "The Calling":

http://www.jessicalangdance.com/repertory/details.php?id=53

A short clip of "The Calling":

"Year of the Rabbit" page on the NYCB website, which includes a promo video, an excerpt of a pas de deux, and a slide show:

http://www.nycballet.com/ballets/y/year-of-the-rabbit.aspx

[Helene]

The Seattle Times season announcement includes a slide show with photos of five existing productions -- "Waiting at the Station," "Rush," "Emergence," "Fancy Free," and "Coppelia":

http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/dance/pacific-northwest-ballets-2015-16-season-balanchine-and-more/

[sandik]

Lots to think about here! Just off the top, I'm glad to see the Robbins coming back (I think this is a ramp up for his centennial year), and Prodigal Son -- they've got several great choices for casting with this. And I'll be glad to see Rush and Sum Stravinsky again -- the company really puts themselves into dancing works by their colleagues. (As far as that goes, I'm curious to see what Suddarth makes as well. He's still absolutely in a learning mode, which could make for some exciting work.)

I think Generosa was in the first version of Rabbit, that Peck made for the SAB workshop. She seemed to relish her part in Debonair earlier this year, so this should be a welcome addition for her.

In general, I get kind of exasperated with the theme titles for programs (I understand why, from a marketing perspective, organizations like to do this, but still...) -- they often seem kind of arbitrary, but the last "American Stories" bill has the potential for some real synergy -- the works/styles both derive from and comment on each other.

And then there's Emergence. Enough said!

A couple of notes: The Corsaire that they're doing in March as a family show is drawn from the Stepanov notation that's getting so much attention right now with the productions of Paquita and Sleeping Beauty, but there will be cuts made, mostly in consideration of length (the show is geared toward younger performers and audiences) But if you saw Doug Fullington's reconstruction of the Jardin Animee for the school show a few years ago, you'll see it again here -- it's a truly beautiful piece of work.

And they'll be dancing Christopher Wheeldon's Scenes de Ballet in the school show June 18. The main company did the work during the Laugh Out Loud festival in 2008 -- it's a seriously snarky work.

[Jack Reed]

Any word as to how Square Dance will be costumed?

[Helene]

The last time PNB did it (2010) the women wore the tunics and the men wore the white shirts and gray tights like MCB.

[sandik]

We have the version without a caller, but with the solo.

[mussel]

Any companies still do Square Dance with a caller?

[Helene]

PNB did it with a caller in Vail once.

[sandik]

I think Kansas City might still.

[pherank]

I will make every effort to see American Stories in Seattle - looks like a great program. Square Dance has been at the top of my list of ballets I want SFB to revive, but it may be a long wait. ;)

[Quiggin]

The Joffrey did the reconstructed original Square Dance with Caller in 2005. John Rockwell liked it more than San Francisco's abstract version he saw on the same trip around the country: "The original's juxtaposition of country-and-western accents, Baroque violin concertos and academic ballet made Balanchine's jokey premise more pungent." I remember Helgi Tomasson saying in a pre-performance talk that they had tried to do it with the Caller, but they couldn't get it all the elements to mesh.

[Helene]

Renewals went out this week. New and renewing subscribers can pre-order "Nutcracker" tickets for the entire run at 15% off before they go on sale to the public on 18 May either by phone (206) 441-2424 (M-F 10am-6pm; Sa 10am-5pm) or online for those renewing. At this time, there is no mechanism now to buy a new subscription and purchase Nutcracker tickets, unless PNB has it imbedded the "Nutcracker" option in the purchase confirmation email, as the ordering link on the "Nutcracker" page returns to the subscription ordering page. . To purchase/renew online:

• You have to renew or buy a new subscription and purchase "Nutcracker" tickets in a separate transaction. At the moment, for new subscribers, that second transaction must be a phone transaction.
• If you are a current subscriber, you should have received a renewal email, "Announcing the 2015-16 Season."
• You can renew either by clicking the "Click to Renew" icon in the email or by going directly to the PNB website and clicking "Renew":

http://www.pnb.org/Season/Subscriptions/

• If you want to purchase a new subscription, click the "Buy Online" button from the link above.
• If you are a returning subscriber, there are options to renew as is (series, location) or to make changes.

1. Follow the instructions to purchase or renew/make changes.

• You will have to login/create an account.

2. Once you have received your order confirmation, log out.

3. If you are renewing, click the "Click to buy The Nutcracker" icon in the renewal email.

4. The list of dates will appear; select a date and follow the regular ordering instructions.

There's a separate $10 per order fee for each.

[Jack Reed]

Regarding the costumes and versions of Square Dance, if I remember correctly, the Joffrey once staged the old-style version with the new solo to Corelli's "Sarabanda" inserted, in the new costume. I think you've got to do it in one set of costumes or the other, but the "Sarabanda" is such a fine dance it ought to be included if it can be done justice. Of the two versions of the ballet, I prefer the later "abstract" one.

(I found the caller distracting - and amplified too much - when the Joffrey revived the ballet in the New York City Center years ago, but conveniently if mysteriously I also found using the earplugs I was traveling with to the City that Never Sleeps in those days cut down the sound of the PA system much more than the sound of the string players. Just in case this situation also gets reconstructed in Seattle.)

[sandik]

I have yet to see the version with the caller live, and would love to do so, but I doubt that we'll get that here this time. The company has performed the work a couple of times, and though I didn't see the 1981 performance I don't think it had a caller -- the 2007 production did not.

[Helene]

The costumes for the Bell Telephone program, excerpted in the Balanchine documentary and just released on VAI, were black tights for the men, a white tunic for Wilde and white t-shirt for Magallanes, sky blue tunics for the corps women, and a slightly more greenish shade of blue for the corps men's t-shirts.

[Ballet Lover]

Ballet West will be performing Square Dance with the Caller and the Sarabande this upcoming April 10 - April 18, 2015 at The Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City.

[sandik]

I'm so glad that version is still in the active repertory somewhere!

[Helene]

On the PNB website, the composer for Price Suddarth's new work to premiere on the November "Emergence" program has been changed from Vivaldi to Barret Anspach. Anspach is PNB dancer Jessika Anspach's composer brother, who created the score for Andrew Bartee's "arms that work."

[sandik]

Hmmm, that's a significant change.

[Helene]

Ballet West just tweeted,

See @adamsklute in the role of Caller during Almost Tango! http://bit.ly/AlmostTango

(And in these performances you can see the cast of "Breaking Pointe" .)

[sandik]

Is Sklute actually doing the calling, or is he just a stage presence with a recording?

[Helene]

The performance begins with Square Dance by George Balanchine with the Baroque music of Vivaldi and Corelli. Sklute, takes the stage as the square dance caller—a nod to the original composition rarely seen today. “I have performed the role of the square dance caller a number of times in the past, so I’m excited to revisit it,” explains Sklute, who spoke the calls with considerable talent and timing. “I’m also honored to join my dancers on the stage and make my performing premiere with Ballet West.”

http://www.theutahreview.com/dance-elevated-with-ballet-wests-almost-tango/

[sandik]

Good for him, and good for the company to do the original version!

[Helene]

Here's the season preview video: