Wednesday, June 1

[dirac]

A list of the best ballet scores of all time.

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What makes a great ballet score? Often, there’s a lot more to consider than in a standard symphony. It needs to tell a clear story, highlight the differences between characters and provide an accompaniment – or even a partner – to the dancers on stage. But it also needs to be able to stand alone, to exist and thrive as its own entity. The musical language needs to be rich and colourful enough that we can hear the story unfold without needing visual prompts.

 

[dirac]

What Houston Ballet soloist Harper Watters is wearing.

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“I wake up at about 7:30 in the morning. We have class at 10 a.m. I leave the house around nine and when I get to the studios, I change into dance clothes. I'm really [only] in an [actual] outfit for about [as long as] the drive to work. At first, I would try to turn a look that would be really conceptual, but then I was like I'm 30 now. I think I just want to be comfortable and get to work. The Reebok jumpsuit was definitely me choosing practicality and comfort. I like that athletic element and it still gives a fashion point of view. I love walking into the building and having people on the street recognize that I’m a dancer.

 

[dirac]

A profile of the late Kabby Mitchell, the first black dancer to join Pacific Northwest Ballet.

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Mitchell, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, might never have graced Seattle were it not for another Seattle dance legend: Edna Daigre, founder of the long-running Ewajo Dance Workshop. She happened to meet Mitchell in the late 1970s at a dance studio in Oakland, California. Impressed by his talent and his eagerness to teach so many techniques, including ballet, jazz and the Katherine Dunham Technique, she encouraged him to join her in Seattle. He made the move in 1979 and, after a brief residency at Ewajo, joined PNB. Daigre remembers him dancing around her living room when he first got to the city.