Culture Fiend

TONIGHT: Meet Ballet’s “It Boy” Chris Wheeldon at PNB

The choreographer is in house for a special preview of his new work.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Sep 21, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Chris Wheeldon

Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has been called “the boy wonder of classical ballet,” “one of the hottest classical choreographers of his generation,” “one of the world’s most in-demand ballet choreographers”… You get the idea. And he’s only 38.

He receives raves for his wit and imagination, taking works like the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and using the corps de ballet to recreate the actual carousel. The native Brit has crafted works for everyone from the Bolshoi to New York City Ballet, and starting September 23, the Pacific Northwest Ballet will showcase four short pieces from his repertoire. (By the way, this All Wheeldon program is one of our top Fall Arts Picks.)

Even better: Wheeldon is in Seattle today for a special preview of some of his latest work and a Q&A with the audience at McCaw Hall. Tickets are still available at pnb.org (I just checked) and are $10 for PNB subscribers, $20 general admission. This is a rare opportunity to chat with Wheeldon; he won’t be in town for very long, so if you’re a dance fan, consider skipping whatever TV show you planned to watch tonight for this event. It’s from 6:30 to 8.

All Wheeldon is at PNB Sept 23–Oct 2.

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Tags: PNB, Dance, Seattle Ballet, Fall Arts Preview 2011

PNB’s Season Encore

Last chance to toast eight dancers departing from Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Posted by: Annie Rose Favreau on Jun 08, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Ariana Lallone’s will dance in Lambarena for her final performance with PNB.
Photo courtesy Ben Kerns.

Hands down, my favorite description of the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s annual Season Encore Performance —which reprises some of the company’s most knockout acts—comes from Seattle Dances’ Rosie Gaynor: “Think of it as dim sum for dance: a bit of this, a bit of that, super tasty, not too pricey.” There’s something for everyone.

Despite the Encore name, this year’s one-night-only event features just a single piece from the past season, Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort (You know, the six-guys-and-their-six-swords piece. Oh, the blatant metaphors.)

Instead of including repeats, the lineup appears to have been crafted to celebrate the eight dancers who are leaving the company. Just don’t say they’re retiring, PNB’s Gary Tucker warned: “The dancers are not moving on to the old folks’ home!” Chalnessa Eames, Barry Kerollis, Ariana Lallone, Stanko Milov, Josh Spell, Jeffrey Stanton, Stacy Lowenberg, and Olivier Wevers will all continue on to dance, teach, or choreograph elsewhere.

The evening will include several departing dancers performing signature roles in numbers like Twyla Tharpe’s intoxicating (or should it be intoxicated?) “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” excerpted from Nine Sinatra Songs; and Lambarena, a rich collision of ballet and Bach with traditional African dance and music. Crowd-pleasers like Rubies, Carmen, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue will also make an appearance alongside new choreography like Rushed Goodbye by Stacy Lowenberg, and the first pas de deux from Olivier Wever’s Monster.

PNB’s Season Encore Performance shows June 12.

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Tags: PNB, Dance, Preview, Seattle Ballet