Andrew Bartee

Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004.

The company consists of 49 dancers; there are more than 100 performances throughout the year.

PNB performs in McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center. It is especially known for its performance of the Stowell/Maurice Sendak '' Nutcracker'', which it had presented from 1983 through 2014, as well as made into a feature film. In 2006, the company was chosen to perform in the Fall for Dance Festival at New York's City Center Theatre and at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

History

Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972, after the two-month residency of First Chamber Dance Company,
Campbell cites the residency as occurring in 1971.
as part of the Seattle Opera and named the Pacific Northwest Dance Association. Under the directorship of Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, originally of New York City Ballet,

it broke away from the Opera in 1977 and took its current name in 1978. Stowell and Russell left at the end of the 2004–2005 season.

A portrait by artist Michele Rushworth was painted of Stowell and Russell and installed in the Phelps Center, Seattle, to commemorate their careers and retirement. Both had studied with and danced for George Balanchine.

In July 2005, Peter Boal succeeded Stowell and Russell as artistic director following their retirement. After dancing with the New York City Ballet for 22 years, he had been a full-time faculty member at The School of American Ballet from 1995-2005.

In 2013, the company and its orchestra toured to New York for the first time in sixteen years. The ''New York Times'' dance critic Alastair Macaulay, stated of their presentation that "This is a true company," more "unified in its understanding of Balanchine" than the New York City Ballet.

In 2012, PNB brought in Twyla Tharp as its first artist in residence for a year-long residency.

Pacific Northwest Ballet School

The Pacific Northwest Ballet School was founded in 1974. Formerly directed by Francia Russell, and now directed by Peter Boal, it has been considered to be "one of the leading, if not the definitive, professional training school in the country."

The teaching is structured on that of the School of American Ballet.

Pacific Northwest Ballet holds an annual summer course in the month of July and is considered one of the leading summer dance education facilities in the country.

Dancers

Pacific Northwest Ballet is noted for choosing dancers that have physique, expressivity and a variety of body shapes.

Principals

* Jonathan Batista
* Leta Biasucci
* Kyle Davis
* Angelica Generosa
* Cecilia Iliesiu
* Elle Macy
* James Yoichi Moore
* Elizabeth Murphy
* Lucien Postlewaite
* Lesley Rausch
* James Kirby Rogers
* Dylan Wald

Soloists

* Madison Rayn Abeo
* Dammiel Cruz-Garrido
* Christopher D'Ariano
* Amanda Morgan
* Miles Pertl
* Christian Poppe
* Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan
* Price Suddarth
* Leah Terada
* Ezra Thomson

Corps de ballet

* Malena Ani
* Ryan Cardea
* Mark Cuddihee
* Abby Jayne DeAngelo
* Luther DeMyer
* Ashton Edwards
* Melisa Guilliams
* Connor Horton
* Zsilas Michael Hughes
* Clara Ruf Maldonado
* Audrey Malek
* Noah Martzall
* Joh Morrill
* Ginabel Peterson
* Juliet Prine
* Kuu Sakuragi
* Yuki Takahashi
* Genevieve Waldorf
* Lily Wills

Notable former dancers

* Patricia Barker
* Chalnessa Eames
* Carrie Imler
* Carla Körbes
* Louise Nadeau
* Kaori Nakamura
* Noelani Pantastico
* Miranda Weese

References

Reviews

NY Times
by Alastair Macaulay, November 5, 2007

NY Times
by Alastair Macaulay, September 25, 2007

External links

*

Pacific Northwest Ballet
at HistoryLink

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Culture of Seattle
Ballet companies in the United States
Ballet schools in the United States
1972 establishments in Washington (state)
Performing groups established in 1972
Dance in Washington (state)
Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state)
Organizations based in Seattle