The SunBreak » Rosie Gaynor

After Preview of Gibson’s “Mozart Pieces,” PNB’s Men Hold Court

Rosie Gaynor — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:02:32 +0000

So what does Gibson’s new baby look like? It differs in spirit from his sleek, red, sharp Piano Dance. What we saw of this new ballet feels more courtly, using old music and recognizable steps. It feels true to Mozart: energized, elegant, clean, delighting in patterns.

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, “World-Class” & Dance in Seattle

Rosie Gaynor — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:19:50 +0000

Mark Morris recently said in The Stranger that “world class” is a “horrible term” to apply to the arts. I agree with him. Somehow the phrase cheapens art. Still, I like world-class art.

1 Night, 9 Dances at PNB’s Season Encore on June 10

Rosie Gaynor — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:36:07 +0000

Lucien Postlewaite, the other dancer leaving PNB this year, takes on three roles in this show. It’s not too many for a dancer who joined the company in 2003 as an apprentice and who has given so many exceptional, moving performances as he climbed steadily up the ranks. (See Philippa Kiraly’s recent SunBreak article on Postlewaite’s departure.) We’ll see him in Apollo, growing into noble godhood with muses Carla Körbes, Kylee Kitchens, and Lesley Rausch. That should be absolutely beautiful.

PNB’s Season Encore a Momentous Farewell to Eight Dancers

Rosie Gaynor — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:09:24 +0000

Five dances into Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Encore last Sunday night, I got sick to my stomach. It suddenly became viscerally apparent to me just how much we are losing with the departure of eight PNB dancers: Chalnessa Eames, Barry Kerollis, Ariana Lallone, Stacy Lowenberg, Stanko Milov, Josh Spell, Jeffrey Stanton, and Olivier Wevers. “The end of an era,” said the couple next to me.

A Preview of PNB’s Season Encore, This Sunday Only

Rosie Gaynor — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:14:20 +0000

If you’ve never tried ballet, PNB’s Season Encore this Sunday (June 12 at 6:30 p.m.; tickets start at $30) is a good introduction, as it offers a wide variety of styles. Think of it as dim sum for dance: a bit of this, a bit of that, super tasty, not too pricy. If you’ve been avoiding PNB this year because of the story ballets, then this is a good time to return, as the program includes excerpts from works like the fast, sexy Red Angels; the jazzy Rubies; Lambarena, that Seattle favorite that mixes Bach and African music, ballet and African dance; Petite Mort, which takes its translation into the English word orgasm almost literally, albeit elegantly; and the architectural Agon.