A conversation with Seattle
Repertory programs traditionally don’t bring in as much audience as story ballets to companies like Pacific Northwest Ballet, but this … Continue reading PNB’s ‘Director’s Choice’ Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat
Asked what are the qualities needed by a ballet master, Gibson cites patience as the first. “You have to be able to deal with everybody’s completely different personalities, and know them as individuals. They learn at different speeds. Some can be pushed, others can’t, they’ll back off. You have to teach every dancer individually, so each rehearsal is different, the vibe is different.” Continue reading In Step With a PNB Ballet Master: Paul Gibson
The only question about Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Modern Masterpieces program (at McCaw Hall through March 24) is at which point your soul may incandesce. My instinct is that this is likely to occur in the second half, during Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven or Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, with its spectacular use of the “fog of minimalism.” Continue reading PNB’s Modern Masterpieces Lives Up to the Hype
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. Continue reading After Preview of Gibson’s “Mozart Pieces,” PNB’s Men Hold Court
It feels right to pair Ratmansky with Morris because although you would not mistake one for the other (unless you freeze-framed on one slumped-over pose that appears in both works), their dances share a remarkable, rigorous charm. If Concerto DSCH is described as one of Ratmansky’s “abstract” works, you should know that it’s not Mercer Cunningham abstraction. It reminds me more of what Brian Wilson was trying to accomplish with Pet Sounds’ emotional tone poems–a distillation of feeling. Continue reading PNB’s ‘Contemporary 4’ is Bullish on Ballet’s Future (Review)