Pacific Northwest Ballet Announces 2013-2014 Season; Tickets on Sale Now

Pacific Northwest Ballet opens its Box Office for 2013-2014 ticket sales on Monday, July 22. As is its tradition, PNB is offering aspecial money-saving deal to celebrate the company's 41st season: Pay no service fees on tickets purchased thru July 31. Tickets (as well as subscriptions) may be purchased through the PNB Box Office, either by phone (206.441.2424), online (pnb.org) or in person at 301 Mercer Street.

Artistic Director Peter Boal has announced the confirmed line-up for Pacific Northwest Ballet's 41st Season: Highlights include a program devoted to the works of PNB's first artist-in-residence, Twyla Tharp, including a new work featuring an original score by New Orleans R&B legend Allen Toussaint; the return of popular works by Jiri Kylian, Susan Stroman, Molissa Fenley, and Susan Marshall; a world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, Resident Choreographer at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; a PNB premiere by Crystal Pite; and audience favorites The Sleeping Beauty and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The season closes with PNB's acclaimed staging of Giselle featuring new sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan (Roméo et Juliette, Don Quixote)

2013-2014 SEASON LINE-UP

Rep 1 - AIR TWYLA

September 27 - October 6, 2013

Brief Fling (PNB Premiere)

Music: Michel Colombier and Percy Grainger

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi

Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton

Waiting at the Station (World Premiere)

Music: Allen Toussaint

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Scenic & Costume Design: Santo Loquasto

Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls

Nine Sinatra Songs

Music: Songs sung by Frank Sinatra

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Scenic Design: Santo Loquasto

Costume Design: Oscar de la Renta

Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton

Pacific Northwest Ballet jump-starts a new season by saluting its first Artist-in-Residence, the legendary Twyla Tharp. Dance and music lovers eagerly await her world premiere commission for PNB, Waiting at the Station, a dream-come-true collaboration with acclaimed New Orleans R&B songwriter, producer, pianist, and singer, Allen Toussaint. Brief Fling, a PNB premiere, refers to Scottish motifs in music and costume design, but the dancing is all about versatility and virtuosity-"brawny and elegant, acrobatic and graceful, classic and modern, it shares the contrast in styles that [Ms. Tharp] loves to introduce" (Chicago Tribune). Nine Sinatra Songs, Tharp's iconic homage to "Ol' Blue Eyes" and ballroom dance, delivers a very smooth finish to the program's expansive trifecta of movement and music.

Rep 2 - KYLIAN + PITE

November 8 - 17, 2013

Petite Mort

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Choreography: Jiri Kylian

Scenic Design: Jiri Kylian

Costume Design: Joke Visser

Lighting Design: Joop Caboort

Sechs Tanze (Six Dances)

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Choreography: Jiri Kylian

Scenic and Costume Design: Jiri Kylian

Lighting Design: Joop Caboort

Forgotten Land (PNB Premiere)

Music: Benjamin Britten

Choreography: Jiri Kylian

Scenic & Costume Design: John Macfarlane

Lighting Design: Joop Caboort

Lighting Re-Design: Kees Tjebbes

Emergence (PNB Premiere)

Music: Owen Belton

Choreography: Crystal Pite

Costume Design: Linda Chow

Scenic Design: Jay Gower Taylor

Lighting Design: Alan Brodie

Dance evolution is front and center when PNB stages the spellbinding visions of Jiri Kylian and Crystal Pite via a foursome of works, including two PNB premieres. Emergence marks the Company's debut excursion with sensational Canadian native Crystal Pite, founder and artistic director of Vancouver's Kidd Pivot. An eye-riveting ensemble piece, Emergence attests to Pite's gift for provocative imagery, as swarms of dancers ebb and flow in sinister patterns against a towering hive backdrop. PNB expands its Jiri Kylian repertory with the kinetic and soulfulForgotten Land. The ballet's themes of loss and memory are manifest in the arched backs and fluid arms of twelve dancers who turn upstage again and again to gaze out over the violent sea as depicted in John Macfarlane's haunting scenic design. Kylian re-imagines Mozart in Petite Mort, a sensual, gold-washed duel for six couples and six fencing foils, and Sechs Tänze (Six Dances), "an 18th-century court gone delightfully mad. Powder from the men's wigs danced in the light, a frothy joy that constantly charms" (Seattle Times).

Stowell & Sendak NUTCRACKER

November 30 - December 29, 2013

(Not part of PNB's subscription season. Call the PNB Box Office for details.)

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Kent Stowell

Scenic & Costume Design: Maurice Sendak

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Making magic memories - and very lovely snowstorms - for 30 years, Pacific Northwest Ballet's one-of-a-kind Nutcracker is the Northwest's favorite holiday tradition. PNB's marvelously imagined production, created by Kent Stowell and Maurice Sendak, features more than 200 dancers, gigantic moving sets, a snowfall every performance, and - the sound of the season - Tchaikovsky's beloved score performed live by the mighty PNB Orchestra. Combined with McCaw Hall's glowing ambiance, Nutcracker is an unforgettable experience from start to finish.

Rep 3 - THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

January 31 - February 9, 2014

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Ronald Hynd (after Marius Petipa)

Staging: Ronald Hynd, Annette Page, and Amanda Eyles

Scenic & Costume Design: Peter Docherty

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Long regarded as the ideal classical ballet, as well as the epitome of collaborations between Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa, The Sleeping Beauty's glorious fairytale world was crafted to mirror the splendor of the Imperial Czars, its first patrons. For PNB's production, choreographer Ronald Hynd wove those strands of Russian tradition with England's Royal Ballet heritage to fashion a grand-scale work of endless appeal. The ballet's 30-plus roles - from benevolent fairies to evil Carabosse's gleeful malice to Act 3's diverting storybook characters and the famous Bluebird pas de deux - offer key opportunities for the dancers to demonstrate technique and artistry. The central brilliance ofBeauty, however, rests with the artist who dances the role of Princess Aurora: she must captivate as a sixteen year-old, inspire a Prince's love in a vision, and awaken to be Queen-all while mastering choreography that proclaims her a great ballerina. "As the teenage princess, [Kaori Nakamura] burst onto the stage as if ready to sweep the world into her arms, and held the breathless balances in the Rose Adagio with a smiling ease" (Seattle Times).

Please note: All matinees for The Sleeping Beauty start at 1:00 pm. Activities for children and families - including crafts and dance classes - will be offered before all matinee performances.

Rep 4 - DIRECTOR'S CHOICE

March 14 - 23, 2014

TAKE FIVE...More or Less

Music: Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond

Choreography: Susan Stroman

Costume Design: William Ivey Long

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Kiss

Music: Arvo Pärt

Choreography: Susan Marshall

Original Lighting Design: Mitchell Bogard

Lighting Design: Peter Bracilano

Original Harnesses and Rigging Design: John Redman

State of Darkness

Music: Igor Stravinsky

Choreography: Molissa Fenley

Staging: Peter Boal

Lighting Design: David Moodey

World Premiere

Choreography: Alejandro Cerrudo

Costume Design: Mark Zappone

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Artistic Director Peter Boal's annual mixed-bill takes inventory of his diverse acquisitions and increases them by one. TAKE FIVE...More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny, delectable slice of jazz-infused fun, returns to entertain both theater fans and lovers of the music of Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. In Susan Marshall's Kiss, performance art and dance meet in an aerial duet, the lovers' passionate dialogue clearly voiced in flight versus restraint. Molissa Fenley's radical State of Darkness, choreographed to Igor Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring, is a tour-de-force solo performance. The program's much-anticipated new arrival is a world premiere by Spanish-born Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: "His works enthrall audiences all over the world, are performed by the best companies, and admired both by dance insiders and people who just happened to make it to the concert that night. One of his essential gifts is the intricate and profound way that he sees music" (Huffington Post).

Alejandro Cerrudo's World Premiere commission for PNB was created with the support of a Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance awarded by The Joyce Theater with major funding from the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation.

PINOCCHIO

March 16 - 22, 2014

(Part of PNB's "Family Matinees" subscription package. Call the PNB Box Office for details.)

Music: Nicola Piovani and Amilcare Ponchielli

Choreography: Bruce Wells

Scenic Design: Edith Whitsett

Costume Design: Pacific Northwest Ballet Costume Shop

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

This narrated, hour-long performance is danced by students of Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and is the perfect opportunity to introduce young children to the magic of live performance. Pinocchio tells the classic tale of a puppet who yearns to be a real boy. Like PNB's other Family Matinee productions of Snow White and Hansel & Gretel, Pinocchio is conceived and choreographed by Bruce Wells and will feature over 70 students of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in each performance. (Pinocchio does not feature PNB Company dancers.). Activities for children and families - including crafts and dance classes - begin one hour before all performances of Pinocchio.

Rep 5 - A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

April 11 - 19, 2014

Music: Felix Mendelssohn

Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust

Staging: Francia Russell

Scenic & Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Set deep inside an enchanted forest, PNB's production of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream conjures magic each time it returns to the stage. The two-act ballet is based on William Shakespeare's comedy that chronicles the confusions and reunions between pairs of bemused mortal lovers and the king and queen of the fairies. PNB's exquisitely detailed production entertains at every level, from Tony award-winning designer Martin Pakledinaz's sumptuous costumes and Northwest rainforest-inspired scenery, to its celebrated score, some of the most marvelously evocative music ever composed. All ends well - and humorously - in the Fairy Kingdom as the catalyst for Act II's triumphant wedding festivities, opened by Mendelssohn's familiar Wedding March. The celebration's crowning moment occurs when Midsummer'srecognition of perfect love, the magnificent Divertissement pas de deux, tenderly unfolds against a shimmering backdrop of moon and stars.

Activities for children and families - including crafts and dance classes - will be offered before all matinee performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

REP 6 - GISELLE (New scenic and costume design)

May 30 - June 8, 2014

Libretto: Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier

Music: Adolphe Adam, with additional music by Friedrich Burgmüller, Ludwig Minkus, and Cesare Pugni

Choreography: Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa, with additional choreography by Peter Boal

Staging: Peter Boal

Choreography Reconstruction: Doug Fullington

Historical Advisor: Marian Smith

Scenic and Costume Design: Jérôme Kaplan

Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli

Peter Boal's radiant reconstruction of Giselle drew accolades from critics and audiences alike during its world premiere staging (June 2011) - "The company is in the spotlight now [with] a richer, more complex ballet, comparable to an epic film for its sweep, character development, storylines and visual stimuli" (Los Angeles Times). To close the 2013-2014 season, Giselle reappears newly adorned in stunning 19th-century costumes and scenery, conceived by celebrated French designer Jérôme Kaplan (Roméo et Juliette, Don Quixote). A masterpiece of the Romantic era, PNB's authentically researched production tells the tragedy of an innocent peasant girl wooed by a duke disguised as a villager. When the duke's betrothal to a noblewoman is revealed, the betrayal causes Giselle to die of a broken heart. In Act 2, she rises from the grave to join classical ballet's most iconic apparitions - the Wilis, a sisterhood of spirits scorned before their wedding nights who return to take their revenge for eternity.

SEASON ENCORE PERFORMANCE

Sunday, June 8, 2014

(Not part of PNB's subscription season. Tickets to this event go on sale in 2014.)

Encore! Encore! PNB celebrates the conclusion of its season, and bids a fond adieu to departing dancers, with its annual Encore Performance of audience favorites.

NEXT STEP

Friday, June 13, 2014

(Not part of PNB's subscription season. Tickets to this event go on sale in 2014.)

Experience the arrival of the next generation of dance artists! A vehicle for emerging talent, NEXT STEP is when PNB Company dancers step up as choreographers and PNB School's Professional Division students take centerstage in an all-premiere lineup of works created just for them.

33rd Annual PNB School Performance

Saturday, June 14, 2014

(Not part of PNB's subscription season. Tickets to this event go on sale in 2014.)

See the stars of tomorrow, on stage today! PNB School's 33rd Annual School Performance.showcases our students' skills and accomplishments over the past year.

PNB ON TOUR

(Tickets not available through the PNB Box Office.)

July 28 - 30, 2013

Vail International Dance Festival (July 25 - 31, 2013)

Vail, CO

For more information, visit VailDance.org.

February 23 - 24, 2014

Works & Process - Guggenheim Museum

New York, NY

For more information, visit Guggenheim.org.

2013-2014 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, SEMINARS, AND LECTURE-DEMONSTRATIONS

(Not part of PNB's subscription season. All events take place at The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center, unless otherwise noted. Tickets go on sale July 22 through the PNB Box Office.)

Vail International Dance Festival Preview (Studio Presentation)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 5:30 pm

2013 marks PNB's fourth visit to the acclaimed Vail International Dance Festival. This year, PNB is taking ballets by Balanchine (Agon, Apollo,Concerto Barocco, and Serenade), Stowell (Swan Lake Act II), and Wheeldon (After the Rain pas de deux and Tide Harmonic). A selection of excerpts will be previewed in this studio rehearsal.

Twyla Tharp Lecture-Demonstration

Wednesday, September 25, 2013, 6:30 pm

McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center

Hear from iconic choreographer Twyla Tharp, PNB's first Artist-in-Residence, as she rehearses the Company onstage at McCaw Hall in Waiting at the Station, her latest creation for PNB. Set to a new score by legendary jazz artist Allen Toussaint, Ms. Tharp's work exemplifies the genius and wit that has made her an American dance legend.

Remembering a Prince: A PNB Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev (Seminar)

Saturday, November 2, 2013, 3:00 pm

Join Peter Boal with guests Elaine Bauer (Boston Ballet), Stephanie Saland (New York City Ballet), and Roslyn Anderson (Australian Ballet), who knew and danced with ballet icon Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) in remembering his artistic legacy through anecdotes, film, and images. Nureyev's profound love of ballet is still impacting dance today, as evidenced by PNB's recent receipt of the The Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, awarded by The Joyce Theater Foundation in 2012. Moderated by dance writer Leslie Holleran.

Coaching the Sleeping Beauty (Studio Presentation)

Thursday, January 16, 2014, 5:30 pm

The role of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty is one of ballet's most challenging and rewarding. From the Rose Adagio to the Vision scene to the Wedding pas de deux, the ballerina must portray nobility coming of age within the language of the danse d'ecole. Artistic Director Peter Boal works with PNB's Auroras in this studio coaching session of the celebrated ballet.

Guggenheim "Works and Process" Preview (Studio Presentation)

Thursday, February 20, 2014, 5:30 pm

PNB returns to the Guggenheim Museum's "Works and Process" series with "Lost Petipa," a program of dances by the 19th-century French ballet master Marius Petipa that have been lost to history. Recovered from century old dance notation, excerpts from Petipa's famed La Bayadère and other ballets will be presented in this studio preview by PNB Company dancers accompanied by two violinists in the traditional rehearsal medium of 19th-century St. Petersburg. Featuring Michael Jinsoo Lim and Brittany Boulding, Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster, respectively, of the PNB Orchestra.

All About Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (Seminar)

Saturday, March 1, 2014, 3:00 pm

Fresh off its hundredth birthday, Stravinsky's notorious Rite of Spring continues to fascinate audiences around the world. Learn about the riotous Paris premiere of this great work and how it has inspired dozens of subsequent productions, watch excerpts from the 1988 reconstruction of the original for the Joffrey Ballet, and chat with PNB dancers who will be performing Molissa Fenley's solo interpretation, State of Darkness, during PNB's March 14-23 DIRECTOR'S CHOICE program.

A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Pacific Northwest (Seminar)

Saturday, April 5, 2014, 3:00 pm

PNB's 1997 production of George Balanchine's brilliant A Midsummer Night's Dream was the first re-design of a full-length Balanchine ballet authorized by The George Balanchine Trust. Designed by Tony Award-winner Martin Pakledinaz and inspired by Northwest flora and fauna, the production became a calling card for PNB, which toured it to Edinburgh, Istanbul, and Hong Kong, as well as London, where it was filmed by the BBC in 1998. Hear from the artists involved in building Midsummer, view a display of costumes, scenic designs and models, and watch excerpts from the award-winning DVD.

Reviving Giselle (Studio Presentation)

Thursday, May 13, 2014, 5:30 pm

Peter Boal's staging of the iconic Romantic-era ballet Giselle garnered international attention and acclaim when it premiered in June 2011. In this studio coaching session, explore the rich characterizations of Giselle, Albrecht, and Myrtha (Queen of the Wilis) that have developed from a combination of French and Russian sources, utilized by Mr. Boal and his team of dance historians, and the wealth of Giselle tradition.

Giselle: New Designs for PNB's Stellar Production (Seminar)

Saturday, May 17, 2014, 3:00 pm

Peter Boal has commissioned Parisian designer Jérôme Kaplan (Roméo et Juliette, Don Quixote) to create new designs to complement PNB's unique staging of Giselle. Hear from Boal and Kaplan and PNB's team of artists about the process of designing and building the scenery and costumes for this historically-informed production, while viewing a selection of sketches, fabric swatches, costumes, scenic models, and props.

And much, much more!

PNB also offers a variety of free or affordable previews, lectures, and post-performance Q&As for each of its subscription season productions. For more information, visit pnb.org and click on "Events & Offers" under each specific production's listing.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to the 2013-2014 season go on sale Monday, July 22. Pay no service fees on tickets purchased through July 31. (Money-saving season subscriptions are available at any time. Discounted subscription rates are available for senior citizens and students with ID.)

Tickets and subscriptions may be purchase through the PNB Box Office:

· Phone: 206.441.2424

· In Person: 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center

· Online: pnb.org

For information on discount offers including 25-and-under tickets, Teen Tix, and Group Sales, visit pnb.org. While there, sign up on PNB's email list, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter, and be among the first to learn about PNB news, casting and performance updates, ticket offers, and more.

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