Pacific Northwest Ballet Presents the Family Matinee Series Production of PINOCCHIO, 3/16 and 3/22

Pacific Northwest Ballet is happy to announce the return of its popular Family Matinee Series production of Pinocchio. The classic tale of a puppet who yearns to be a real boy will be presented as a narrated one-act ballet for family audiences. Like PNB's 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 specially-created, hour-long matinee performance for children and families. (Pinocchio does not feature PNB Company dancers.) Pinocchio runs March 16 and 22 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Performances are at 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm on Sunday, March 16, and 3:30 pm on Saturday, March 22. (Details on the 10:30 am student matinee on March 21 can be found below). For tickets, visit PNB.org or call the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Choreographer Bruce Wells has created over 50 ballets. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Mr. Wells' dance career began as a student at the School of American Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet, under the direction of George Balanchine, in 1967 and was promoted to soloist in 1969. His choreographic career began in workshops that Mr. Balanchine coached in the early 1970's. From there he became resident choreographer for the Connecticut Ballet from 1975 to 1979, choreographing his first full length ballet, Coppelia in 1976. From 1979 to 1989 Mr. Wells was resident choreographer for the Boston Ballet, where he created over 20 works which included The Nutcracker, La Fee Mal Gardee,Swan Lake, and his highly acclaimed A Midsummer Night's Dream. (From 1984 to 1989 he was also Associate Artistic Director for the company.) He then joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater for six seasons as resident choreographer, creating new productions of Romeo & Juliet, Firebird and The Great Gatsby among others. Mr. Wells has choreographed works for The Australian Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Cincinnati Ballet, The Nashville Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Jacob's Pillow, and many more. For the past seventeen years Mr. Wells has been on the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Mr. Wells' first children's ballet for PNBS wasSnow White in 2001, followed by Hansel & Gretel in 2006 and Pinocchio in 2009. A frequent guest teacher and freelance choreographer, his most recent assignment was as guest teacher for the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

TICKET INFORMATION

Pinocchio tickets range from $25 to $68 ($22-$61 for children 12 and under) and may be purchased through the PNB Box Office:

• Phone: 206.441.2424 (Mon.-Fri. 9am-6pm; Sat. 10am-5pm)
• In Person: 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center (Mon.-Fri. 10am-6pm; Sat. 10am-5pm)
• Online: PNB.org (24/7)

Tickets are also available 90 minutes prior to each performance, subject to availability, at McCaw Hall, located at 321 Mercer Street.

Student Matinee of Pinocchio

Friday, March 21 - 10:30 am

The Pinocchio student matinee is reserved for groups of 15 or more school students in grades Pre-K through 12; tickets are $12 each. For more information, or to reserve seats, please contact Megan Weigley in the PNB Box Office at206.441.2424 or mweigley@pnb.org. PNB also offers pre- and post-performance workshops for school students. Contact us at 206.441.2432 or education@pnb.org for more information.