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Pacific Northwest Ballet
General information
Name	Pacific Northwest Ballet
Previous names	Pacific Northwest Dance Association
Year founded	1972; 52 years ago (1972)
Founders	Kent Stowell Francia Russell
Principal venue	Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
Website	www.pnb.org
Artistic staff
Artistic Director	Kent Stowell Francia Russell
Music Director	Emil de Cou
Other
Orchestra	Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra
Official school	Pacific Northwest Ballet School
Associated schools	Royal Danish Ballet Canada's National Ballet School

Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. 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 and hosts more than 100 performances throughout the year; it is especially known for its performance of the Stowell/Maurice Sendak Nutcracker, which it presented from 1983 through 2014 and produced as a feature film in 1986.

In 2006, the company was chosen to perform at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival.

PNB performs at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in the Seattle Center.

History

Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972 following the two-month residency of the First Chamber Dance Company, 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

Soloists

Corps de ballet

• Luca Anaya
• Malena Ani
• Dylan Calahan
• Ryan Cardea
• Mark Cuddihee
• Luther DeMyer
• Ashton Edwards
• Melisa Guilliams
• Connor Horton
• Zsilas Michael Hughes
• Rosalyn Hutsell
• Kali Kleiman
• Larry Lancaster
• Audrey Malek
• Noah Martzall
• Joh Morrill
• Ginabel Peterson
• Juliet Prine
• Yuki Takahashi
• Genevieve Waldorf
• Lily Wills
• Destiny Wimpye

Notable former dancers

• Patricia Barker
• Julie Tobiason
• Chalnessa Eames
• Carrie Imler
• Carla Körbes
• Louise Nadeau
• Brent Davi
• Kaori Nakamura
• Noelani Pantastico
• Miranda Weese
• Lindsi Dec
• Karel Cruz
• Lesley Rausch
• Stanko Milov
• Maria Chapman
• Laura Gilbreath

References

1. Flatow, Sheryl (July 1, 1995). "Full Length Ballets". Dance Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
2. Macdonald, Moira (February 12, 2004). "Ballet's artistic directors to retire". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
3. "Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker". Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
4. "The Artists" (Press release). Pacific Northwest Ballet. 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
5. Campbell, R.M. (January 2, 2003). "Dance professional Bennett raised standard in Seattle". Seattle PI. Seattle, United States. Retrieved January 10, 2012. Campbell cites the residency as occurring in 1971.
6. Campbell refers to the organization as the Pacific Northwest Ballet Association.
7. Kisselgoff, Anna (March 28, 1984). "The New York Debut of Pacific Northwest". New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
8. "PNB History and Fact Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
9. ^ "PNB Vision and Mission". Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
10. Macaulay, Alastair (September 27, 2007). "An Idiomatic Balanchine, Walking the Walk in Seattle". The New York Times.
11. Macaulay, Alastair (17 February 2013). "Performers From the West Coast Serve Up Balanchine". New York Times. New York, United States. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
12. Kaderlan, Alice (23 September 2013). "Pacific Northwest Ballet debuts its talented new status symbol". Crosscut. Seattle, United States: Crosscut Public Media. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
13. "PNB School – School Philosophy". Retrieved April 23, 2008.
14. Horosko, Marian (February 1, 1996). "Pacific Northwest Ballet School: doing it right". Dance Magazine.
15. ^ Campbell, R.M. (June 16, 2008). "Pacific Northwest Ballet school's annual spring performances brim with talent". Seattle PI. Seattle, United States. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
16. Datz, Melody (20 March 2013). "Approaching Heaven". The Stranger. Seattle, United States. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
17. ^ Macaulay, Alastair (9 June 2015). "Carla Körbes Grandly Bows Out of Pacific Northwest Ballet". New York Times. New York, United States. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
18. Holdcroft, Lesley (6 June 2002). "Moving on: PNB dancers Tobiason, Apple, 5 others are bowing out". Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
19. Datz, Melody (28 May 2014). "Bowing Out: When and Why Ballet Dancers Retire". The Stranger. Seattle, United States.

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Reviews

External links

• Official website
• Pacific Northwest Ballet at HistoryLink

1. Campbell, R. M. (26 September 2003). ""Swan Lake" is a feast for the senses". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, United States. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
2. Gaynor, Rosie (14 June 2011). "PNB's Season Encore a Momentous Farewell to Eight Dancers". Sunbreak Magazine. Seattle, United States. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

• 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