Dance historian Doug Fullington gives an ALL BALANCHINE overview. He covers the brief histories of George Balanchine and his legacy, including the founding of New York City Ballet, staging Balanchine ballets and the George Balanchine Trust, and Balanchine's collaborators on the three works in PNB's ALL BALANCHINE program. This triple bill features Square Dance (1957), Prodigal Son (1929), and Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1972). 

Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in November 2024.

Listen to Peter Boal in conversation with two PNB dancers dancing the titular role in George Balanchine's Prodigal Son for the first time. Jonathan Batista and Kuu Sakuragi talk through their personal histories with Prodigal Son, their experiences through the rehearsal process, and answer audience questions. 

Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in November, 2024.

PNB's music director and principal conductor Emil de Cou moderates this Dress Rehearsal Conversation with four members of the PNB Orchestra. Michael Jinsoo Lim (Concertmaster, violin), Jennifer Caine Provine (Associate Concertmaster, violin), Alexander Grimes (viola), and Page Smith (cello) talk with Emil and answer questions from our audience members about playing Philip Glass' music in Alejandro Cerrudo's One Thousand Pieces, film scores, their histories with the PNB Orchestra, and so much more.

This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in March 2024.

Pacific Northwest Ballet welcomes a new host of our pre-show Ballet Talk series, Dr. Anne Searcy! Anne is an Assistant Professor of Music History at the University of Washington.

Listen along as Anne walks our audience through the history of Tchaikovsky's "undanceable" Swan Lake score, the origin of Swan Lake's infamous 32 fouette turns that end Act III of the ballet, and a quick plot summary including deciphering ballet pantomime. 

Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in February, 2024. 

PNB's associate artistic director Kiyon Ross moderates this Dress Rehearsal Conversation with two PNB Principal dancers. Lucien Postlewaite and James Kirby Rogers talk with Kiyon and answer questions from our audience members about playing Prince Siegfried in Kent Stowell's Swan Lake, their interpretations of key moments of the ballet, recurring themes in romantic ballet, and so much more. 

This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in February 2024.

Join dance historian Doug Fullington as he takes us through the three works of Pacific Northwest Ballet's second production of the 2023/24 season, LOVE & LOSS. This trio of works created for PNB shines a light on some of the stunning world premieres that our New Works Initiative has created in recent years.

Donald Byrd’s haunting Love and Loss premiered in 2019, Alexei Ratmansky’s stunning tribute to his homeland of Ukraine, Wartime Elegy, followed in 2022, and and the newest new work at PNB, Australian choreographer and Oregon Ballet Theatre's artistic director Dani Rowe's The Window.

Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in November of 2023. 

PNB artistic director Peter Boal moderates this Dress Rehearsal Conversation with choreographers Donald Byrd and Dani Rowe. 

Both Byrd and Rowe have works featured in the second rep of PNB's 2023/24 season, LOVE & LOSS. Both works were made for PNB through PNB's New Works Initiative. Donald Byrd's Love and Loss premiered in 2019, and Dani Rowe's The Window premiered in the LOVE & LOSS program in 2023. 

This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in November 2023.

Welcome to PNB's 2023/24 Season opener, PETITE MORT. We’ve packed as much whimsy, artistry, and drama as possible into our 2023/24 season opener.

Built on a foundation of music from Mozart to Beethoven, this triple bill looks at the world of dance through unique shifts in perspective. Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Sechs Tänze return after a long hiatus, along with Alexander Ekman’s delightful Cacti. Host Doug Fullington talks through the origins of each of the three works, including the featured musical scores from Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert.

Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall inside Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in September 2023.

Join Doug Fullington introducing the final program of PNB's 50th Anniversary Season, WORLDS TO COME. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in McCaw Hall in Seattle, Doug takes us through the three works that make up the program. Works include the onstage premiere of Edwaard Liang's The Veil Between Worlds, featuring music composed by Oliver Davis, which first premiered during PNB's digital-only season in 2020. Two world premieres round out this triple-bill: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Khepri, Kiyon Ross' ...throes of increasing wonder danced to new music composed by Christina Spinei. 

Enjoy this Dress Rehearsal Conversation for the closing rep of PNB's 50th Anniversary season, WORLDS TO COME. This conversation between choreographers Edwaard Liang, Kiyon Ross, and composer Oliver Davis was co-moderated by PNB's music director and principal conductor Emil de Cou and conductor and PNB company pianist Josh Archibald-Seiffer. The group focused on the inspiration and collaboration in composing new music for Liang's The Veil Between Worlds with music by Oliver Davis and Ross' ...throes of increasing wonder with music by Christina Spinei, and cultivating unique relationships between choreographers and living composers.    This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in June 2023.

In Doug Fullington's pre-performance talk for George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, he outlines the plot of the ballet (based on the Shakespeare play of the same name), details the 1997 PNB-specific redesign of the ballet, and the international touring history of the ballet at PNB. Fullington also answers questions from the audience including details about working with The Balanchine Trust and approaching redesigns of works by George Balanchine as well as classical choreographers. 

This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in April 2023. 

Doug Fullington takes our audience through ballet's preeminent ghost story, Giselle. Fullington talks about the origins of the ballet including the history of the spectral maidens, the Wilis, Giselle's pantomime and classic choreography, Jerome Kaplan’s costumes and sets, and Adolphe Adam's score.

Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on February 3, 2023.

In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, and in partnership with Casa Latina Seattle, El Centro de La Raza, Joyas Mestizas, KEXP, and Union Cultural Center, in October 2023 PNB hosted Baila Conmigo, a community open house. Held at PNB’s Seattle Center studios, this free, public event featured dance performances by PNB Company dancers and local dance group Joyas Mestizas, a kids’ movement class led by Mestre Silvinho, and a panel discussion moderated by Movimento Afrolatino Seattle founder Monica Rojas, with PNB dancers Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan and Jonathan Batista, El Sonido host DJ Albina Cabrera, and Joyas Mestizas Co-Director Luna Garcia. 

We are pleased to offer this panel discussion as a podcast, with transcripts available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. We hope you enjoy listening, reading, and celebrating these local creatives. 

Click here to read the English Transcript >> https://www.pnb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PNB_Hispanic_Heritage-Panel-English-Transcript-2023-1.pdf

Click here to read the Spanish Transcript >> https://www.pnb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PNB-Hispanic-Heritage-Month-Panel-_SPANISH.pdf

Click here to read the Portuguese Transcript >> https://www.pnb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PNB-Hispanic-Heritage-Month-Panel_Portuguese.pdf

 

En conmemoración del Mes de la Herencia Hispana, y en asociación con Casa Latina Seattle, El Centro de La Raza, Joyas Mestizas, KEXP y Union Cultural Center, en octubre de 2023, PNB organizó Baila Conmigo, una jornada de puertas abiertas comunitaria. Celebrado en los estudios del PNB Seattle Center, este evento público gratuito contó con presentaciones de danza de bailarines de la compañía PNB y el grupo de danza local Joyas Mestizas, una clase de movimiento para niños dirigida por Mestre Silvinho y un panel de discusión moderado por la fundadora del Movimento Afrolatino Seattle, Mónica Rojas, con Los bailarines de PNB Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan y Jonathan Batista, la presentadora de El Sonido, la DJ Albina Cabrera y la codirectora de Joyas Mestizas, Luna García. 

Nos complace ofrecer este panel de discusión como un podcast, con transcripciones disponibles en inglés, español y portugués. Esperamos que disfrute escuchando, leyendo y celebrando a estos creativos locales. 

Em comemoração ao Mês da Herança Hispânica, e em parceria com a Casa Latina Seattle, El Centro de La Raza, Joyas Mestizas, KEXP e Union Cultural Center, em outubro de 2023 o PNB sediou o Baila Conmigo, um open house comunitário. Realizado nos estúdios do PNB Seattle Center, este evento público e gratuito contou com apresentações de dança dos dançarinos da PNB Company e do grupo de dança local Joyas Mestizas, uma aula de movimento infantil liderada por Mestre Silvinho, e um painel de discussão moderado pela fundadora do Movimento Afrolatino Seattle, Monica Rojas, com Os dançarinos do PNB Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan e Jonathan Batista, a apresentadora do El Sonido, DJ Albina Cabrera, e a codiretora de Joyas Mestizas, Luna Garcia. 

Temos o prazer de oferecer este painel de discussão como um podcast, com transcrições disponíveis em inglês, espanhol e português. Esperamos que você goste de ouvir, ler e celebrar esses criativos locais. 

In observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, PNB hosted a Community Open House in partnership with Holocaust Center for Humanity, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Mary Schwartz Summit, the Stroum Jewish Community Center, Temple Beth Am, and Temple De Hirsch Sinai.

This free event featured a panel discussion moderated by PNB faculty member Miriam Landis, with the intention to bring history to life in a way that celebrates hope, inclusion, and resilience. Our sincere gratitude to Miriam and the participating panelists, Rabbi Samuel Klein, Pamela Lavitt, Beverley Silver, Dee Simon, Eva Stone, and Rabbi Daniel A. Weiner for sharing their time and experiences.

Supported by PNB's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Committee

 

Recorded: Sunday, January 29, 2023 at the Phelps Center in Seattle, WA.

Join Doug Fullington introducing our second program of the 2022-2023 Season. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in McCaw Hall in Seattle, Doug takes us through the three works that will be on this program. Works include Catching Feelings, a world premiere from Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine's Duo Concerto and closing with the North American premiere of Crystal Pite's The Seasons' Canon.

This episode of PNB's Conversation Series features choreographer Crystal Pite. She and PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal talk about community and mentorship of young dancers and choreographers, insight into Pite's creation process and collaborators on her work The Seasons' Canon, and her creation timeline for new works on her own company Kidd Pivot.    This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall inside McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington on November 3, 2022.

Join Doug Fullington in kicking off Pacific Northwest Ballet's 50th Anniversary Season with CARMINA BURANA. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in McCaw Hall in Seattle, Doug takes us through the three works that make up this first rep of the season. Works include George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Alexei Ratmanky's world premiere work for PNB, Wartime Elegy, and founding artistic director Kent Stowell's epic Carmina Burana. 

PNB's Dress Rehearsal Conversation series returns!

Enjoy this conversation between PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky on the eve of the world premiere of Ratmansky's new work, Wartime Elegy. This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall inside McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington on September 22, 2022. 

Doug Fullington closes out PNB's 2021-22 Season with an overview of our final rep of the season, ALL THARP. ALL THARP features three of the many varied dance works by legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp. Fullington talks through the Scottish-themed Brief Fling, the nod to Tharp's Shaker roots Sweet Fields, and PNB fan favorite Waiting at the Station. 

Recorded live at McCaw Hall, enjoy Doug Fullington's pre-show Ballet Talk about Kent Stowell's Swan Lake. Fullington covers a brief history of the ballet, Swan Lake's history at PNB, and answers audience questions. 

Doug Fullington talks all things PLOT POINTS, PNB's fourth rep of the 2021-2022 Season. Fullington's pre-performance talk from the Saturday night show takes you through Robyn Mineko Williams' world premiere work for PNB Before I Was, David Parsons' Caught, Crystal Pite's Plot Point, and the PNB premiere of Justin Peck's The Times Are Racing. 

Listen to Doug Fullington's opening night talk about Jean-Christophe Maillot's Roméo et Juliette. Fullington talks through the history of the ballet from Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Sergei Prokofiev's haunting score, and answers a few audience questions including a few about retiring PNB Principal dancer Noelani Pantastico. 

Recorded at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle on February 4, 2022. 

Ballet Talk is back in person! This episode was recorded was recorded on opening night of PNB's second rep of the 2021/22 Season, BEYOND BALLET. Former Manager of Audience Education Doug Fullington walks a small live audience through the three works that make up BEYOND BALLET. As we celebrate internationally acclaimed choreographers Ulysses Dove, Jessica Lang, and Alonzo King, we can find even more beauty in their common threads. The combination of Ulysses Dove's mournful Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, Jessica Lang's haunting Ghost Variations, and the PNB Premiere of Alonzo King's The Personal Element promises unmatched emotion, expression, and musicality.

Doug Fullington introduces PNB's 2024/25 Season with our first performances of the year, THE TIMES ARE RACING. This program includes Edwaard Liang's The Veil Between Worlds, Jessica Lang's Black Wave, and Justin Peck's The Times Are Racing. Doug talks through these three works, the role of rehearsal directors in the ballet creation process, Jessica Lang's appointment as PNB's latest Resident Choreographer, recently promoted soloist dancer Luther DeMyer, and more!   Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in September 2024.

Join PNB's former Manager of Audience Education Doug Fullington in kicking off the 2021/22 season with SINGULARLY CERRUDO. The triple bill celebrates the creative power of PNB’s Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo in the presentation of his most beloved work. Breathe in the moving tranquility of Silent Ghost, get a tantalizing look at the spectacular teamwork in an excerpt from One Thousand Pieces, and journey through the unexpected twists and turns of Little mortal jump. At the center of it all? Spectacular dancing and Cerrudo’s compelling perspective on humanity.

Doug Fullington talks about PNB's conclusion of our first-ever digital season with two world premiere works choreographed, rehearsed, and filmed exclusively for the digital stage by Tony-award winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, and artistic director of Ballet Met, Edwaard Liang. PNB's Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's cheeky work, PACOPEPEPLUTO, closes out the triple bill.

Doug Fullington's pre-performance Ballet Talk on George Balanchine's Coppélia.

 

Doug Fullington's pre-performance Ballet Talk for Rep 4 of PNB's Digital Season features your behind the scenes look at Doris Duke Artist award winner Donald Byrd's world premiere work And the sky is not cloudy all day, and residenct choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's second premiere for PNB, Future Memory, both created and produced just for the digital stage.

Joining the program is an encore presentation of Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Doug Fullington is back to guide us through his Ballet Talk for Rep 2 of PNB's Digital Season. Rep 2 celebrates a lineage of female choreographers each with their own bright and arresting perspective. Doug guides us through the world premiere works Ghost Variations by Jessica Lang and Penny Saunders' Wonderland; each created for the digital stage, conceived, rehearsed, and produced during the pandemic. These new works were joined by a series of male solos from Twyla Tharp's Waterbaby Bagatelles and a new-to-PNB work by Susan Marshall, Arms.

Doug Fullington kicks off Pacific Northwest Ballet's first rep of our digital season. Rep 1 features solos and socially distanced gems from Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Jewels, and Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering to PNB audience favorites like Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, Jessica Lang’s The Calling, and Marco Goecke’s Mopey.

Doug Fullington takes us behind the scenes of Jean-Christophe Maillot's Roméo et Juliette.

Mona Butler has been a bassoonist in Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra since the orchestra was founded in 1989, and PNB's Music Librarian since the position was created in 1996. Marketing Assistant Maris Antolin sat down with Mona in late February to talk about what a Music Librarian does, the years-long process of putting together the orchestra parts for Alejandro Cerrudo's One Thousand Pieces, and the hard-working artists of PNB's orchestra.

In 2015, Price Suddarth was the youngest choreographer to create a work for Pacific Northwest Ballet - we're happy to have Signature back this season. George Balanchine's Tarantella is a total showpiece, originally choreographed for NYCB firecrackers Patricia McBride and Edward Villella (the same original cast for Rubies). José Limón's The Moor’s Pavane is a dramatic and emotional re-telling of Shakespeare’s Othello, all in the form of two couples dancing. And we close the performance with George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, which is the ultimate display of classical ballet.

We have performed A Midsummer Nights' Dream over 100 times in the history of  Pacific Northwest Ballet, we have taken it on tour to many places including Istanbul, Hong Kong and Scotland. In fact, Doug Fullington went on the 2001 tour to London (where it was filmed and released by the BBC) and was in charge of the 24 student "bugs"! Learn how ballet companies have to get permission from the Balanchine Trust to alter George Balanchine's works, and who started out as a Hound, and is now performing the role of Titania.

Listen and learn more about PNB's new Resident Choreographer Jessica Lang! Artistic director Peter Boal interviewed Lang ahead of the premiere of her new work Black Wave in PNB's first performances of the 2024/25 Season. The two cover Jessica's background dancing and choreographing career, the role of a resident choreographer, her experiences so far with PNB, and answers questions from the audience.    Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in September 2024.

After 36-years of working in the PNB costume shop, Larae Hascall has some stories to tell. In her final season as Costume Shop Manager, we get to ask questions about the original build of A Midsummer Night's Dream and all the nitty gritty behind the scenes details. The interview was led by Audience Education Manger, Doug Fullington.

Doug Fullington always has the inside scoop on all things PNB: we learn why Bacchus’ costumes are hues of purple, his admiration of Alicia Walter’s voice in Robyn Mineko Williams’ The Trees The Trees, and the challenges of conducting an Orchestra for ballet (which Doug is doing in Director’s Choice!).

No one is better suited to take you through the rich history of The Sleeping Beauty than Doug Fullington. He explains the "Vision Scene" and how it emulates the super natural ballets of the 1800's, like Giselle and La Sylphide. This production closely follows the Royal Ballet's version of The Sleeping Beauty. It's staged by Ronald Hynd who joined the Royal Ballet in 1951 and his wife Annette Page often danced the role of Aurora there. They set the ballet on us in 2001, and eighteen years later, this will be the last time we perform this version of The Sleeping Beauty.

The ALL PREMIERE program includes three new-to-Seattle dance works and Doug Fullington, Audience Education Manager gives you all the information you need to know to best enjoy this performance. Kyle Davis' A Dark and Lonely Space uses the music of cinematic composer, Michael Giacchino (Up, Coco, the new Stars Wars) and a cast of 24 dancers for his first commission for PNB. Silent Ghost is the second work on the program, choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo. It is an intimate work without being sentimental, and leaves you wanting more. Cacti is Alexander Ekman's response to the culture of arts critics. This hilarious commentary on contemporary dance is a must see (plus you won't want to miss Doug Fullington CONDUCTING the Orchestra in this work!).

Doug Fullington brings you the behind the scenes of LOVE & BALLET. All four of these ballets were choreographed in the last 13 years, Christopher Wheeldon created After the Rain pas de deux for New York City Ballet in 2005 and Tide Harmonic for Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2015. Benjamin Millipied created Appassionata for Paris Opera Ballet in 2016 and Year of the Rabbit put Justin Peck on the map in 2012. Thank you for supporting the ballet!

Doug Fullington dives into the histories and complexities of this mixed bill (called EMERGENCE) that includes Alejandro Cerrudo's Little mortal jump, Yuri Possokhov's RAkU and Crystal Pite's Emergence. Thank you for listening!

Doug Fullington, our Audience Education Manager, talks about how Ezra Thomson's world premiere, The Perpetual State, is inspired by the real-life passing of his father, why William Forsythe removed Slingerland Duet from PNB's program the year it premiered, and the "trigger choreography" of Forsythe's One Flat Thing, reproduced. If you would like to do a deep dive into One Flat Thing, reproduced, Doug recommends visiting Ohio State University's Synchronous Objects.

Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington changes up the regular lecture format, and dedicates the 30-minutes of Ballet Talk to a Q&A for the attending audience. He answers questions like, "do the dancers look forward to this ballet?" and "are there different endings to Swan Lake?". Of course, as always, Doug is an encyclopedia of dance and music history and he has the audience laughing with his replies.

And don't forget, you can always listen to Ballet Talk live, one hour before every performance at McCaw Hall.

Doug Fullington shines the light on the unique-to-PNB works in Her Story. While Peter Boal did not intend to create a repertory including exclusively female choreographers, that's what happened with works by Twyla Tharp, Crystal Pite and Jessica Lang.

We were fortunate to have choreographer Crystal Pite in our studios for 4 weeks as she choreographed and reworked Plot Point. Originally choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater in 2010, we are proud to present the American premiere here in Seattle.

The evening before opening night, PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal had a few questions for Crystal. Hear her discuss her beginnings in ballet, her own Company, Kidd Pivot and of course, Plot Point.

 

Listen and enjoy Doug Fullington's pre-performance Ballet Talk on George Balanchine's Coppélia. Fullington recaps this comedic ballet, its history, and more!

Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in June, 2024.

Did you know the first performance of Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds a) wasn't even called Jewels and b) was on a mixed bill that included Prodigal Son? PNB Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington is back with all of his historical fun facts and insider knowledge about how we get our ballets from studio to stage. And don't forget, you can always listen to Ballet Talk (previously Pre-Performance Lectures) live, one hour before every performance at McCaw Hall.

Doug Fullington takes us behind the scenes on the last rep of our season, Pictures at an Exhibition. George Balanchine choreographed La Source to help push an upcoming dancer (John Clifford) to his highest potential, Jerome Robbins choreographed Opus 19/The Dreamer on Mikhail Baryshnikov during the year he was a dancer at New York City Ballet, and we learn why Alexei Ratmansky chose Wassily Kandinsky's work as the backdrop for Pictures at an Exhibition.

Peter Boal does a Q&A with Wendy Whelan, chatting about her first staging experience (with Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition), her new documentary Restless Creature, and how she was recently published in The New York Times writing about her first time dancing a Balanchine ballet (which coincidentally was the same day he died).

Doug Fullington takes us behind the scenes on Ballet on Broadway. He talks about the climactic moment in Wheeldon's Carousel (A Dance), reminds us about the ballet-within-a-play concept of Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and has a few stories about Jerome Robbins' reputation for being a strict task-master.