Pacific Northwest Ballet opens its 2006-2007 season Thursday with artistic director Peter Boal’s selections for “Director’s Choice.”
This vibrant mixed repertory program will feature the Seattle premiere of “Fancy Free,” the delightful 1944 Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein collaboration. Also, returning to PNB this season is William Forsythe’s riveting “In the middle, somewhat elevated.” The lineup also includes “Theme and Variations,” George Balanchine’s beautiful tour de force, choreographed to music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
“The sum total of these three works makes for a perfect program and a perfect beginning to an extraordinary PNB season,” Boal said.
Here are some footnotes:
When “Fancy Free” premiered in New York on April 18, 1944, it was an instant hit. The ballet was transformed that same year into the equally successful Broadway musical “On the Town” and established Robbins and Bernstein as formidable talents in American theater.
Set in New York City on a summer night, “Fancy Free” follows three sailors on shore leave as they look for romance. When they succeed in picking up only two girls, the sailors begin to fight over them. They try to resolve the situation by dancing one after another, to give the girls a chance to decide whom to choose.
American-born choreographer William Forsythe has been called “one of history’s landmark choreographers,” with his signature union of classical ballet and modern dance.
In his groundbreaking “In the middle, somewhat elevated,” the faux disdain of the dancers, moving in pairs and groupings, contrasts with the strict and severe technical demands of the choreography, while the electronic score by Thom Willems cuts the air like thunder. As for the title, look for two golden cherries hanging “in the middle, somewhat elevated.”
“Theme and Variations” comes from that incredibly fertile era for George Balanchine that was the 1940s – the period that gave us such works as “Ballet Imperial” and “Orpheus” and a host of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films for which Balanchine created dances. “Themes and Variations” pushes ballet forward with Balanchine’s neo-classical sensibilities, emphasizing speed, attack, musicality and breadth of movement.
On Saturday, PNB will hold its 2006 opening gala featuring a special presentation of Robert Joffrey’s “Remembrances,” with a guest appearance by soprano Jane Eaglen, singing Wagner’s “Trume” accompanied by the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra.
The evening continues with the Seattle premiere of Jerome Robbins’ “Circus Polka,” George Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations,” Paul Gibson’s “World Premiere,” along with excerpts from Kent Stowell’s “Swan Lake” and Balanchine’s “La Sonnambula.”
Angela Sterling photo
Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Ariana Lallone and Olivier Wevers with company dancers in William Forsythe’s “Artifact II.” Forsythe’s “In the middle, somewhat elevated” is part of this year’s season-opening “Director’s Choice” program.
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