Rep 2 of Pacific NW Ballet’s Digital Season

[Jeannette]

PNB’s second 2020/21 digital  program was, to me, far more satisfying than the first one, as it was structured closer to a “live” show - a quadruple bill of two 20-minute premieres book-ending two familiar brief pieces.

 

Best of all was one of the two longer works: Jessica Lang’s Ghost Variations, to the music of Robert and Clara Schumann, is a real gem...traditional ballet, to classical music, that is meant to be danced on a proscenium-stage setting. The modern take on 19th-c costumes (tulle & pointe shoes for the ladies!) and atmospheric lighting (large shadows of background dancers) were pitch perfect. And what gorgeous dancing by the eight dancers! I particularly loved a lyrical pas de trois for three ladies (Leta Biasucci, Angelica Generosa and Elizabeth Murphy), as well as a haunting final pdd for Elle Macy and Dylan Wald. Ghost Variations is a keeper...which I plan to see as many times as possible before viewing rights expire early next week.

 

The other premiere - Penny Saunders’ Wonderland, to a score by Michael Wall that in spots echoed known tunes by Satie and Saint-Sean’s - was basically a made-for-the-camera video...although shot on or around PNB’s main stage in Seattle (MacCaw Hall), it was gimmicky and unsatisfying. Thank goodness, what followed was better! (Do catch a shorter - and far more enjoyable - film, Alice, also by Saunders, meant to be a companion piece to Wonderland. Alice is magnificently played by long-time PNB ballerina Noelani Pantastico.)

 

In between, we are treated to two works, the most satisfying being a four-minute male-bravura bit of Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles (great fun...but I wish to see the whole thing!) and a six-minute modern-dance arm-waving duet by Susan Marshall for a pair, appropriately titled Arms. This was the obligatory “educational castor oil” for traditional ballet lovers...take your “medicine” and you’ll be rewarded with happiness...and indeed we were in the last work of the program, Ghost Variations!

 

The roughly-one-hour-long main program is complemented by over one hour of delightful “extras,” including the aforementioned Alice, PNB Educ Director Doug Fullington’s always-insightful intro chat, two repetitions of Arms (one including a in-studio performance by PNB A.D. Peter Boal and Jim  Kent), and Boal’s rollicking chat with Twyla Tharp (in which she reveals her work for an upcoming US television “American Masters” special to air in the spring, for which she’s been creating new works on Zoom with great dancers like the Mariinsky’s Maria Khoreva and ABT’s Herman Cornejo, across Intl time zones!).  

Edited November 13, 2020 by Jeannette

[alison]

Thank you, Jeannette.  This one doesn't seem to be on the Calendar - could you provide a link, please, in case others want to check it out?

[Jeannette]

Here you go. Link to info on purchasing, etc.

https://www.pnb.org/season/rep2/  

 

I just rewatched the Twyla Tharp chat and, oh my, she is indefatigable. A pure bolt of lightning. She had Peter Boal mostly speechless...and it’s hilarious how, throughout the interview, she’d poke Boal with questions ending in “Don’t you agree, Peter Boal?” “ Isn’t it so, Peter Boal?” Grandma pokes Little Lad. ROTFL!

Edited November 13, 2020 by Jeannette

[Cherilyn]

3 hours ago, Jeannette said:

PNB’s second 2020/21 digital  program was, to me, far more satisfying than the first one...

 

And this is why I love the subjectivity art  - I have such a different sentiment and it's great to hear your opinion! I so wanted to love the program, but I just didn't. Here's my thoughts. 

[Jeannette]

18 hours ago, alison said:

Thank you, Jeannette.  This one doesn't seem to be on the Calendar - could you provide a link, please, in case others want to check it out?

 

Alison, you may want to add to the calendar the following starting dates for the remainder of the 2020/2021 PNB Digital Season. The main link for all of this is PNB.org/DigitalSubscription . (There is a separate Balanchine Nutcracker option, as of Dec 11, to which I’ve not subscribed.)

 

Starting Date       Content

 

2/11/21     Romeo & Juliet (Maillot v.) extras incl full Robbins’ West Side Story Suite

 

4/1/21  Three World Premieres (by Wheeldon, Byrd and Cerrudo)  Extras include full perf of a past Cerrudo ballet Little Mortal Jump

 

5/6/21  Coppelia (Balanchine & Danilova v.). Extras include full Balanchine Serenade & archived interview of Danilova.

 

6/10/21 Triple Bill: Silent Ghost (Cerrudo), Pictures at an Exhibition (Ratmansky) & world premiere by E. Liang. Extras include other full ballet by Liang: Distant Cries

 

Access to each of the above regular rep shows is for five days. Nutcracker is different; read PNB web info.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Jeannette

[alison]

Thanks, Jeannette.  I'm rather busy at the moment, so it may take some time to get them up there - unless someone else wants to do it in the meantime?

[Jeannette]

Oh, I didn’t mean to impose work on you or anyone else, Alison! Since you mentioned not having this Rep 2 show information on the calendar, I thought I’d finish the circle and give you the rest...so that it won’t be a surprise when the next one comes around in February. Sometimes the details that may appeal to prospective subscribers/viewers are buried deep in announcements, e.g., a complete filmed Serenade as an “extra”...ahum, a complete Serenade!!! (Is my microphone on?) 🤣 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Jeannette

[alison]

A complete Serenade?  This I have to see!

[Cherilyn]

6 hours ago, alison said:

A complete Serenade?  This I have to see!

*swoon*!

[Janite]

Not sure if I have seen an incomplete Serenade, but on all your recommendations I now aim to see the whole thing. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Janite

[alison]

Oh, you need to