Pacific Northwest Ballet Revitalized

PNB

This is my 20th season as a subscriber to Pacific Northwest Ballet. Last year marked a major change for the company when Peter Boal took over the artistic leadership from long-time directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell.

Before the switch had been a rough patch for PNB. When the new opera house opened, it was clear they had lost a chunk of subscribers in the transition. Part of this may have been due to a flap on how seats were being priced and assigned in the new house, but also I think the company had gotten a bit stale under Kent and Francia, who had lead the company since 1976. In fact, for one performance I was seated behind Doug Fullington, who is a dance historian who regularly speaks on ballet - he looked around at the empty seats and commented that it looked like a lot of people had not re-subscribed.

Last season was Boal's first and it seemed like people were watching and waiting. This season, however, I have been thrilled to see huge pick-up in the audience. It's amazing really and completely warrented.

The current program, All Premiere, is a stunning mix of established and new chroeographers. The Seattle Times review of the program is here. All Premiere runs through November 12.