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A return to normal
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After tumultuous year, PNB dancers to perform live in new season
Tree Talk Page 4
By Jessica Keller
Madison Park Times editor As Pacific Northwest Ballet wraps up its 2020-21 digital offerings, marking the end of a tumultuous season complete with fits and starts and a shift to a new direction last spring, attention is now turning to what is next for the company. To that end, PNB recently announced plans to return to live performances for its 49th season, which takes place from September through June 2022 at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. at the Seattle Center. The decision is a welcome one for directors and staff at Pacific Northwest Ballet after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the 2020-21 season. Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal looks forward to once again emerging from behind the curtain at McCaw Hall and greeting the audience in person. PNB Executive Director Ellen Walker said she is looking forward to audiences one again enjoying live performances. While the return to live performances is the first step back to normal for PNB, both Boal and Walker said last year taught some hard, but valuable lessons in resiliency and adapting to difficult circumstances. When it became clear 2020 was not going to be a regular year for PNB because of the pandemic, the regulations that shuttered live performances and uncertain timelines regarding reopening, ballet administrators decided that the best way to salvage the season was to pivot to a digital season. “There was no road map for this, and we just said let’s do it,” Boal said. Keeping dancers and theatrical support staff employed was a top priority, he said. Instead of opting to rely strictly on archived material, Boal said they were able to curate and commission some smaller programs and smaller works. This was another positive because doing so allowed PNB to expand its community of choreographers and include more people of color and women. They also made the experience more personal for audiences by recording interviews
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Photo © Lindsay Thomas Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Elle Macy and principal dancer Dylan Wald perform in Jessica Lang’s ‘Ghost Variations,’ which had its world premiere during PNB’s 2020-21 digital season. PNB plans to perform Ghost Variations live on stage for its upcoming 2021-22 season.
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