Ballet Talk with Pacific Northwest Ballet

Rep 1 - The Times Are Racing (2024/25 Season)

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.

Resident Choreographer Jessica Lang - PNB Conversation Series

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.

Rep 6 - Coppélia (2023/24 Season)

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.

Retiring Rehearsal Director Otto Neubert - PNB Conversation Series

Join Doug Fullington as he interviews PNB's retiring rehearsal director Otto Neubert and PNB School students performing in our final production of the 2023/24 Season, Coppélia. Listen to Otto as he recounts his incredible career from dancing to rehearsal directing, how dance steps and roles are passed dancer to dancer, and Otto's advice to dancers of all ages. 

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

Rep 5 - The Seasons' Canon (2023/24 Season)

Join dance historian Doug Fullington as he takes us through the three works of Pacific Northwest Ballet's THE SEASONS' CANON. On stage this rep are Twyla Tharp's Sweet Fields™, Jessica Lang's stunning solo The Calling, and Crystal Pite's mesmerizing work for 54 dancers, The Seasons' Canon. Doug Fullington is the founder and director of The Tudor Choir who sing the Shaker hymns featured in Sweet Fields, as well as the music for The Calling. 

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

 

 

Retiring Dancer James Yoichi Moore - PNB Conversation Series

Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and retiring PNB Principal dancer James Yoichi Moore talk about the ins and outs of James' career as a dancer. They cover his journey as a dancer pre-PNB, his on and off stage collaborators (Noelani Pantastico, Twyla Tharp, Seattle Dance Collective, etc.), his advice for young dancers, and more! Tune in to this conversation for a brief summary of James' contributions to PNB including some rapid-fire questions from Peter and the audience. 

 

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

Rep 4 - One Thousand Pieces (2023/24 Season)

Doug Fullington talks PNB audience members through the exciting double-bill program consisting of Matthew Neenan's Bacchus and Alejandro Cerrudo's One Thousand Pieces. Doug covers the music of Oliver Davis and Philip Glass, the costuming, and how dancing in water works in the Cerrudo work. Tune in for this behind the scenes look at Rep 4 of PNB's 2023/24 Season!

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

PNB Orchestra - PNB Conversation Series

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.

Rep 3 - Swan Lake (2023/24 Season)

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. 

Lucien Postlewaite & James Kirby Rogers - PNB Conversation Series

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.