Ballet Talk with Pacific Northwest Ballet

Q & A - Costume Shop Manager, Larae Hascall

After 36-years of working in the PNB costume shop, Larae Hascall has some stories to tell. In her final season as Costume Shop Manager, we get to ask questions about the original build of A Midsummer Night's Dream and all the nitty gritty behind the scenes details. The interview was led by Audience Education Manger, Doug Fullington.

Director's Choice (2018-2019 Season)

Doug Fullington always has the inside scoop on all things PNB: we learn why Bacchus’ costumes are hues of purple, his admiration of Alicia Walter’s voice in Robyn Mineko Williams’ The Trees The Trees, and the challenges of conducting an Orchestra for ballet (which Doug is doing in Director’s Choice!).

The Sleeping Beauty (2018-2019 Season)

No one is better suited to take you through the rich history of The Sleeping Beauty than Doug Fullington. He explains the "Vision Scene" and how it emulates the super natural ballets of the 1800's, like Giselle and La Sylphide. This production closely follows the Royal Ballet's version of The Sleeping Beauty. It's staged by Ronald Hynd who joined the Royal Ballet in 1951 and his wife Annette Page often danced the role of Aurora there. They set the ballet on us in 2001, and eighteen years later, this will be the last time we perform this version of The Sleeping Beauty.

All Premiere (2018-2019 Season)

The ALL PREMIERE program includes three new-to-Seattle dance works and Doug Fullington, Audience Education Manager gives you all the information you need to know to best enjoy this performance. Kyle Davis' A Dark and Lonely Space uses the music of cinematic composer, Michael Giacchino (Up, Coco, the new Stars Wars) and a cast of 24 dancers for his first commission for PNB. Silent Ghost is the second work on the program, choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo. It is an intimate work without being sentimental, and leaves you wanting more. Cacti is Alexander Ekman's response to the culture of arts critics. This hilarious commentary on contemporary dance is a must see (plus you won't want to miss Doug Fullington CONDUCTING the Orchestra in this work!).

Love & Ballet (2017-2018 Season)

Doug Fullington brings you the behind the scenes of LOVE & BALLET. All four of these ballets were choreographed in the last 13 years, Christopher Wheeldon created After the Rain pas de deux for New York City Ballet in 2005 and Tide Harmonic for Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2015. Benjamin Millipied created Appassionata for Paris Opera Ballet in 2016 and Year of the Rabbit put Justin Peck on the map in 2012. Thank you for supporting the ballet!

Emergence (2017-2018 Season)

Doug Fullington dives into the histories and complexities of this mixed bill (called EMERGENCE) that includes Alejandro Cerrudo's Little mortal jump, Yuri Possokhov's RAkU and Crystal Pite's Emergence. Thank you for listening!

Director's Choice (2017-2018 Season)

Doug Fullington, our Audience Education Manager, talks about how Ezra Thomson's world premiere, The Perpetual State, is inspired by the real-life passing of his father, why William Forsythe removed Slingerland Duet from PNB's program the year it premiered, and the "trigger choreography" of Forsythe's One Flat Thing, reproduced. If you would like to do a deep dive into One Flat Thing, reproduced, Doug recommends visiting Ohio State University's Synchronous Objects.

Swan Lake (2017-2018 Season)

Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington changes up the regular lecture format, and dedicates the 30-minutes of Ballet Talk to a Q&A for the attending audience. He answers questions like, "do the dancers look forward to this ballet?" and "are there different endings to Swan Lake?". Of course, as always, Doug is an encyclopedia of dance and music history and he has the audience laughing with his replies.

And don't forget, you can always listen to Ballet Talk live, one hour before every performance at McCaw Hall.

Her Story (2017-2018 Season)

Doug Fullington shines the light on the unique-to-PNB works in Her Story. While Peter Boal did not intend to create a repertory including exclusively female choreographers, that's what happened with works by Twyla Tharp, Crystal Pite and Jessica Lang.

Q&A with Crystal Pite

We were fortunate to have choreographer Crystal Pite in our studios for 4 weeks as she choreographed and reworked Plot Point. Originally choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater in 2010, we are proud to present the American premiere here in Seattle.

The evening before opening night, PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal had a few questions for Crystal. Hear her discuss her beginnings in ballet, her own Company, Kidd Pivot and of course, Plot Point.