Peter Boal, if you are listening out there, you are to be commended. Since arriving at the Pacific Northwest Ballet you have done what is vital in these times: you have made the ballet relevant, enjoyable, challenging, and exciting to a whole new (younger) generation of audience members.
I attended tonight’s performance of Romeo and Juliet, and although it was by no means my first ballet performance in Seattle (I’ve been a subscriber and single-ticket-buyer on and off for the last 8 years), I was struck by a few things tonight in particular:
1) The crowd is the most diverse and youngest – on average – of any of the “high performing arts” (opera, first-run theater, symphony, ballet… am i leaving any out?) in Seattle. Plenty of hipsters, yuppies, high-schoolers, art-school-types, and still the usual retinue of parents and older ballet enthusiasts. And people are dressed well. Not formal, just looking good – like they made an effort. This, in and of itself, is kind of an achievement in this town.
2) A couple behind me in line for a drink before the performance (BTW, full bar plus wine plus microbrews plus SEVERAL champagnes by the glass = genius) remarked, sotto voce, “Look around, these are MY people!” By that they meant, I think, “the ballet is managing to attract Ballard and Cap Hill and Beacon Hill and Seward Park and…”
3) The experience is perfect for working people and night owls alike: Plenty of warnings to get to your seat, a forgiving wait until 5 or 10 minutes past showtime to allow the younger lollygaggers and cheap-parking-seekers time to get in the door and get up to their less expensive high seats.
4) The stage design, sets, choreography, and dance is current. Boal is taking some chances and incorporating challenging, modern, even racy and at times humorous dance into a traditional art form… without losing the commitment to rigor, athleticism, and beauty that people who are drawn to ballet want to see. Some of the interactions between dancers tonight was pretty racy – hands on bodies in places they wouldn’t have been 20 years ago. But chaste doesn’t bring in the 25 year olds – taking chances with the interactions between lovers, rivals, and the rest of the corps that surround the soloists does.
5) Stanley Stewart Kershaw*, the conductor of the pit, is consistently turning out top-notch symphonic music. The performance of Prokofiev’s score tonight was nearly perfect, the strings were notably strong, and the timing was spot-on. It’s obvious that he cares and that the music is there to drive the dance, rather than being merely an accompaniment or a soundtrack. And the audience gets it – the applause was among the loudest for Kershaw when he took the stage, amidst appreciative applause for the dancers themselves.
(*ed. note: I updated this post a few days after originally writing it with Mr. Kershaw’s proper given name. Sorry, Stewart, I forgot to fact check before posting the original post late at night :-).)
6) The lighting was modern and striking, as well as occasionally odd – but in a good way, in ways that drew attention to the dance AND the set design and choreography. The films and scrims on the spots from above in particular was noteworthy and cool.
7) The corps LOOKS LIKE the population of the Pacific Northwest – some younger, some older, we get to see dancers of Asian, European, African-American, Latin, and other backgrounds at the top of their game. What a pleasure to feel like we are seeing a distinctly Pacific Northwest ballet, in addition to a generally high-quality corps. This takes long-term investment in the apprenticeship and junior programs as well as the ability to attract top talent from elsewhere makes for a diverse corps. (and the retention is not to be discounted for continuity – the tenures of some of the Principal and Soloist dancers is impressive, and a testament to what must be the high regard the corps overall feels for Boal since coming on board).
8) Little things like marking in the program which dancers were recently promoted to more elevated roles in the corps, and which dancers came up through the ranks of the Pacific Northwest junior program, go a long way for people like me who actually read the program before and during the intermissions – it shows that the Ballet here wants to acknowledge and reward the commitment of their dancers and retain them. When we get to see pieces like Mopey as well as the classic Balanchine gems like Jewels danced by the same dancers over multiple seasons, sometimes years apart, it’s just great. I for one can’t wait to see Mopey again in November because I expect it will be danced by the same guy who killed it two years ago (or more) when it debuted here.
9) Your marketing department is doing all the right things to connect with new audiences through the new channels – especially online. A full commitment to social media is evident as soon as you dig into the website. Check out what the PNB is doing in all the key locations:
All in all, and in sum, the corps and the production teams are delivering great value. And the composition of the audience shows how well Boal is doing at keeping the ballet relevant to new and interested supporters here in Seattle.
Keep it up, and thanks for doing all the little things well.
