Pacific Northwest Ballet

Template:Short description Template:Infobox ballet company Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States,<ref>

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</ref> with 11,000 subscribers in 2004.<ref name="macdonald">

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</ref> The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts more than 100 performances throughout the year; it is especially known for its performance of the Stowell/Maurice Sendak Nutcracker, which it presented from 1983 through 2014 and produced as a feature film in 1986.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PNB Artists">Template:Cite press release</ref>

In 2006, the company was chosen to perform at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival.

PNB performs at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in the Seattle Center.

HistoryEdit

Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972 following the two-month residency of the First Chamber Dance Company,<ref name=Campbell2>

 Template:Cite news Campbell cites the residency as occurring in 1971.

</ref> as part of Seattle Opera and named the Pacific Northwest Dance Association.<ref>Campbell refers to the organization as the Pacific Northwest Ballet Association.</ref> Under the directorship of Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, originally of New York City Ballet,<ref name=kisselgoff>

 Template:Cite news</ref> it broke away from the Opera in 1977 and took its current name in 1978.<ref>
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|CitationClass=web }} </ref> Stowell and Russell left at the end of the 2004–2005 season.<ref name="pnb.org">

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|CitationClass=web }} </ref> A portrait by artist Michele Rushworth was painted of Stowell and Russell and installed in the Phelps Center, Seattle, to commemorate their careers and retirement. Both had studied with and danced for George Balanchine.<ref>

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In July 2005, Peter Boal succeeded Stowell and Russell as artistic director following their retirement.<ref name="pnb.org" /> After dancing with the New York City Ballet for 22 years, he had been a full-time faculty member at The School of American Ballet from 1995-2005.Template:Citation needed

File:McCaw Hall Kreielsheimer Promenade.JPG

McCaw Hall, PNB's principal venue

In 2013, the company and its orchestra toured to New York for the first time in sixteen years. The New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay, stated of their presentation that "This is a true company," more "unified in its understanding of Balanchine" than the New York City Ballet.<ref name="Macaulay">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2012, PNB brought in Twyla Tharp as its first artist in residence for a year-long residency.<ref name=Kaderlan>Template:Cite news</ref>

Pacific Northwest Ballet SchoolEdit

The Pacific Northwest Ballet School was founded in 1974.<ref>

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|CitationClass=web }} </ref> Formerly directed by Francia Russell, and now directed by Peter Boal, it has been considered to be "one of the leading, if not the definitive, professional training school in the country."<ref>

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|CitationClass=web }} </ref> The teaching is structured on that of the School of American Ballet.<ref name=Campbell>

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</ref> Pacific Northwest Ballet holds an annual summer course in the month of July and is considered one of the leading summer dance education facilities in the country.

DancersEdit

Pacific Northwest Ballet is noted for choosing dancers that have physique, expressivity and a variety of body shapes.<ref name=Datz>Template:Cite news</ref>

PrincipalsEdit

Name	Training	Joined PNB	Promoted to Principal	Other companies (incl. guest performances)
Jonathan Batista	English National Ballet	2021	2022	Boston Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet
Leta Biasucci	Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet San Francisco Ballet School	2011	2018	Oregon Ballet Theater
Kyle Davis	Makaroff School of Ballet Rock School for Dance Education North Carolina School of the Arts Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2009	2020
Angelica Generosa	School of American Ballet Princeton Ballet	2012	2020
Cecilia Iliesiu	School of American Ballet Studio Maestro	2015	2022	Carolina Ballet
Elle Macy	Orange County Dance Center Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2013	2021
Elizabeth Murphy	Academy of Ballet Arts Rock School for Dance Education	2011	2015	Pennsylvania Ballet Ballet West II Ballet West
Lucien Postlewaite	School of American Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2004	2008, 2017	Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan	Rock School for Dance Education Metropolitan Ballet Academy School of Pennsylvania Ballet	2017	2023	Pennsylvania Ballet
Dylan Wald	Minnesota Dance Theatre The Dance Institute Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2015	2020

SoloistsEdit

Name	Training	Joined PNB	Promoted to Soloist
Madison Rayn Abeo	Cornish Preparatory Dance Program Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2017	2022
Luther Demyer	Indiannapolis School of Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet Miami City Ballet School	2019	2024
Dammiel Cruz-Garrido	School of American Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet	2016	2022
Christopher D'Ariano	School of American Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2017	2022
Clara Ruf Maldonado	School of American Ballet	2018	2023
Amanda Morgan	Dance Theatre Northwest Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2017	2022
Miles Pertl	Pacific Northwest Ballet School International Ballet Academy John Cranko Schule	2015	2021
Christian Poppe	Pacific Northwest Ballet School Cornish College of the Arts Preparatory Dance Dance School in Everett Johnson and Peter's Tap Dance Ballet Bellevue Betty Spooner's Creative Arts Foundation	2014	2022
Kuu Sakuragi	Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2020	2023
Price Suddarth	Central Indiana Dance Ensemble School of American Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet School	2011	2018
Leah Terada	Dallas Metropolitan Ballet School of American Ballet	2015	2022