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Pacific Northwest Ballet School Looks to Nurture a New Generation of Women Choreographers

Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division students take Eva Stone's modern dance class. Photo by Lindsay Thomas, Courtesy PNB.

"Who here is terrified of choreographing?"

It was a question posed by Pacific Northwest Ballet School teacher Eva Stone five weeks ago, sitting on the floor among her class of female summer intensive students. "Almost all of them raised their hand, but I said, 'Don't worry, I got you,'" says Stone. "'I'm going to give you tools and skills and you're going to build on them.' It's amazing how their perspective changed in five weeks."

Stone's choreography class, introduced into the summer program last year, served as a pilot for a new initiative at PNB School beginning this September. New Voices: Choreography and Process for Young Women in Dance is a year-round class dedicated to educating and encouraging 14 to 16-year-old female students in the art of dancemaking. Made possible through funding from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, the 38-week course was created to help address the lack of women choreographers working in major classical ballet companies.

PNB School is one of several academies offering choreographic opportunities to its students. Houston Ballet Academy and the Chautauqua Institution, for example, hold workshops during their summer intensives, while Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Ballet Academy East recently joined forces to create a choreographic exchange program. And School of American Ballet offers numerous choreographic projects for its dancers, including one for women. What makes PNB's initiative unique is its year-long scope and structured focus on composition.

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News

Pacific Northwest Ballet Tours to Paris for the First Time

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Benjamin Millepied's Appassionata. Photo by Angela Sterling, Courtesy PNB.

Pacific Northwest Ballet travels to Paris for the first time this summer, and artistic director Peter Boal couldn't be happier.

"I think we have a tremendous reputation, but people outside the greater Seattle area haven't seen this company," Boal says.

That will change after PNB's two-week stay with the French festival Les Étés de la Danse, which hosts a different international company every summer. A PNB residency had been in the works for several years when Les Étés de la Danse decided to produce a larger celebration of choreographer Jerome Robbins this summer, inspired by his centennial. New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet and Russia's Perm Opera Ballet Theatre will join PNB for that one-week tribute.

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News

Before Taking His Finals Bows, PNB Principal Karel Cruz Reflects on His Long Career and Search for Patience

Lindsi Dec and Karel Cruz in Alexei Ratmansky's "Don Quixote." Photo by Lindsay Thomas, Courtesy PNB.

On Sunday, June 10, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Karel Cruz will take the stage with the company for the last time. A native of Cuba, Cruz danced with Ballet Nacional de Cuba and the Venezuelan companies Ballet Clasico de Cámara and Teatro Teresa Carreño before joining PNB in 2002. In 2009, Cruz was promoted to principal and married fellow PNB principal Lindsi Dec. In addition to their frequent onstage partnership, the couple is also raising a young son, Koan, and co-running Solu, a dancewear line (check out a very hectic day in their life here). Earlier this week we had the chance to chat with Cruz as he reflected on his 16-year career with PNB.

How did you choose the works that you'll dance at your retirement show this weekend?

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Ballet Stars

This Video of Kids Meeting a PNB Ballerina Is All Kinds of Adorable

It's safe to say that professional ballet dancers all have one thing in common: getting bit by the ballet bug at a very early age. Pacific Northwest Ballet corps member Elle Macy is no exception. Macy, who joined the company in 2012 as an apprentice, started dancing at age 5, and turned her childhood passion into a dream career, complete with perks ranging from traveling the world on tour with PNB, working with tons of amazing choreographers, and, most recently, introducing a group of wide-eyed kids to the amazing art form that is ballet.

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Ballet Stars

Steal Angelica Generosa's Workout Secrets, Plus Her Favorite Music for Ab Work

Generosa in Susan Stroman's TAKE FIVE…More or Less. Photo by Lindsay Thomas, Courtesy PNB.

Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Angelia Generosa uses cross-training to tackle the company's varied repertoire.

Cross-training philosophy: Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Angelica Generosa kicked up her workout regimen a few seasons ago when she was first dancing "Rubies," along with a lot of contemporary rep. "I realized that I couldn't afford to get hurt," she says. "I had to take time to take care of my muscles, so they could recuperate and feel good for whatever PNB asked me to do." Now in her seventh season, Generosa acknowledges that just stretching before class isn't enough. "Maintenance is really important. Know what you need before and after class."

At the gym: She starts any workout (or busy day at the studio) with a 10-minute elliptical or bike warm-up. Generosa developed tendonitis in her left knee a few years ago, so this prepares the joint for more strenuous activity. Then, she'll do 20 to 45 minutes of cardio on the treadmill or elliptical; upper-body work, like arm circles while holding 10-pound free weights; ab exercises; and stretching, especially her quads after running.

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Health & Body

Ballet Dancers Conquer Their Toughest Role: Running the NYC Marathon

From left: Erin Arbuckle in rehearsal for a new work by Richard Isaac. Photo by Paul B. Goode, courtesy Arbuckle; running the 2015 NYC Marathon. Photo by MarathonFoto, courtesy Arbuckle.

When Erin Arbuckle takes ballet class wearing her New York City Marathon shirt, teachers often ask her, "You didn't actually run that, did you?" She did, twice, and she's running again this year on November 5.

Arbuckle, 28, a graduate of School of American Ballet and a freelance dancer who has performed with Ballet Next and Emery LeCrone Dance among others, is a rare ballerina who not only runs but has taken on the challenge of a marathon.

"If I can run 26 miles, I can handle a two-minute variation," she says.

Ballet dancers are taught to save their bodies for dance and avoid injury from other activities. While low-impact cross-training like swimming is encouraged, running is generally considered too high impact.

"I was told it would give me huge calves and thighs and damage my knees," Arbuckle says.

Her two foot surgeries were from dance injuries though, not running, and her body is holding up well despite what she was told to expect.

Marika Molnar, director of physical therapy at New York City Ballet, generally advises dancers to run only as a warm up. "Running for 5 to 10 minutes before ballet class to move the large muscles of the body is useful," she said. "Beyond that, you start to have risks."

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Ballet Stars

PNB's "Jewels" Film Shares Priceless Gems from Balanchine's Original Cast

Violette Verdy coaches PNB principal Elizabeth Murphy in "Emeralds." Photo by Lindsay Thomas, courtesy PNB.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of George Balanchine's Jewels, and companies around the world are paying homage. While last summer's Lincoln Center Festival collaboration with New York City Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet was all glamour and excitement, Pacific Northwest Ballet is taking a reverential look back in advance of its opening performances next week.

In 2014, PNB artistic director Peter Boal invited four stars of Balanchine's original 1967 cast—Violette Verdy, Mimi Paul, Edward Villella and Jacques d'Amboise—to coach the company in their signature roles. And, thank heavens, they captured it all on film. This 20-minute promotional documentary offers priceless footage of them in rehearsals, interviews and lecture demonstrations, offering fascinating insights into Balanchine's creative process and original intentions.

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Wendy Whelan's Newest Role: Ballet Stager

Photo by Lindsay Thomas, Courtesy PNB

Company class is a little more exciting these days at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Look over in the corner of the studio and it's obvious why—Wendy Whelan is here. Dressed in a vest, with her pants tucked into her socks, one might almost forget that her name is virtually synonymous with the term ballet. But watch her do a devéloppé and you instantly remember. Her collection of accomplishments is extensive—classical ballerina, freelance artist, inspirational teacher, or even, as of late, documentary film star. But now, she's adding another new hat: ballet stager.

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Ballet Careers

What's It Like to Make a Virtual Reality Ballet? One Dancer Explains.

Photo by Julia Fryett, Courtesy Pixvana.
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Misty Copeland's New Book and More!

Ballerina advice. American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland releases her newest book on March 21. Ballerina Body covers everything from nutrition to mentorship and aims to  inspire women to work toward their healthiest body.

 

Hamburg Ballet hits the U.S. The company will perform Old Friends, created by ballet director and chief choreographer John Neumeier, and set to Simon & Garfunkel songs. The work makes its New York premiere, and Hamburg Ballet makes its Joyce debut! Catch the ballet today through March 25.

 

 

BalletMet gets wet. The company's Art in Motion program, which runs through March 25, features confetti, gold petals and water, in work by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Christopher Wheeldon and artistic director Edwaard Liang, respectively. This rehearsal video certainly whets our appetite for more dancing! (Sorry).

 

 

The next generation. Catching American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company, comprised of dancers ages 16–20 years old, is always a great opportunity to scout the next generation of talent. The troupe performs at Hunter College in New York on March 24–26. Expect excerpts from Raymonda, a piece choreographed by ABT principal Marcelo Gomes and more. Here's a behind-the-scenes video from last year's crop of dancers:

Desert colors. Jessica Lang's Her Door to the Sky was made for Pacific Northwest Ballet and is inspired by the life and work of American painter Georgia O'Keeffe. The ballet made its world premiere at Jacob's Pillow last summer and came home to Seattle on March 17. Catch it through March 26 along with William Forsythe's New Suite and David Dawson's Empire Noir.

 

Matthew Renko flies through @jessicalangdance's Her Door to the Sky #pnbdirectorschoice #matthewrenko #menofpnb #herdoortothesky #maledancer

A post shared by Pacific Northwest Ballet (@pacificnorthwestballet) on

Prix de Lausanne prizes: The Prix winners have chosen their respective schools and companies. First place winner Michele Esposito will join the Dutch National Ballet junior company. Second place winner Marina Fernandes da Costa Duarte received a corps contract from the Bavarian State Ballet. Third place winner Taisuke Nakao will attend The Royal Ballet School. Find the full list here!

 

For more news on all things ballet, don’t miss a single issue.

Two Premieres for Alexei Ratmansky

Alexei Ratmansky rehearses The Fairy's Kiss with Miami City Ballet dancers. (Photo by Daniel Azoulay, courtesy Miami City Ballet)

Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky will have world premieres on two coasts this winter. On February 10, Miami City Ballet will debut his new one-act version of The Fairy's Kiss to Stravinsky's celebrated score, a homage to Tchaikovsky. The following month, on March 15, at California's Segerstrom Center for the Arts, American Ballet Theatre will premiere his Whipped Cream, a new full-length story ballet to a Richard Strauss libretto and score.

Ratmansky has often looked to ballet history for inspiration. Fairy's Kiss, known as Le Baiser de la Fée when it was originally choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska in 1928, has been staged by Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and several times by Balanchine. Its story comes from The Ice-Maiden, a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and Ratmansky has kept the narrative. A young man, about to be married, is bewitched by a fairy's kiss and stolen away from the mortal world. “I asked Alexei for a narrative work, possibly one with a Russian flavor to it," says MCB artistic director Lourdes Lopez. “Our dancers have a very strong dramatic quality and short narrative works are not a large part of our repertoire." Ratmansky had created an earlier version during his tenure at the Bolshoi Ballet; this is a new production with new choreography.

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Promotions at Pacific Northwest Ballet

Pacific Northwest Ballet announced three promotions this weekend, including Benjamin Griffiths to principal, and Matthew Renko and Angelica Generosa to soloist.

Generosa has received many recent opportunities to shine onstage, including during the company's tour to New York City earlier this year and as an artist at the Vail International Dance Festival, where videos of her rehearsals with New York City Ballet's Joseph Gordon show what an assured performer she is.

 

Matthew Renko is not only a rising dancer who has received special recognition in The New York Times, but a choreographer as well. He's created work twice for Next Step, PNB's choreographic program which allows company members to work with Professional Division students.

Benjamin Griffiths has danced with the company since 2005. Here's a #throwback video of Griffiths and former Pointe cover star Leta Biasucci dancing part of the "Bluebird" variation from The Sleeping Beauty. His crisp footwork and magnetic stage presence certainly seem fit for a principal!

 

Congratulations to all!

For more news on all things ballet, don’t miss a single issue.

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