Walk into the artistic director's office at Pacific Northwest Ballet and the first thing that you notice is that the furniture has moved and the place has a whole new look. According to the new occupant, it is a look that is not quite finished yet.
Things, said Peter Boal, got very busy, very fast as he moved into his new space at PNB, and so the unpacking and setting-up of his office is still not done. This self-described "New York son" just retired in June from his own dance career and is now running one of Seattle's largest and most prestigious arts organizations.
When former New York City Ballet dancers Kent Stowell and Francia Russell announced their decision to retire from their position as co-artistic directors at PNB, a friend called Boal about the opening.
"I said, 'Won't that be great for Christopher Stowell [the couple's son and current director of Oregon Ballet] because he can come and take over.' And my friend said, 'I don't think that he is going to, and I think you should apply,'" Boal recalled. "I grappled with it for awhile and talked it over with my wife. It was a huge move for us."
Boal's wife, Kelly Cass, spent nine years dancing for New York City Ballet before retiring from ballet. The couple, who have three children, decided to try Seattle living based on their dance connections with the community. "We had so many New York friendships, but quite a few Seattle friendships as well," said Boal, who estimated that he has danced with or taught approximately a third of the dancers currently in PNB.
"I think [becoming artistic director at PNB] was a natural extension of all the ways that I have experienced dance until now," said Boal. "Obviously as a dancer for the New York City Ballet, also founding my own small company and then being a teacher as well. All of them seem to be leading somewhere, and this was a remarkable opportunity when it came along."
Boal's connections with both Balanchine's New York City Ballet and those former students certainly helped make PNB a logical next step in his own career, even though he was not very familiar with the company's work on stage.
"I had not seen the company dance very often. I had only seen them when they came to New York. Patricia [Barker] had guested with the New York City Ballet, as had Olivier [Weavers] and Noe [Pantastico]. But the repertoire I was familiar with, because they had drawn so heavily from the Balanchine repertoire."
During the past season, Boal flew out from New York constantly to watch rehearsals and performances. "I came to watch the rehearsals here for 'Four Temperaments,' and then I'd go perform [it] in New York. Same thing with 'Prodigal Son' and 'Apollo,'" he said.
Throughout last season, as PNB bid goodbye to Stowell and Russell after 28 years at the helm, Boal prepared to take over. In July he walked into the PNB building and set up his desk in the artistic director's office.
"I thought I would call Kent and Francia every day," said Boal. "I liken it to when you come home with your newborn; you think you're going to have to look up everything in the book or call your mother every day - but it ends up being you and the child, and you have to figure it out and make the mistakes yourself. I have called Kent and Francia 37 times since I got here, but not every day."
To introduce his style to Seattle, Boal crafted a season opener to both delight and challenge his audience.
"Director's Choice" features three PNB premières: Jerome Robbins' "In the Night," set to a selection of Frédéric Chopin nocturnes; George Balanchine's "Duo Concertant" and Balanchine's "Symphony in Three Movements," both set to scores by Igor Stravinsky. The evening also includes the return of American choreographer William Forsythe's "Artifact II." This final piece received its PNB and North American première in 1998.
"'Symphony in Three Movements' seemed like a perfect ballet [to open the season]. It was Balanchine, so it was in the PNB tradition, but it was a Balanchine that the company had never done before," said Boal. "I think when the curtain comes down, people will go 'Wow, that was Balanchine!' with an exclamation mark, because it really is a whole new level. It was a Balanchine made at the New York State Theater, which means it is larger, more expansive and a different way of moving than something like 'Divertimento No. 15,' which has been done here a lot."
For the rest of the season, Boal wants the audience to experience the same "Wow!" factor as he introduces new pieces and new choreographers to PNB.
"I really wanted to go with the finest experience for all involved, both dancers and audience," he said. "I didn't want to be guided by what was going to sell well; I just wanted to bring the best and allow the audience to discover how great it is."
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