As Pacific Northwest Ballet enters the third week of the Celebrate Seattle dance festival, figuring out what happens when is as easy as A, B and C. As in, Program A takes place April 19 and 22; Program B is April 18 and 21; and Program C happens April 20, 21 and 22.
For PNB ballet master Paul Gibson, who creates the schedule for rehearsals, getting everyone ready to present a multitude of new works and share the stage with other dance companies meant one very big spreadsheet.
"It's crazy on our side, but I love it," said Gibson. "We're basically rehearsing four to six ballets a day, so everyone is a little overloaded. But the festival is exciting because we have so many new works and we have all these other companies coming in. It's fantastic - I can't wait to see it on stage."
For program A, the PNB dancers will perform the PNB premières of Robert Joffrey's "Remembrances" and Merce Cunningham's "Inlets 2" as well as Kiyon Gaines' "{SCHWA}" and Val Caniparoli's "Torque."
In Program B, Ballet British Columbia performs John Alleyne's "Schubert" and Spectrum Dance Theater performs Donald Byrd's "Bhangra Fever" while PNB performs Toni Pimble's "Two's Company" and Sonia Dawkins' "Ripple Mechanics."
For Program C, Scott/Powell Performance will dance the world première of Mary Sheldon's "Locate," and Oregon Ballet Theatre dances Christopher Stowell's "Adin," while PNB performs new works by Trisha Brown and Gibson.
Getting that rehearsal schedule to work for all the PNB dancers became a bit of a "logistical nightmare," admitted Gibson, as the company not only prepared for programs A, B and C but also prepped for the "Carmina Burana/Pacific" program and the subsequent performances.
"One rehearsal day, there were 27 rehearsals," recalled Gibson. "We've never done 27 rehearsals in one day! Only 43 dancers in the company but 27 rehearsals."
To add to Gibson's workload, he also needed to finish choreographing his new work called "Sense of Doubt."
Because of the many demands on his time as ballet master, Gibson's schedule for choreographing "Sense of Doubt" was spread out over the past year. "I choreographed the trio and the solo at the end of last season, May and June of 2006. I choreographed the quartet in September. I choreographed most of the finale and the pas de deux during 'Nutcracker,' and I finished the pas de deux in February," said Gibson.
"It's a little darker than my other ballets. My first big ballet was 'Diversions,' which was a jazz piece. And then I did 'Rush,' which had a big company piece. 'Piano Dances' was very simple vignettes with a touch of comedy in it. And this piece was a little more on the contemporary side, using the music of Philip Glass," said Gibson. "I don't want to do the same thing every time; I want to push myself and do something different with each piece.
"I didn't think I was going to use Glass for the music. I like Glass, but I don't like Glass - in that he can be so repetitive. But I heard the 'Heroes Symphony' and it wasn't that way. And then Peter [Boal] gave me the CD with 'Secret Agent,' and the cello piece came out of that," explained Gibson.
Once Gibson had all his music in place, he began the process of thinking how many dancers were needed for each section, how the dancers would complement one another, and who would be available for the work. Unlike a choreographer coming cold to the company, Gibson had the advantage of knowing everyone at PNB.
"I like all the dancers here - it's just who I feel will work well together and look well together for the continuity of the work," Gibson said.
One dancer, Chalnessa Eames, had to drop out since the Gala in September. Her part now will be danced by Brittany Reid in the trio with Benjamin Griffiths and James Moore.
"I felt very open to changing things to suit Brittany better," said Gibson, who made the final adjustments to "Sense of Doubt" in early April.
Noelani Pantastico will dance the solo as she did in the Gala, Carla Körbes and Casey Herd perform the pas de deux and Jodie Thomas, Rachel Foster, Lucien Postlewaite and Josh Spell will be the quartet.
In the final week of rehearsal, Gibson encouraged "the dancers to just let go, to dance with the music. I don't want them to be robots doing counts; I want them to hear and feel the music. To have fun doing it. You have to enjoy what you're doing, and that will come across to the audience."
And Gibson also wants to let go and just enjoy the festival as much as possible.
"I'm going to go see everything," he said. Once the festival closes, he'll be back in the PNB studio, rehearsing "Rubies" for the next program, but "I'm looking forward to a little less rehearsal scheduling," he said.
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