The first thing artistic director Peter Boal emphasizes about the Pacific Northwest Ballet is that no single program in the season completely defines it. The second thing is that the Director's Choice program definitely shows off the company's cutting edge.
"This is the most contemporary program of the year," Boal said.
Director's Choice runs through March 22 and is wildly ambitious with three PNB premieres. Part of the mission for building the repertory in Seattle is to add the works of established masters like Ulysses Dove and William Forsythe, Boal said. The other part of the mission is to encourage younger choreographers such as Edwaard Liang and Paul Gibson.
For Director's Choice, Boal chose Dove's "Vespers," Liang's "Fur Alina," Gibson's "Sense of Doubt," and Forsythe's "One Flat Thing, reproduced." While "Sense of Doubt" was part of last year's dance festival, the other works are all new to the company.
"One Flat Thing, reproduced" poses the greatest challenges both in the choreography and in its presentation, Boael said. "If you look at the vocabulary of Forsythe's 'In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated,' that is clearly classical ballet vocabulary," he said. "There are arabesques, they are just leaning way forward, but you can still identify the classical ballet traditions. But this piece doesn't use the ballet terms at all, it's a whole new language."
"One Flat Thing, reproduced" also requires an intricate maze of tables, both carried by the dancers and later danced upon, which moves the ballet into various levels. "The whole preconceived notion is that choreography takes place on a stage, that we know where the surface is," Boal said. "But now, it's three feet above where we think it should be, in 20 places around the stage it's elevated upon the tables. And that's such a brave concept, that we're not all necessarily standing on the same floor."
"One Flat Thing, reproduced" premiered at Ballet Frankfurt in 2000. The challenge of having 14 dancers working independently with 20 tables immediately caught the dance world's attention, but it has never been performed in the United States before.
Boal has wanted to present this particular Forsythe piece since he began his tenure at PNB. "The first thing that Forsythe said was that it would require 14 stagers (people who coach the dancers on the choreography). That's a lot when you're flying people from Europe. But I kept asking and asking, and now it's down to three stagers. Forsythe has been shown rehearsals via a webcam as he's still in Frankfurt," Boal said.
Construction of the tables, consultation on the Thom Willems' music used for "One Flat Thing, reproduced" and advice on the lighting all required extra time and effort on the part of PNB.
"And after we painted the tables, we found the paint had too much traction, so we had to repaint the tables so the dancers could slide across correctly. So all these things made it very complicated. It's not just tying a pointe shoe," Boal reflected.
Dove's "Vespers" offered another opportunity for the PNB dancers to abandon the classical style. Previous works by Dove performed at PNB were created by ballet companies, but this is the first for a contemporary dance company."I felt we were ready to make that jump and we've had a brilliant stager from the Alvin Ailey here to work with us on it," Boal said.
In "Vespers," six women dance in a piece inspired by Dove's memories of his grandmother. "It's so grounded, so stuck in the thigh muscles, and also with a tremendous amount of upper body choreography. It's grueling," Boal said. "There's also an amazing power that comes from the women working together. It's a true ensemble piece."
The final two pieces of the program come from dancers turned choreographers. Liang was a soloist at New York City Ballet and danced for Nederlands Dans Theater. Gibson is a former principal dancer at PNB and continues to work there as a ballet master.
Liang's "Fur Alina" was choreographed in 2006 for New Ballet Choreographers, but PNB is the first company to have it, Boal said.
Gibson's "Sense of Doubt" incorporates Philip Glass' "Secret Agent" and "Heroes Symphony." Unlike many choreographers attracted to Glass' music, Gibson didn't give it a minimalist feel," noted Boal, who added that Gibson's work also draws the most from classical ballet. "We don't lose the pointe shoe completely in the evening. The vocabulary of this piece is classical ballet."
Boal knows that presenting such a contemporary program can be a hard sell at the box office. "But obviously," he said, "putting the title of 'Director's Choice' on it means that I really believe in this."
PNB's "Director's Choice"
runs through March 22 at
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 326 Mercer Avenue.
Tickets are $20 to $150 and are available from the PNB Box Office at
(206) 441-2424, online at www.pnb.org
or in person at the PNB Box Office at 301 Mercer Street.