Pacific Northwest Ballet presents Laugh Out Loud! Spring Dance Festival – four days of performances running April 17 to 20, at McCaw Hall. The Festival features comic works by some of the brightest names in dance including Susan Stroman, Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon, as well as a guest-starring diva turn by a member of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
“I love the idea of constantly stretching the definition of what is expected at the ballet,” said artistic director Peter Boal when discussing the Festival. “So many great choreographers have created comic works. I thought we’d put a few of these together, along with some fun, quirky and hysterical premieres, and see the results. Our dancers are masters of technique, timing and storytelling. They are now discovering that they are masters of comedy as well.”
Contributing to the festivities is Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, sending diva ballerina Katarina Bychkova to grace the Festival with her rendering of the ballet classic, The Dying Swan. And once again this year PNB is offering their annual Backstage Bash which a backstage party featuring dancing with the dancers, which follows the April 19th Best of the Fest performance.
 KATERINA BYCHKOVA (Joshua Grant) isthe author of the dance-your-way-to-beauty self-help guide, The Bychkova Make Over. Catch Ms. Bychkova’s in Dying Swan. © Sascha Vaughn |
 Katarina Bychkova and Mikhail Mypansarovin a moment from Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo’s Swan Lake. Catch Ms. Bychkova’s in Dying Swan. © Sascha Vaughn |
Here is a breakdown of the different programs:
FESTIVAL PROGRAM A:
Thursday, April 17, 7:30 pm
Friday, April 18, 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 19, 2:00 pm
1) Lost Language of the Flight Attendant, is a humorous look at the typical day of a flight attendant, set to excerpts from Mozart.
2) In Spanish Dance, a dancer slowly raises her arms like a magnificent Spanish dancer and travels forward in time to Bob Dylan’s “Early Mornin’ Rain.”
3) TAKE FIVE … More or Less is by Tony Award-winning Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman.
4) Variations Sèrieuses looks at the backstage life of a ballet company.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM B:
Sunday, April 20, 1:00 pm
Sunday, April 20, 7:00 pm
1) Shindig by talented dancer turned choreographer Olivier Wevers.
2) Ordinary Festivals (excerpts) is a dance-theater piece for 300 oranges, 16 performers and 2 knives that “pushes the rituals of a traditional community over the edge into mysterious, subversive and often funny acts.” (The Village Voice)
3) The Dying Swan: Dancing the fine line between high art and high camp, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the all-male comedy dance troupe, delights audiences around the world. Satirizing classical works from Swan Lake to Giselle.
4) TAKE FIVE … More or Less
BEST OF THE FEST:
Saturday, April 19, 7:30 pm
Followed by the Backstage Bash
1) Variations Sèrieuses
2) Shindig
3) TAKE FIVE … More or Less
4) The Dying Swan
5) Ordinary Festivals (excerpts)
Following the performance program Best of the Fest is PNB’s third annual BACKSTAGE BASH on Saturday, April 19:
When the curtain goes down on the BEST OF THE FEST performance…the party gets started! Scarf down excellent bites and toast the evening’s performance before kickin’ it on the dance floor backstage with the PNB Company dancers. Shake your groove ‘thang’!
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Laugh Out Loud! Spring Dance Fesitval is April 17 – 20 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street. Tickets to the performances range in price from $20 to $80 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206-441-2424 or online at www.pnb.org
The BACKSTAGE BASH tickets (21+ only) are $50 for “Supporter” (receives complimentary food & drink and entrance to the Bash) and $100 for “Sponsor” (receives Supporter benefits, autographed Festival Poster and Bash memento). Tickets for the performance that night are sold separately!
