Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. © Angela SterlingPacific Northwest Ballet closes its 2007-08 rep season with ALL ROBBINS, a celebration of the work of master choreographer Jerome Robbins, May 29 – June 8. This program includes three of Robbins’ masterpieces, Fancy Free, In the Night, and the PNB premiere of The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody).
“Jerome Robbins is a true American original,” said PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal. “Perhaps more than any other choreographer that I have worked with, Robbins offers narratives on humanity through the language of dance. We can feel our existence in his work. He offers us the album of memories, the childhood games, the lost love letter, the scene of the first fight, the ghosts revisited. And all reduced with a master’s touch to a pure essence.”
PNB principal dancer Jonathan Porretta and guest artist GlenKawasaki (at bar) in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. © Angela Sterling
FANCY FREE: Imagine New York on a hot summer night in 1944. Three sailors on shore leave pick up two girls and a fight breaks out over which sailor is to be left without a partner. In the bar, they stage a competition, each dancing to win the favor of a girl. When the girls are unable to choose between them, the fight resumes and the girls slip away. The sailors make up, but suddenly a third girl passes their way . . . have they learned their lesson?
PNB principal dancers Noelani Pantastico and OlivierWevers in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night. © Angela Sterling
Jerome Robbins’ rapturous IN THE NIGHT features three couples, in varying stages of relationships, who eventually meet in a dance for six. Each couple’s pas de deux possesses a distinct character and in the end, all drift offstage in each others’ arms like stars fading at dawn.
PNB principal dancers Louise Nadeau, Noelani Pantastico andOlivier Wevers in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert. ©Angela Sterling
Jerome Robbins is considered the master of detail and perfection in THE CONCERT. The setting is an all-Chopin concert where the attendees allow their decidedly imaginative minds to wander. The Concert is a genuine crowd-pleaser that illustrates Robbins’ remarkable insight into the delightful imperfections of human relationships and, in the midst of the laughter, enlightens us all. CriticalDance called it “…balletic comedy at its outrageous best.”
ALL ROBBINS runs May 31 – June 8. Tickets range from just $20 to $150 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at (206) 441-2424, online at www.pnb.org or at the PNB Box Office.
For the “First Friday” performance on May 30, tickets are just $15 (two for $25) for patrons 25 years and younger.
