It’s “Dance Day” at Seattle Gay Scene and we have a lot of dance news to report starting with a look at the season opener for Pacific Northwest Ballet, “The Director’s Choice” where Artistic Director Peter Boal presents his mixed-bill selection of some of his favorite works AND some brand new pieces. Returning, will be the crowd pleasing Petite Mort with music by Mozart and choreography by Jiri Kylian and it’s being partnered with a new to PNB piece, also a Mozart/Kylian “joint” project, Sechs Tänze (Six Dances) that PNB likes to call:
Wickedly funny, Sechs Tänze (Six Dances) utilizes bubbles, powdered wigs, and rolling ball gowns to create Mozartian mayhem within a tour de force of musicality and expression.
It sounds delicious!
Also sounding kind of tasty is the premiere of a work featuring the very modern music of Philip Glass and the always fresh and contemporary choreography of the masterful Jerome Robbins. Glass Pieces features three pieces of music by Glass and Robbins, picking up on the repetitive motifs in the music, utilizes “dozens of Lycra-clad dancers” to create a work that has the potential to please both traditionalists and lovers of more contemporary dance styles. The fourth piece will feature the return of the crowd-pleasing Jardí Tancat with choreography by Nacho Duato and featuring traditional Catalonian songs arranged by Maria del Mar Bonet. The diversity of these pieces seems to indicate that Mr Boal is aiming to present works that will appeal to a wide range of dance aficionados…Mr Boal might be a great artist but he’s also apparently a smart marketing man… It should be an amazing night of dance theater, regardless if you’re a raging balletomaniac, or a first-timer primarily drawn by the idea of lithesome dancers in skimpy costumes.
Tickets for the “Director’s Choice” which runs September 24 through October 3 at McCaw Hall, and 2010/2011 Season tickets are available at the Pacific Northwest Ballet website
-Michael Strangeways
