Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Encore

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Encore June 11-15, 2023 celebrating principal dancer Lesley Rausch’s career as a dancer was indeed bittersweet. But, with eight separate pieces (many, excerpts) on the program, it was indeed a reveling in Rausch’s rich career as a dancer. The first four pieces of the program featured huge talents—Elle Macy in Penny…

Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Seattle

Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with delightful music from Felix Mendelssohn, is a crowd pleaser for sure. The choreographer himself must have had fond memories of when he performed, as PNB artistic director notes in his April 12, 2011 post in “Director’s Notebook,” as an eight-year-old bug in a St. Petersburg production. With staging by…

Swan Lake—Pacific Northwest Ballet

April 15-24, McCaw Hall, Seattle The romantic ballet Swan Lake belongs to the ballerina—Lesley Rausch—and choreographer Kent Stowell. Rausch is in control not only of her positions and movements, her balance, her expressive arms, but also of the emotions behind each move. In the ballet, we see her elated, betrayed, avenged, desolate—Rausch is both supreme…