Dance, Dance, Evolution!

As an African artist used to tell American audiences: If you can walk you can dance. And for generations, people have danced for joy, danced to attract a mate, danced to express the emotions their words couldn't convey. Here in the West, dance takes many forms, from Texas two–step to Hip Hop. But the grande dame of our formal dance tradition is classical ballet.

Behind the scenes of PNB's 'Director's Choice,' 3/15/08

As an artform, ballet goes back several centuries, to the royal courts of Western Europe. By the early 20th century, Russian artists had made their mark, choreographing and performing ballets that are still in the repertoire of companies around the world. The mid 20th century brought one of ballet's great innovators George Balanchine, along with a bevy of such artists as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. They pioneered modern dance, a genre that transcended the confines of classical ballet.

When you say "ballet" many people still think "tutus and toe shoes". But these days, choreographers and dancers are pushing ballet in new directions. Yes, you still see toe shoes and sometimes tutus at Pacific Northwest Ballet. But the dancers and PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal say, to keep an old artform vibrant, it must have new energy. KUOW's Marcie Sillman spent the past six months behind the scenes at PNB, watching principal dancer Olivier Wevers create a new dance for ten of his fellow company members. She has this three part series about ballet and the artists who create it.

Dance, Dance, Evolution! Reported by Marcie Sillman, edited by Steve Scher.

Reporter's Notebook: Marcie Sillman looks back on the experience covering the genesis and evolution of Olivier Wevers' new dance.

I. The Turning Point

Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal. Photo courtesy of Tom Speer, Seattle Channel.

On any given day in the United States, you'll find thousands of kids taking ballet lessons. Only a talented few will make it as professional dancers. And if they do, the ballets they perform may not be your grandmother's Swan Lake. Three years ago, New York City Ballet dancer Peter Boal took over the artistic leadership at Pacific Northwest Ballet. As KUOW's Marcie Sillman reports, his goal is to preserve ballet's classical roots, and at the same time, help to push the boundaries of this traditional art form.

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II. Men in Tights

PNB corps de ballet dancer Josh Spell as Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Photo by Angela Sterling.

Pacific Northwest Ballet has 43 company dancers, 19 of them are men. That's a pretty healthy number. Dance in general, ballet in particular, is not a traditional career path for men. Yet those who choose it say they couldn't have taken any other road. KUOW's Marcie Sillman introduces us to several generations of men who say they just have to dance.

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III. Shindig

Narrated slideshow: Making a Dance.

For 11 years, Olivier Wevers has performed as a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet. But if ballet is his constant companion, his paramour is choreography. For the past six months, Wevers has been creating a new dance for ten of his PNB colleagues. As KUOW's Marcie Sillman reports, the process of choreography requires vision, perserverance, and most of all, courage.

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Video: Marcie goes behind the scenes in her report for the Seattle Channel's Art Zone.

Dance Resources

Pacific Northwest Ballet is the largest dance company in the region, but it's by no means the only game in town. Seattle is blessed with a wealth of choreographers and modern dance companies and presenters. Some of these choreographers date back to the era of dancer Bill Evans' Seattle tenure, in the 1970s and 80s. Others were trained at Cornish College of the Arts, or migrated to Seattle in the 1990s to work with choreographer Pat Graney. Here is a partial list of local dancemakers and dance presenters.

Special thanks for help in production of this series goes to Gary Tucker, Peter Boal and Olivier Wevers of Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the dancers in Shindig: Batkhurel Bold, Chalnessa Eames, Benjamin Griffiths, Carrie Imler, Louise Nadeau, Kaori Nakamura, Jonathan Porretta, Lucien Postelwaite, Josh Spell, Jodie Thomas; and to Nancy Guppy, Laurie Kraft and Tom Speer at the Seattle Channel.

Photo: KUOW Reporter Marcie Sillman and PNB Media Relations Manager Gary Tucker.