Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer Louise Nadeau in Paul Gibson's 'The Piano Dance,' © Angela Sterling.

Louise Nadeau Retires From Pacific Northwest Ballet

01/15/2009

After 18 years, a mainstay of Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is hanging up her toe shoes. PNB announced today that principal dancer Louise Nadeau will retire at the end of this season. As KUOW's Marcie Sillman reports, while other PNB dancers may have grabbed more of the limelight over the years, none has been such a consistent performer throughout a long career.

LOUISE NADEAU IS A PETITE WOMAN, WITH LONG REDDISH BLOND HAIR AND A LEAN DANCER'S BODY. TO LOOK AT HER, YOU'D NEVER GUESS HER AGE.

NADEAU: "I'm going to be 45 years old in March. That's an amazingly long career for a dancer."

NADEAU IS WEARING A PURPLE SWEATER AND JEANS FOR THIS INTERVIEW. BUT MOST DAYS, YOU'LL FIND LOUISE NADEAU IN A STUDIO, DRESSED IN A LEOTARD, TIGHTS AND LEG WARMERS.

ON THIS SUNNY AFTERNOON, NADEAU AND HER PARTNER WORK ON A NEW PIECE OF CHOREOGRAPHY.

NADEAU: "[Laughs] He really has to stick his nose right in my cleavage."

NEW WORK AND CLASSIC BALLETS, BALANCHINE AND TWYLA THARP: OVER HER LONG CAREER, LOUISE NADEAU HAS DANCED WORK BY MANY CHOREOGRAPHERS. LAST SEASON SHE APPEARED ONSTAGE AS EVERYTHING FROM A FAIRY QUEEN, TO WHAT SHE CALLS THE DITZY BALLERINA, IN JEROME ROBBIN'S "THE CONCERT," TO A DISGRUNTLED DIVA WHO TAKES A NASTY SPILL.

NADEAU: "I had a great laugh over that. I was like, are you guys trying to tell me something? 'Cause I was like the angry, crazy ballerina, like the entire year."

LOUISE NADEAU CAME TO PNB IN 1990. TWO YEARS LATER SHE WAS PROMOTED TO PRINCIPAL DANCER. ALTHOUGH NADEAU PERFORMED DOZENS OF LEADING ROLES, SHE ADMITS SHE'S NEVER BEEN THE COMPANY'S "IT" GIRL.

NADEAU: "It hasn't been easy. I have never, never had anything handed to me on a silver platter."

SO SHE WAS THRILLED TWO YEARS AGO TO DANCE "SWAN LAKE'S" LEAD ROLE ON OPENING NIGHT.

NADEAU: "You know, that was the first time since I've been in this company that I got to do opening night for Swan Lake. It was fantastic. It didn't change anything about how I worked, but there is a certain privilege and a certain feeling that you get from doing an opening night."

IF LOUISE NADEAU HASN'T BEEN PNB'S STAR DANCER, SHE'S CERTAINLY EARNED CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR HER DRAMATIC AND MUSICAL ABILITIES. SHE'S ALSO CARVED OUT A FAN BASE IN THE COMPANY. BALLET MASTER PAUL GIBSON, A FORMER PNB DANCER, CALLS NADEAU THE CONSUMMATE ARTIST.

GIBSON: "I see her as the ballet movie star onstage. Especially in all the dramatic roles. She just goes somewhere. And dancing with her, it was the same way."

FOR TEN YEARS, GIBSON AND NADEAU DANCED THE ROLES OF THE PRINCE AND CLARA IN PNB'S "NUTCRACKER." THEY WERE ALSO PAIRED IN CONTEMPORARY WORK. GIBSON SAYS AS PARTNERS, THEY HAD TO TRUST EACH OTHER IMPLICITLY. HE REMEMBERS LEARNING ONE DANCE IN PARTICULAR.

GIBSON: "Two guys throw her on in a basket, backwards, and she has no clue that I'm onstage. And I'm dancing, and I just turn around and I stand there, and they just throw her on backwards, and I just catch her."

GIBSON THINKS YOUNGER PNB DANCERS WOULD DO WELL TO WATCH LOUISE NADEAU AT WORK, WHILE THEY'VE GOT THE CHANCE. NADEAU SAYS SHE'LL MISS DANCING. BUT SHE'S SUFFERED FROM A HIP INJURY IN RECENT YEARS. AND SHE SAYS, AT HER AGE, IT'S HARD TO COME BACK FROM REHAB.

NADEAU: "You know, I start to feel like people down in a Florida retirement park, you know that's all you talk about is your injuries and your illnesses. It's getting old."

NADEAU HAS NO FIRM PLANS AFTER HER RETIREMENT. SHE'D LIKE TO TAKE AT LEAST SIX MONTHS OFF TO REST, ENJOY HER FAMILY, MAYBE TAKE SOME PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES.

SHE'S BEEN DANCING FOR 30 YEARS, BUT LOUISE NADEAU SAYS DESPITE THE TOLL ON HER BODY, AND THE OCCASIONAL ARTISTIC DISAPPOINTMENTS, SHE WOULDN'T TRADE A SECOND OF HER LONG CAREER.

NADEAU: "I've had, somewhere deep down, a confidence that I was good at this. And that I really loved what I was doing, and I really wanted to share that with an audience."

SEATTLE AUDIENCES HAVE UNTIL EARLY JUNE TO SEE LOUISE NADEAU PERFORM WITH PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET. NEXT UP, GEORGE BALANCHINE'S "JEWELS" AT MCCAW HALL AT THE END OF JANUARY. I'M MARCIE SILLMAN, KUOW NEWS.

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