Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2018–19 Season Balances Old Favorites and Premieres

The upcoming slate also feature a Jerome Robbins Festival.

By Molly Quinton • March 14, 2018 4:30 pm

Tags: dance

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s seasons are always about finding a balance between classics, modern favorites, and new works. The company’s recently announced the lineup for the 2018–19 season fits the bill with fan favorites like The Sleeping Beauty and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Jerome Robbins Festival, and plenty of artistic premieres to give viewers a wide scope of stylistically diverse single and mixed-repertory program viewing options.

Up first in September is the Jerome Robbins Festival, celebrating the works of the legendary choreographer with two weeks of alternating programming. It includes Robbins staples like Circus Polka and West Side Story Suite, plus the PNB premiere of Other Dances. Next up is All Premiere, the first of the season’s three mixed-repertory programs. Living up to its title, the program consists of a world premiere piece by PNB’s own Kyle Davis and two PNB premieres: Alejandro Cerrudo’s Silent Ghost and Alexander Ekman’s Cacti. Following the usual holiday run of George’s Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty starts off the new year in early February. March’s Director’s Choice brings another triple premiere program: world premieres by Matthew Neenan and Robyn Mineko Williams, and the PNB premiere of In the Countenance of Kings by Justin Peck (with music by Sufjan Stevens). The narratives of Pinocchio and Shakespeare’s comic A Midsummer Night’s Dream follow, before things close out with the mixed program entitled Themes and Variations.