FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2016
MEDIA CONTACT:
Gary Tucker
206.441.2426
[email protected]
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET PRESENTS
Featuring works by
TWYLA THARP – JIRI KYLIAN – GEORGE BALANCHINE
November 4 – 13, 2016
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center
Seattle, WA 98109
Seven performances only!
November 4 – 5 at 7:30 pm
November 5 at 2:00 pm
November 10 – 12 at 7:30 pm
November 13 at 1:00 pm
SEATTLE, WA – For BRIEF FLING, the second program of its 44th season, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s
artistic director Peter Boal selects three contemporary ballet works: Twyla Tharp’s sassy, Scottishinspired Brief Fling, performed for the first time to live music; Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land, inspired by the
art of Edvard Munch; and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, George Balanchine’s unmatched visualization of his
favorite collaborator’s genius.
BRIEF FLING runs for seven performances only, November 4 through 13 at Seattle Center’s Marion
Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $30. For tickets and more information, contact the PNB Box Office at
206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org.
These performances will mark the first time Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling will be performed with live orchestra
accompaniment: When the ballet premiered in February 1990, it was performed to a then-state-of-the-art
recording. It had been Tharp’s wish to have something that could be performed anywhere at any time, so
that is how Brief Fling has been presented over the past 26 years. When she was in Seattle for PNB’s
AIR TWYLA performances in 2013, Tharp and PNB Music Director and Principal Conductor Emil de Cou
commiserated over the fact that the sound quality of the recording had degraded over time, and she
expressed her desire to have it performed by the PNB Orchestra. Following a run of roadblocks and an
internet search, de Cou eventually tracked down the widow of composer Michel Colombier, who had
stored her husband’s legacy in a series of boxes and envelopes, many of them unmarked. Miraculously,
Ms. Colombier managed to locate the Brief Fling manuscript, beautifully hand-engraved on fragile
onionskin paper, containing all of the original parts that had only been performed once for the recording
back in 1989.
“It will be an honor to be the second conductor to direct this music and the first to perform it before the
public,” said Maestro de Cou. “I know Twyla will be thrilled as well to know that this music that she
lovingly choreographed in 1989 will get the hearing that it deserves. I am also so fortunate to have met
and befriended Dana Colombier who lost her beloved husband at much too early an age. Dana and her
daughters will be with us for these performances and I look forward to introducing them to our PNB family
of musicians, dancers, and staff. Without her tireless efforts and generosity we would be looking at trying
to clean up a degrading reel-to-reel tape. Now we can all look forward to Brief Fling being performed the
way it was meant to be, with great impact, energy, color, and life. And best of all with Michel Colombier’s
stunning score performed with the full forces of the PNB Orchestra for the first time.”
The line-up for BRIEF FLING will include:
Brief Fling
Music: Michel Colombier & Percey Grainger (Country Gardens, 1918; Handel in the Strand, 1912)
Choreography: Twyla Tharp
Staging: Matthew Dibble
Original Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi
Original Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton
Running Time: 28 minutes
Premiere: February 28, 1990; American Ballet Theatre (San Francisco, California)
PNB Premiere: September 27, 2013
Brief Fling was Mikhail Baryshnikov’s last commission from Twyla Tharp during his tenure as artistic
director of American Ballet Theatre. The title references both the traditional Scottish dance and a shortlived romance. Isaac Mizrahi’s tartan costumes divide the dancers into clans of blue, red, green, and offwhite. In the opening section, two soloist couples in red and a quartet in green punch out syncopated
phrases to a military tattoo. The principal couple, clad in blue, performs an extended set of variations to
an English folk song backed by the ensemble dancers dressed in off-white. The finale features each clan
in succession, compounding into a furioso fugue. The score by Michel Colombier intersperses Percy
Grainger’s sunny interpretations of traditional melodies from the United Kingdom with an ominous
electronic score. These performances mark the first time Brief Fling has been presented with live musical
accompaniment. [Notes courtesy of Twyla Tharp Productions. Used by permission.]
Forgotten Land
Music: Benjamin Britten (Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20, 1939)
Choreography: Jiri Kylian
Staging: Roslyn Anderson
Scenic and Costume Design: John F. Macfarlane
Lighting Design: Joop Caboort
Lighting Re-Design: Kees Tjebbes
Running Time: 26 minutes
Premiere: April 12, 1981; Stuttgart Ballet
PNB Premiere: November 8, 2013
Jiri Kylian, in comparison to composer Benjamin Britten, sees Sinfonia da Requiem as a work of more
personal character than a political one—for it is always people who determine the political scene. It is
always people and nature who turn the wheel of evolution a little further.
East Anglia, a coastline of England slowly submerging under the sea, is the birthplace of Benjamin
Britten. The image of land taken over by the sea—together with a painting by Edvard Munch—became
the primary inspiration for Kylian’s choreography of Forgotten Land: land—the basis and centre of human
existence—is in itself always subject to the eternal metamorphosis and mutation; land, from ancient times
bearing the imprints of generations; lands within the memories of human beings, that had to be forgotten
because of political struggle; lands destroyed by nature or human negligence; wishful lands that have
only emerged in our dreams; lands of promise and illusion. [Notes courtesy of the Kylian Foundation.
Used by permission.]
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Music: Igor Stravinsky (Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, 1931)
Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Staging: Paul Boos and Colleen Neary
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Running Time: 25 minutes
Premiere: June 18, 1972; New York City Ballet (Stravinsky Festival)
PNB Premiere: March 5, 1986
The premiere of Stravinsky Violin Concerto was one of the glorious highlights of the Stravinsky Festival
that George Balanchine hosted at the New York State Theater in June 1972. Accounts of that time in
Balanchine’s life all testify to the enormous creative energy he brought to the task of celebrating the life
and work of his old friend and longtime collaborator, who had died the year before. Although Balanchine
many years earlier had choreographed a ballet, Balustrade, to the Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra
that Stravinsky had composed in 1931, for the 1972 festival he approached the still-tantalizing score with
absolute freshness and produced an entirely new work which immediately took its place among his
masterpieces. Lincoln Kirstein called it a “blockbuster” and even Balanchine acknowledged
uncharacteristically that it was “well done.”
In the tradition of spare, dislocated classicism that Balanchine had begun with The Four Temperaments
(to a score by Hindemith) in 1946 and developed in total collaboration with Stravinsky in Agon a decade
later, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, according to writer Nancy Goldner, was “the most visual music
composition Balanchine…ever choreographed. …[T]o do it he had to discombobulate bodies and
manipulate the ensemble to a degree he [had] never attempted before.” But, for all its density, for many
viewers Stravinsky Violin Concerto is a more accessible work than Agon, with its sportive, almost
rambunctious, opening Toccata movement, its joyous evocation of tribal ritual in the concluding Capriccio,
and its central pair of contrasting Arias where Balanchine makes stunningly clear that so-called “abstract”
movement can tell deep truths about the male/female relationship.
The ballet is also a great favorite of dancers (in PNB Founding Artistic Director Francia Russell’s words,
“one of the Balanchine works they would kill to be in!”). As well as being a tremendous intellectual and
physical challenge, it is fun to dance and, in the final movement, generates an unusually powerful sense
of communal identity. [Notes by Jeanie Thomas; edited by Doug Fullington.]
TICKET INFORMATION & DISCOUNT OFFERS
Tickets ($30-$187) may be purchased through the PNB Box Office:
 Phone - 206.441.2424 (Mon.-Fri. 10am–6pm; Sat. 10am–5pm)
 In Person - 301 Mercer Street, Seattle (Mon.-Fri. 10am–6pm; Sat. 10am–5pm)
 Online - PNB.org (24/7)
Subject to availability, tickets are also available 90 minutes prior to show times at McCaw Hall.
GROUP SALES
Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For group tickets, please call Group Sales Manager
Julie Jamieson at 206.441.2416, email [email protected] or use PNB’s online contact form at
PNB.org/Season/GroupTickets.
GET THE POINTE
The Pointe is PNB’s exclusive mailing list for ballet fans between the ages of 20 and 40. Members of The
Pointe receive information about special events and flash sales just for them. Born between 1976 and
1996? Visit PNB.org and click on “Offers” for more information and to get The Pointe.
TEENTIX
PNB is a proud participant of TeenTix. Founded by Seattle Center, TeenTix’s 13- to 19-year-old members
can purchase tickets to PNB and other music, dance, theater and arts events for only $5. To join TeenTix
or view a list of participating organizations, visit teentix.org.
STUDENT AND SENIOR RUSH TICKETS
Subject to availability, half-price rush tickets for students and senior citizens (65+) may be purchased inperson with ID, from 90 minutes prior to showtime at the McCaw Hall box office.
SPECIAL EVENTS
FRIDAY PREVIEW
Friday, October 28, 5:00 pm
The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer St., Seattle
PNB’s popular Friday Previews are hour-long studio rehearsals hosted by Artistic Director Peter Boal and
PNB artistic staff, featuring Company dancers rehearsing excerpts from upcoming ballets. Tickets are
$15. (Note: These events usually sell out in advance.) Friday Previews are sponsored by U.S. Bank.
LECTURE SERIES & DRESS REHEARSAL
Thursday, November 3
Lecture 6:00 pm, Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Dress Rehearsal 7:00 pm, McCaw Hall
Join Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington in conversation with Forgotten Land stager Roslyn
Anderson during the hour preceding the dress rehearsal, discussing the creative process involved in the
development and staging of a ballet. Attend the lecture only or stay for the rehearsal. Tickets are $15 for
the lecture, or $30 for the lecture and dress rehearsal, available through the PNB Box Office.
PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURES
Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Join Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington for a 30-minute introduction to each performance,
including discussions of choreography, music, history, design and the process of bringing ballet to the
stage. One hour before performances. FREE for ticketholders.
POST-PERFORMANCE Q&A
Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall
Skip the post-show traffic and enjoy a Q&A with Artistic Director Peter Boal and PNB dancers,
immediately following each performance. FREE for ticketholders.
YOUNG PATRONS CIRCLE NIGHT
Friday, November 11
Join members of PNB’s Young Patrons Circle (YPC) in an exclusive lounge for complimentary wine and
coffee before the show and at intermission. YPC is PNB’s social and educational group for ballet patrons
ages 21 through 39. YPC members save up to 40% off their tickets. For more information, visit
PNB.org/YPC.
BOOK SIGNING: Out There – Jonathan Porretta’s Life in Dance
Sunday, November 13, 3:15 pm
Amusements Gift Shop at McCaw Hall
Join award-winning arts journalist Marcie Sillman and PNB principal dancer Jonathan Porretta for a booksigning of Out There: Jonathan Porretta’s Life in Dance. The book’s message – “Be yourself and people
will love you for who you are” – comes through clearly in Sillman’s crisp, engaging prose accentuated with
exquisite dance photography by Angela Sterling. (Tickets to BRIEF FLING are not required to attend the
book-signing.)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works,
129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows,
and two figure-skating routines. She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary
doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the
2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1965 Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for their
creativity, wit and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different
forms of movement – such as jazz, ballet, boxing and inventions of her own making – Ms. Tharp’s work
expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dance. In addition to choreographing for her own company,
she has created dances for Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet,
New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Martha
Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, PNB, Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Ms. Tharp's work for Broadway includes When We Were Very Young, followed by her collaboration
with musician David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel. Later works include her Movin’ Out, set to music
and lyrics by Billy Joel, The Times They Are A-Changin’ to Bob Dylan’s music and lyrics, and Come
Fly Away, to songs sung by Frank Sinatra. In film, Ms. Tharp has collaborated with Milos Forman on
Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus; Taylor Hackford on White Nights; and James Brooks on I’ll Do
Anything. Her television credits include Sue’s Leg, created for the first episode of PBS' “Dance in
America” (1976) and the television special Baryshnikov by Tharp, which she co-directed. In 1992 Ms.
Tharp wrote her autobiography Push Comes to Shove. She went on to write The Creative Habit: Learn it
and Use it for Life, followed by The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together both of which
were published by Simon and Schuster. She is currently working on a fourth book and continues to
create. For more information, visit twylatharp.org.
Jiri Kylian was born in Prague in 1947. He began his dance studies at the School of the National Ballet,
and was accepted at the Prague Conservatory at age fifteen. With a grant from the British Council in
1967, he went to the Royal Ballet School in London and came in contact with recent developments in
contemporary choreography. In 1968, John Cranko, a major choreographer of this period and director of
the Stuttgart Ballet, offered him a contract and encouraged Kylian's ambition to create his own dance
works. His first work, Paradox, was choreographed for the Noverre Society. After creating three ballets for
Netherlands Dance Theater, Kylian became artistic director of the company in 1975, and in 1978, he put
NDT on the international map with Sinfonietta. That same year, he founded NDT II, which serves to give
young dancers the opportunity to develop their skills and talents. He also initiated NDT III in 1991, for
mature dancers. After an extraordinary record of service, Kylian handed over the artistic leadership in
1999, but remained associated to the dance company as house choreographer. Kylian’s work is
performed all over the world by more than 80 companies and schools. In the course of his career Kylian’s
many international awards and honours include Officer of the Royal Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau,
honorary doctorate of the Juilliard School in New York, three Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo (best
choreographer, company and work), Benois de la Danse in Moscow and Berlin, Honorary Medal from the
President of the Czech Republic, and Chevalier du Légion d’Honneur in France. In 2008 he received the
Golden Lion at Venice Biennale and the Medal for Art and Science of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix.
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, George Balanchine (1904-1983) is regarded as the foremost
contemporary choreographer in the world of ballet. He came to the United States in late 1933, at the age
of 29, accepting the invitation of the young American arts patron Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996), whose
great passions included the dream of creating a ballet company in America. At Balanchine's behest, the
School of American Ballet was founded in 1934, the first product of the Balanchine-Kirstein collaboration.
Several ballet companies directed by the two were created and dissolved in the years that followed, while
Balanchine found other outlets for his choreography. Eventually, with a performance on October 11,
1948, the New York City Ballet was born. Balanchine served as its ballet master and principal
choreographer from 1948 until his death in 1983. His final ballet, a new version of Stravinsky's Variations
for Orchestra, was created in 1982. He also choreographed for films, operas, revues, and musicals.
Among his best-known dances for the stage is Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, originally created for
Broadway's On Your Toes (1936). A major artistic figure of the twentieth century, Balanchine
revolutionized the look of classical ballet. Taking classicism as his base, he heightened, quickened,
expanded, streamlined, and even inverted the fundamentals of the 400-year-old language of academic
dance. This had an inestimable influence on the growth of dance in America. Although at first his style
seemed particularly suited to the energy and speed of American dancers, especially those he trained, his
ballets are now performed by all the major classical ballet companies throughout the world. [Copyright ©
2002 The George Balanchine Foundation. Reprinted by permission.]
# # #
BRIEF FLING is made possible by major sponsors Peter & Peggy Horvitz, and supporting sponsor
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Media sponsor is KUOW 94.9 fm. Principal support for the 2013 PNB premiere of
Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling was provided by Lyndall Boal and Peter & Peggy Horvitz; Additional support
provided by Bonnie Towne, Norma Cugini, and Kalen & Seah Holmes. Principal support for the 2013 PNB
premiere of Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land was generously provided by Patty Edwards; Additional support
provided by Barbara and Charles B. Wright, III, Dr. Joerg Gablonsky, and an anonymous donor. The
works of George Balanchine performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet, including Stravinsky Violin Concerto,
are made possible in part by The Louise Nadeau Endowed Fund. Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2016-2017
season is proudly sponsored by ArtsFund and Microsoft.
Publicity Contact
Gary Tucker, Media Relations Manager
206.441.2426 / [email protected] / PNB.org/press
Schedule and programming subject to change. For further information, please visit PNB.org.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET
301 Mercer Street Seattle, WA 98109 206.441.2424 PNB.org