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Welcome to the Seattle Arts Ecology, Spring 2008. Please make use of this space to track course activities and assignments, share observations, ask questions, post photos from field trips, plug upcoming shows . . . you name it.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Bravo Peter Boal...

First of all, I would like to say that I hate Peter Boal. While Seattle may have been a little behind the times with regard to Balanchine’s choreography, Seattle audiences were never screaming for more…which is probably why Kent Stowell and Francia Russell’s one night of Balanchine was limited to just that: one night out of their entire season. As I remember, Pre-Peter Boal, I was always excited to go to the Ballet. ‘Is it Cinderella? Is it Carmina Burana?’ who knows. It could be anything, but always something entertaining with classical dancing and beautiful costumes. Now, when my dad tells me we have a ballet on Sunday, I already know it’s Balanchine. Why? Because now it’s always Balanchine.
I groan aloud, and my dad takes this as a sign that I no longer want to be a part of this family’s ballet outing. I hurriedly explain that it’s because I know it’s another all-Balanchine performance. He actually tries to argue it with me, “No, it couldn’t be. There’s just no way.” Obviously, that Saturday, he was proven wrong. How many times can I sit through Jewels without banging my head on the wall? I was never a fan of Balanchine in the first place, and now, thanks to Peter Boal’s tenacity, my family, after subscribing to PNB for over a decade, will now cease their support because going to the ballet is no longer about beauty or technique.
Oh, and did I mention that Peter Boal refuses cast the best and most beautiful long-time PNB dancers like Olivier, Poretta, Stanko, in favor of the SAB immigrants he’s ushered here? He promises them that they will be stars and makes them principals as soon as they make the switch. Where does this put all of our hardworking soloist and corps dancers who have been working to earn those positions? In his own words when contrasting the two companies, SAB works you so hard that you wear your stage makeup to a 5 o’clock rehearsal so that you’ll be ready to be onstage by 7 the same night whereas apparently at PNB, the dancers cry if they don’t get their tea break, it’s little wonder that so many New York dancers are flocking our way, pushing old favorites out of the spotlight. Things have been getting so hard for the PNB principals that many are now moving away, Cristophe Marvaal for example. How many more of our true Seattle dancers will have to suffer at Boal’s hand? Thankfully, after this year, I won’t have to watch. Bravo, Peter Boal. Bravo.

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