Seattle Troupe’s Glass Slipper : Taking a break from its home base to fill in for the Joffrey Ballet, the Pacific Northwest Ballet brings ‘Cinderella’ to Orange County.
Don’t use the “R†word with Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Regional connotes fringy, which doesn’t accurately describe the 23-year-old Seattle-based troupe, its directors protest.
“People think of regional as lesser quality and on the outskirts,†says co-artistic director Francia Russell. “We have a very high-level reputation in the dance world.â€
Pacific Northwest boasts a passel of lavish, full-length story ballets, about 20 Balanchine works, a 1986 film of the “Nutcracker†released nationwide, and repeated tours to such top-flight venues as the Kennedy Center. But, despite Russell’s claims, in terms of name recognition and critical cachet, Pacific Northwest hasn’t quite made the leap into the ranks of national ballet stardom.
The troupe, however, is about to get the chance to shine brighter. Tuesday through Thursday, it will step in for the Joffrey Ballet, which couldn’t afford to come west, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It is an unexpected opportunity for the 50-member company to give its new, much-ballyhooed “Cinderella†its California debut.
Choreographed by the company’s co-artistic director Kent Stowell, “Cinderella†was produced, in 1994, with touring in mind. At $1 million, it is the troupe’s most expensive ballet ever. To please the masses, the money was spent on 18th-Century French opulence, replete with crystal chandeliers and sets that travel easily.
It’s an ambitious ballet from an ambitious company. Says Stowell: “One of our goals is always to be better, and the only way to do that is to raise the ante all the time.â€
Of course, in an era of diminished arts support, raising the ante is a formidable task. For Pacific Northwest, it has involved some tough balancing of expansionist dreams with financial realities, and its stated approach is strength at home before glory far afield.
“It seems to me that the companies like ours, and San Francisco and Boston Ballet and Houston Ballet, who have a home base, are the ones that are going to be in position to endure,†Stowell says. “The ones who have to rely on touring will always be vulnerable.â€
Still, the chance to fill in for the Joffrey was an offer Pacific Northwest couldn’t refuse. Neither Russell nor Stowell hesitated to rearrange their troupe’s schedule or to commit a portion of their precious $435,000 NEA touring grant to making the trek to Southern California. “Orange County is a very important date for us,†Russell said. “It’s a wonderful theater and recognized as a very prestigious date for ballet companies, U.S. and foreign. They all want to go there.â€
S towell and Russell, who are married, took the helm at Pacific Northwest in 1977, five years after its formation by local Seattle dance lovers. The former New York City Ballet dancers, she a soloist and ballet mistress, had previously directed the Frankfurt Ballet, where he also choreographed. At Pacific Northwest, Stowell became resident choreographer and Russell took over as school director.
Stowell’s initial ambition was to create innovative, abstract ballets a la Balanchine, he says. But the new institution had to draw crowds and cash, so he proceeded to furnish such full-length standards as “Swan Lake,†“Coppelia†and “Nutcracker.â€
“That wasn’t the career I envisioned,†he says, “but it was what needed to be done.â€
To avoid creative stagnation, Stowell decided to personalize each work, “to look at them and see what was missing, what could be done better or how I could show a different aspect.â€
In 1983, he premiered his “Nutcracker,†with set and costume designs by Maurice Sendak. In 1987, he delivered “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,†replacing the traditional Prokofiev score with an array of Tchaikovsky excerpts and selections.
Critics haven’t been universally impressed. On stage and in a the filmed version, directed by Carroll Ballard, “Nutcracker†received mixed reviews. The Times’ Lewis Segal called it “stale,†and he was no more impressed with “Romeo and Juliet.†“Plays like a plot precis,†he wrote.
Stowell’s 1994 “Cinderella,†designed by Tony Award winner Tony Straiges (“Sunday in the Park With Georgeâ€), which reworks parts of the usual Prokofiev score while adding other pieces by the composer, has so far fared better. The Seattle Times called it “a mesmerizing theatrical spectacle.â€
According to Stowell, the point of the additions and reworkings in “Cinderella†is to better tell the story of a young woman’s dreams of love. That “poignant†story, he says, has been overshadowed by comic antics in other renditions.
To balance the story ballets in their repertory, Stowell and Russell added works by Antony Tudor, Glen Tetley, Paul Taylor and others. Russell, a highly respected custodian of the Balanchine repertory, also has staged for the troupe some 20 Balanchine ballets, “Serenade,†“Concerto Borocco†and “Agon†among them.
Such eclectic programming, along with grass roots fund raising efforts in which Stowell and Russell worked the cocktail party circuit, paid off. In 1992, the company finished a $10.5-million remodel of its headquarters, Phelps Center, making it into a state-of-the-art school, rehearsal and office space. It is yet another example of stakes raising in Seattle.
“Kent and I felt that the building would establish the company . . . .†Russell says. “It would make them feel proud of what they were doing by saying, ‘Hey, world, we are here, making our mark on the dance world.’ â€
O ne thing Pacific Northwest lacks at the moment is star power and the renown that goes with it, although its dancers, particularly principal Patricia Barker (dancing Cinderella on Thursday with Ulrik Wivel), have won critical praise.
And, as everywhere, finances have been a challenge.
The company is now facing a deficit of about $400,000. According to Russell, much of it can be attributed to sagging “Nutcracker†sales last season, the result, she says, of a marketing campaign that failed to push that usually audience-grabbing ballet adequately.
Because of the deficit, a Washington-New York City tour slated for spring ’96 has been postponed to fall. Also, some expected grants haven’t materialized, thus one new work has been cut and PNB Offstage, a 5-year-old program that commissioned experimental works, is on hold.
“At this point,†says Russell, “we’re not cutting back, but we’re being extra careful and we’re not growing.â€
The good news is that cash reserves will cover the deficit, next year’s budget is balanced, and, unlike other troupes, there have been no layoffs and none are planned. Stowell adds that the troupe, which performs in the Seattle Opera House, guarantees dancers 40 weeks of work a year, three more than American Ballet Theatre.
Pacific Northwest relies on its earnings, primarily from box office, for 75% of its income (the rest comes from grants and contributions). Splashy productions, Stowell readily acknowledges, are naturally the most bankable.
“If we look like we’ve done a poor production,†he says, “it doesn’t matter how good our dancing is.â€
To be sure, “Cinderella’s†luster helped secure the Performing Arts Center engagement.
“Certainly we were interested in a production that hopefully had some income potential,†says center president Tom Tomlinson. Pacific Northwest “is not only technically fine, but has developed a reputation for creating big, beautiful story ballets.â€
Stowell and Russell hope that they get asked back to OCPAC--next time for a mixed repertory bill. Again, however, touring and a higher profile must be delicately balanced with efforts to tend the home fires and maintain strong community support.
“The quality of the performances we put on here in Seattle,†Russell says, “the new works we present, the ways we present the classical and neoclassical repertory, and the way we train dancers is much more important than having a Time magazine or New York Times review.â€*
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET’S “CINDERELLA,â€Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Dates: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 8 p.m. Prices: $18-$49. Phone: (714) 740-2000.
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