A few days ago, I was backstage at McCaw Hall after opening night of the Nutcracker ballet. We were there to toast the 25th anniversary of this production which is regarded by many as the quintessential ballet experience for everyone. In fact, this production is one of most stunning creative collaborations that has ever been brought to the stage at the holidays. Kent Stowell, choreographer and then co-artistic director with wife, Francia Russell, joined forces with famed illustrator and designer Maurice Sendak to a create a magnificent event that rivals the very best stage productions in the world. As we lifted our glasses, it made me think about the road we have come down in this community over the past 25 years and what a remarkable trip it’s been.
If it doesn’t show, please know that I am biased. In 1978, my wife Jane was invited to join the board of directors of Pacific Northwest Ballet, then a fledgling company that was an off-shoot of the Seattle Opera. And she’s given her volunteer life to the organization to this day. It was exciting back then to feel the energy growing as Kent and Francia shaped and formed the company. The dancers came ready for anything and would often join with us volunteers to give backstage tours, making it up as we went along. We even did an event in the rehearsal studio called “Ballet for Two Left Feet” where people like me actually danced with Kent and Francia’s instruction…I was best at bowing. When we did “Ballet for Four Left Feet” the next year, we novices danced with real dancers from the company. It was then that I found out just how light ballerinas are. Let’s just say my lifts were a bit too ambitious a couple of times…I may have scared them a little but no one was hurt.
Five years later, Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker debuted with eye-boggling sets and costumes by Maurice Sendak. This was a transitional and landmark event for Pacific Northwest Ballet. There are a handful of companies across the country that critics give credence to and then we were ready to become one of them. The toast that night was with plastic cups but it could not have been more fulfilling. Still there was the heart-stopping moment when the Christmas tree starts to grow…the journey up was far less dependable then than it is today. But that night, this company stepped into the spotlight on the world ballet stage and made their presence known. It seemed to me that the dancers even impressed themselves.
As the decades have passed, Seattle has blossomed and grown in so many ways. Then the Mariners were new and so was the Kingdome. The Seahawks were the talk of the town. But it was the arts that were carving out a more revered place in our community and the ballet was the new kid on the block. I drew my newest client Citicorp into the fray to help finance that first production. My young company even produced the first souvenir program, which we designed and wrote by committee on Kent and Francia’s living room floor. The private-public marriage with the performing arts in this community is a thing to behold. DDB, with the astute community vision of Ron Elgin, has always been there to lend a hand to the Ballet, as well as, to many other arts organizations…and we are not the exception, we’re the rule.
Today, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest Ballet are the envy of almost everyone outside of Manhattan. Our arts community shines in every corner and, as a place to live, our city is sumptuous. Opening night of this year’s Nutcracker brought the memories of the past quarter century flooding back. It was such a gala evening in such a magnificent hall. The dancers were so “on” that it gave you chills to watch them. Pacific Northwest Ballet says so much about Seattle. It’s like our personality. It’s like our life. We just know we can do it ourselves, whatever it is. We like being on the edge and we know how to live…even if we are “in the woods”. I'm so proud. What a place we live in!
Posted by Dan McConnell on December 11, 2008 4:48 PM Permalink
No comments:
Post a Comment