After two decades with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Principal Dancer James Yoichi Moore will take his final bow at the Season Encore Performance on June 9, 2024.
“The past 20 years have flown by in a flash. Every season filled with challenges, exhaustion, and thrill – key components for a supremely fulfilling dance career. I wish I could live the life of a PNB dancer forever, but I knew this day would come, and as I near my final performance, my gratitude for our company, and everyone who contributes to creating the magic on stage grows.
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have a director who’s believed in me from the beginning. As a student, and throughout my career, Peter [Boal]’s trust filled me with motivation, bolstered me with confidence, and gave me the belief that I belonged. I am thankful beyond words.”
Moore and his wife, Kristen, will continue to invest their time in two Tutu Schools they have recently become owners of in Renton and Tacoma, Washington.
James Yoichi Moore & Noelani Pantastico
“James Moore had a career-defining moment and played a pivotal role in ushering in Peter Boal’s contemporary vision to PNB audiences with his performances of Mopey by Marco Goeke,” noted former PNB principal dancer Noelani Pantastico, Moore’s frequent onstage partner, and Co-Artistic Director of Seattle Dance Collective, the company they founded in 2019.
After Mopey, it was clear that James had a spirit that transcended the stage and left audiences returning to see him in his range of programming.
I was lucky enough to forge a partnership with James, one that, while dancing together, was hard to explain to anyone. We were just enmeshed.
Beyond the stage, we created Seattle Dance Collective, which taught us how to build and run a nonprofit organization and helped us survive the pandemic while nurturing our artistic voices and voices for others.
I have no doubt that audiences and colleagues will miss him. There is no one like James Moore. His generosity and thoughtfulness as a dancer, partner, and person make James memorable to everyone who has had the fortune of being in the same space as him.
James leaves an indelible mark that has helped shape what PNB is today.”
About James Yoichi Moore
Born in San Francisco, California, James Yoichi Moore joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a corps member in 2004 after dancing with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for three years.
“Growing up in San Francisco, I would hear people talk about this incredible ballet company up north, with six-foot-tall ballerinas and dancers with impeccable technique,” said Moore. “Never did I imagine I’d have a shot to join their ranks, but in 2004, Kent and Francia offered me a contract, and everything changed. I am forever grateful to them for giving me a chance to be a part of this great organization”.
His previous professional experience and training at San Francisco Ballet and the School of American Ballet prepared Moore to dance in a wide range of dance works ranging from the most classical, to neo-classical, to contemporary. He has danced creations by George Balanchine, Boal, Val Caniparoli, Alejandro Cerrudo, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe, and Twyla Tharp to name a few.
He has also originated leading roles in:
- Andrew Bartee’s arms that work
- Caniparoli’s The Seasons,
- Cerrudo’s Memory Glow,
- Kiyon Gaines’ Do. Not. Obstruct. and Interrupted Pri’si’zhen
- Paul Gibson’s Mozart Pieces and Sense of Doubt
- Marco Goecke’s Place a Chill
- Benjamin Millepied’s 3 Movements
- Mark Morris’ Kammermusik No. 3
- Justin Peck’s Debonair
- Victor Quijada’s Suspension of Disbelief
- Price Suddarth’s The Intermission Project
- Tharp’s Opus 111 and Waiting at the Station
- Christopher Wheeldon’s Tide Harmonic
Featured Photo of Noelani Pantastico and Pacific Northwest Ballet‘s James Yoichi Moore in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © AngelaSterlingPhoto.com.
