Pacific Northwest Ballet Director’s Choice Review
June 12, 025 | Digital
Pacific Northwest Ballet rounded out its 2024-2025 digital season with an innovative double-bill (the live performances of the Director’s Choice program also included Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs) that worked to not only entertain but as an assertion of the company’s range.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet Director's Choice Review
The program begins with Kiyon Ross’ …throes of increasing wonder, an ebulliently fast-paced flurry of knifing limbs, explosive lifts, and geometric patterns that seem to dissolve faster than you can process them. There’s no neat narrative here, just a chain of choreographic sequences that morph into each other, like thoughts inside an overexcited mind.
The 24-strong cast doesn’t get much downtime. And while they’re onstage, they seem to barely touch the floor; when they do, it’s only to launch themselves into the next hyperkinetic phrase.
The athleticism, agility and strength demanded by this piece plays directly into PNB’s strengths.
Among the cast, corps de ballet member Destiny Wimpye emerges as a clear standout.
Her radiant presence is matched by the way she pushes every single movement to its outermost edge, achieving extensions that reach just past their natural endpoint, pliés that explore their deepest depth, and jumps that are sustained a heartbeat longer than what seems possible.
She attacks every step with a fearless conviction.
Up next is a work strikingly opposite in tone, Rena Butler’s quietly haunting Cracks.
Set against an evocative collection of musical works by Michel Wackenheim, Gabriel Fauré, Antonio Vivaldi, Ljova, Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy, and Michael Praetorius, Cracks boldly addresses questions about faith, conformity, and what happens when the foundations crack.
Butler’s choreography is an inventive blend of contemporary ballet and acrobatic elements like back walkovers and cartwheels. It embraces broken lines, contorted shapes, and deliberate awkwardness.
The dancers, clad in matching orange Catholic schoolgirl-like uniforms, move with eerie expressionless detachment. It’s not exactly pleasant to watch, yet you can’t take your eyes off the stage.
While I didn’t love Cracks in the way I was swept up by the more lighthearted …throes of increasing wonder, I admired Butler’s distinctive voice and the palpable atmosphere she was able to create.
All in all, this final digital program was a strong success, showcasing the full stretch of PNB’s range and setting high expectations for what’s ahead.
Featured Photo of Pacific Northwest Ballet corps de ballet dancer Noah Martzall and soloist Madison Rayn Abeo in Kiyon Ross’s …throes of increasing wonder. Photo © Angela Sterling.
