PNB Director's Choice

Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Director's Choice" is an absolute must see this year with one piece that pulled me right out of my seat for a standing ovation! Please don't be stopped by names you don't recognize as classics. The old ballets are a wonderful tradition, but seeing fresh talent emerge is incredibly exciting in a dance form that can sometimes get mired in the past.

"Director's Choice" includes three pieces by different choreographers: "Rush" by Paul Gibson, "Little mortal jump" by Alejandro Cerrudo, and "Year of the Rabbit" by Justin Peck. All are quite different in flavor and those by Cerrudo and Peck are receiving their PNB premiere at this performance.

"Rush" contains striking visuals and dramatic music composed by Bohuslav Martinu. Long lines and a sense of urgency characterize the movement vocabulary in this piece, with many beautifully evocative tableaus.

Lesley Rausch and Jerome Tisserand danced the principal parts the night I attended. One lovely moment between the two had him gracefully guiding her down to a kneeling position as they both reached for the sky.

"Year of the Rabbit" was created in collaboration with singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens and is set to a new orchestration of Stevens' album "Enjoy Your Rabbit." The orchestration is really quite different from the original electronica music and the PNB Orchestra performs it beautifully.

Cheerful and bright, the ballet is performed in seven movements to correspond somewhat with the Chinese zodiac. Angelica Generosa took a solo part and I'm always so thrilled to see her dance. Tiny, fierce and fiery, she commands the stage with her precision.

Many unusual choices light up the choreography. In one section the men of the company lie on their backs along the edges of the stage with their lower torsos in the wings and only their upper torsos visible, with heads reclining on their hands, elbows wide as the soloists perform in the center; in another, the dancers enact a human turnstile. One powerful moment has four lines of dancers, occasionally broken by one solitary dancer moving away then returning, until finally the whole company breaks into what looks like chaotic spontaneity.

"Little mortal jump," originally performed in 2012 at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, was the center of the program and also the center of my attention once it began. Moving and phenomenal, this is the piece that got me up for -- what is rare for me -- a standing ovation. "Little mortal jump" is filled with wonder, so much so that I hesitate to describe too much of it lest I deprive an audience of the sheer delight in some of the surprises contained within.

The dance begins with a single dancer dressed something like an old time newsboy hawking papers on the streets of the city racing down the aisle of the theater. He stops briefly peering around him, jumps up on stage, runs to center, and, after gazing searchingly out into the audience, startles us by jumping right into the orchestra pit. I will leave you to experience the remaining surprises on your own, but you must promise to go.

"Little mortal jump" is one of those rare dance pieces that, without telling an actual story and with a light touch, moves us to relive our own stories, bringing up old dreams of childhood and memories of our own mortality, which are somewhat wistful but also glorious in the remembrance.

Performing the piece tonight were Leah Merchant, James Moore, Chelsea Adomaitis, Price Suddarth, Elle Macy, Jerome Tisserand, Christian Poppe, Steven Loch, Elizabeth Murphy, and Dylan Wald.

Costumes and lighting were integral for all three pieces and particularly well designed to help carry the mood and intention of each piece, and each piece had different designers involved. For "Rush" Mark Zappone designed the costumes and Lisa Pinkham designed the lighting; in "Little mortal jump" Branimara Ivanova did the costumes while Michael Korsch did the lighting; and in "Year of the Rabbit" Justin Peck, the choreographer, also designed the costumes while Brandon Stirling Baker designed the lighting.

Three very different pieces with three very different moods make for a dreamy and delightful evening out. It's pure magic. Don't miss out!

"Director's Choice" runs through March 27 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. in Seattle Center. For information or tickets, call 206-441-2424 or visit pnb.org.