On opening night, Pacific Northwest Ballet got exactly what they deserved: a standing ovation for "Swan Lake" in their new performance home, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.
After struggling for the past year and half in the cramped Mercer Arts Arena, less-than-full houses and growing deficits, the company's relief at dancing in a packed McCaw Hall was palatable. Even a lighting-system glitch that left the corps dancing in the dark for a few minutes in Act I didn't dampen the celebratory feeling.
Despite the fact that the hall boasts myriad new bells and whistles for the backstage people, PNB chose to launch this new "Swan Lake" with relatively simple sets featuring branches entwined with neoclassical columns. Simplicity didn't keep the set from serving its function well - giving the dancers plenty of room to move without having to maneuver around extraneous objects. Paul Tazewell's gorgeous new costumes added all the necessary glitz for this "Swan Lake."
The opening-night performance was led by company veteran Patricia Barker, who has danced for more than 20 years with PNB, as Odette/Odile. Her blond elegance turned this Swan Queen into a glory of sophisticated line and cool control. Nobody droops more beautifully than Barker as a tired swan forced into an eternity of enchantment.
Barker was partnered by Stanko Milov as her Prince Siegfried. At 6 foot 5 inches (short for a basketball player, tall for a dancer), Milov had no problem dominating the stage as a Royal Highness.
Regulars at PNB performances expect Barker to be elegance personified and Milov to look too handsome to believe. Consequently, much of the intermission chitchat in my little crowd swirled around the less celebrated members of the corps who were given a chance to shine in the spotlight. For baseball fans, this type of talk is the equivalent of discussing a great play by Randy Winn, because nobody needs to mention that Edgar Martinez is one of the best hitters in the game.
Among those moments that caught the critics' eyes were Maria Chapman and Stacey Lowenberg in the two-swans and pas de trois pieces of Act II. Soloist Jonathan Poretta generated many laughs and much applause as the Prince's Jester.
The company's women as a whole shone during the difficult swan sequences of Act II and Act IV. This year's swan count was 24, up eight dancers from previous productions, and criss-crossing patterns of this lovely moment define classical ballet. It's also one of those "Swan Lake" features that actually look even more beautiful from above, where the audience can really appreciate the lines - as a friend in second-tier seats pointed out.
While considerable fuss has been made about McCaw Hall's acoustics (pretty much perfect, wherever you sit), there hasn't been as much written about sight lines that PNB championed during the redesign.
From almost every section of the house, the view of the stage is remarkably clear. PNB artistic directors Kent Stowell and Patricia Barker have accomplished their goal of bringing the audience closer to the dancers at all levels.
Being of average height (5 foot 5), I appreciate the fact that I can cross my legs in almost every section. Nor do I feel cramped with seatmates on either side of me - a real problem at some other theaters where I have formed intimate relationships with strangers' elbows by the end of a show. The person in front of me can be tall and still not obstruct my view. As I often attend performances with a 6-foot-8 fellow, I always feel bad if short people have to crane around the person in front of them.
Having sat in most sections of the house by now, I find my favorite seats are in dress circle (first tier), and I'm very impressed with the clarity of view from the "cheap seats" up in second tier. I like orchestra level for the opera - although the sound is equally warm going higher up - and wouldn't mind being first tier or higher for dance.
There are a few seats where the hall's safety bars (placed at the ends of aisles to prevent patrons from plunging over the balcony) are obvious. This doesn't bother me; I find that they mentally disappear a few minutes into a performance. But if you find such stuff annoying, ask the ticket office how to avoid this.
And those additional women's restrooms? Lovely, simply lovely, and often deserted on the south side, because most women are still migrating north from long-established habit in the old opera house. Ladies, there are now restrooms on both sides of the lobbies, even though the doorways are hidden at the end of some very long corridors.[[In-content Ad]]
