Dance, Dance, Evolution!

As an African artist used to tell American audiences: If you can walk you can dance. And for generations, people have danced for joy, danced to attract a mate, danced to express the emotions their words couldn't convey. Here in the West, dance takes many forms, from Texas two?step to Hip Hop. But the grande dame of our formal dance tradition is classical ballet.

As an artform, ballet goes back several centuries, to the royal courts of Western Europe. By the early 20th century, Russian artists had made their mark, choreographing and performing ballets that are still in the repertoire of companies around the world. The mid 20th century brought one of ballet's great innovators George Balanchine, along with a bevy of such artists as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. They pioneered modern dance, a genre that transcended the confines of classical ballet.

When you say "ballet" many people still think "tutus and toe shoes". But these days, choreographers and dancers are pushing ballet in new directions. Yes, you still see toe shoes and sometimes tutus at Pacific Northwest Ballet. But the dancers and PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal say, to keep an old artform vibrant, it must have new energy. KUOW's Marcie Sillman spent the past six months behind the scenes at PNB, watching principal dancer Olivier Wevers create a new dance for ten of his fellow company members. She has this three part series about ballet and the artists who create it. Hide full description

As an African artist used to tell American audiences: If you can walk you can dance. And for generations, people have danced for joy, danced to attract a mate, danced to express the emotions their words couldn't convey. Here in the West, dance takes many forms, from Texas two?step to Hip Hop. But the grande dame of our formal dance tradition is classical ballet.

As an artform, ballet goes back several centuries, to the royal courts of Western Europe. By the early 20th century, Russian artists had made their mark, choreographing and performing ballets that are still in the repertoire of companies around the world. The mid 20th century brought one of ballet's great innovators George Balanchine, along with a bevy of such artists as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. They pioneered modern... Show full description