by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
Angelica Generosa danced with Dylan Wald in a previous Carmina Burana show. (Image courtesy of PNB)
The 2022/2023 season marks the 50th year that Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) has performed in Seattle. The Weekly joins co-founders and former artistic directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell and lead dancer Angelica Generosa on the season’s opening “Carmina Burana” and its famous set Designer Ming Cho Lee talks.
PNB was established in 1972 as part of the Seattle Opera. Stowell and Russell were a married couple who separated the ballet company from the opera house—though the collaboration continued—and in 1993, PNB moved to Seattle Center and McCaw Hall.
The first work in the new building is “Carmina Burana”. At the time, PNB was under a lot of pressure after years of building new facilities.
“How does that affect ballet? Would you do a better performance? What are your thoughts on that?” Stowell recalls people asking.
“What we’re saying is that the visibility of the new building…is a symbol of acceptance and appreciation.”
They knew they needed a season, so Stowell decided to make “Carmina” and “Cinderella,” which were delightful, well-crafted, and difficult.
PNB co-founders and former art directors, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell (Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP)
“It’s all about money, money, money, and it has to be,” Kent said, ‘When we get back out there, we have to have everyone turn around and look at the stage and look at the dancers,'” Russell Dancing with George Balanchine in New York City for 50 years. “‘Carmina’ is one of those pieces of music…a lot of choreographers try to process and often extract pieces from it, mostly modern choreographers, and I think, it’s a big, powerful piece of brave music that I’ve had to make It got big and spectacular,” Stowell said. His “Carmina” choreography, as well as Lee’s choreography, rose to prominence. It’s a way to get more people to watch ballet by engaging the world of opera and music.
“After COVID, people going back to theaters want to communicate,” Russell commented. PNB’s rendition of Carmina is unique because of its blend of symphony, opera and ballet, and how they all come together. Thanks to Lee’s bold design, the choir hangs above the dancers, as does Lee’s massive “Wheel of Fortune,” which Russell called Lee “the Dean of American Theater Design.”
“Kent and Ming did five…full-length ballets together,” recalls Russell.
“It was a great collaboration, both personally and of course professionally,” Kent continued. “Part of what we wanted was not just great ballet on stage, but great art…Ming do ballet. It’s all beautiful sets, it’s all well conceived, and it looks spectacular.”
Born in Shanghai, he came to the United States in 1949 and was a professor at Yale University. He received the Tony Award in 1983 and the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2013. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and was awarded the National Medal of Arts. His sets have appeared on Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, and across the country.
“[His designs] is unique. They’re not like everyone else,” Russell said.
“Every ballet… they don’t look like the same designer. They’re so different. He listens to the music, talks to the choreographers, and gradually forms a completely unique whole.”
Stowell and Francia remember Lee, who died in 2020, as “quiet and gentle”, “without posturing” but also “very sure of what he thinks”.
When Lee, who works closely with wife Betsy, suggested wheels for “Carmina,” a giant pole needed to be erected in the center of the stage.
Stowell thought, “Oh my gosh, how do I choreograph a 50-minute ballet around this pole?” With the help of the stage crew, PNB figured out how to lift and tilt the wheel, which is now the most intriguing ballet in ballet. Among the standout aspects is Karl Orff’s unforgettable music and bold choreography, in which the dancers are immersed in spirit and bravado.
Carmina Burana presented by Pacific Northwest Ballet (Photo via PNB)
From September 23rd to October 2nd, “Carmina” is one of three tracks performed together in the season opener. Also on stage were Alexei Ratmansky’s world premiere in support of Ukraine, titled “Wartime Elegy,” and the PNB and Balanchine standard, “Allegro Brillante,” starring dancers Jonathon Batista and Angelica Generosa.
PNB under Stowell and Russell, to this day, emphasizes supporting diversity in its recruiting practices. Russell was working at the Shanghai Ballet when he brought back two dancers. Also, Li Hengda, who now has his own school in Bellevue, is a major PNB dancer. Originally from New Jersey, Generosa was hired by current Artistic Director Peter Boal after graduating from the Academy of American Ballet – where she happened to dance “Allegro Brillante” as her graduation production. “It’s a complete circle for me,” she shared.
PNB Principal Dancer Angelica Generosa (Photo via PNB)
Generosa remembers that getting a job on the East Coast wasn’t easy—it was because of her ethnicity. Her parents are from the Philippines.
“I’ve got my fair share [discrimination]. Young and don’t know. I know my parents knew this, but of course, when you love art so much, you think a lot of things are already being accepted,” but it wasn’t. “The main reason I wasn’t hired was because of my looks.They say I just “didn’t fit in” or how many quotas they had [people of color] they need. “
Jenerosa tries to handle it herself, but it makes her question herself, which hurts. “Where should I be? What should I do? At least for me and a lot of ballet dancers, we tend to fix things right away, and that’s what our careers are…I take those things people say, I thought, ‘How do I fix this? Then I realized I couldn’t fix ‘this’. This is who I am.”
When she came to PNB, Generosa experienced the satisfaction of being part of a family of dancers. “I didn’t realize how much this feeling of being accepted and appreciated.” Generosa’s love for her craft performances. On stage, she moves with energy. She is like a butterfly, one by one gently falling on the ripples of the pond. The entire production ran smoothly from start to finish, with the dancers, singers and musicians giving their all.
When Generosa first danced in “Carmina,” it was an apprentice at PNB 11 years ago. “Seeing a choir above the dancers, hearing the voices of opera singers while dancing, and this amazing soundtrack…I thought, ‘What is this? This is so cool. I’ve never seen this before …it feels like a community. …There’s so much power in it. It’s amazing.”
“Carmina” will run until October 2nd.For tickets and information on the PNB 2022-2023 season, visit pnb.org/season.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
