All Tharp at the Pacific Northwest Ballet

The PNB season opened with a bang as a three part program produced the unusual spectacle of standing ovations at each interval as well as at the end. The program consisted of two world premieres by renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp, “Opus 111” and “Afternoon Ball”, followed by her adaptation of Frank Sinatra classics called “Nine Sinatra Songs”. Tharp spent two months in Seattle working with the company to bring her two new pieces to life, and that intense period of hard work and focus has definitely paid off. For “Opus 111”, Tharp set her choreography to the music of Johannes Brahms, in what PNB’s Education Programs Manager Doug Fullington informed us was Brahms’ last piece, a lushly romantic string quintet. Simple costumes of brown, orange, and lavender allowed the dance to flow without drawing the eye as twelve dancers participated in the Opus, mostly in two or three pairs at a time but all onstage at the stirring finale. The vocabulary was classical, with elements of folk dancing, and the swaying arm movements that are a Tharp standard. The piece featured several dancers who had been promoted since last season, most prominently Lucien Postlewaite, who has been promoted to principal rank at the PNB and seemed to revel in the new status as he performed with confidence and verve. Also performing in “Opus 111” were former corps de ballet members James Moore and recently married Rachel Foster, who are both new PNB soloists. Full Review