Pacific Northwest Ballet First Look Evolution

PNB Principal Dancer Carrie Imler with Ken

Last evening, Ken and I attended the black-tie opening night celebration of Pacific Northwest Ballet; First Look Evolution 2011 at McCaw Hall.  The evening began with a cocktail reception and dinner backstage prior to the ballet performance.  The menu was great and in addtion to the entree of beef tenderloin with roasted potatos and summer squash corn ratatouille included my favorite which was a delicious peach and endive salad with Serrano Ham, arugula and Banyuls vinaigrette.  

Sarah & John Rindlaub with Carrie Imler

We were seated with PNB Principal Ballet Dancer, Carrie Imler, who was not dancing until the next evening.  Also seated at our table were Sarah & John Rindlaub and Gaylee & Jim Duncan.  The event was filled with friends and other PNB ballet aficianados including Dan & Michele Heidt, Peter Horvitz, Aya Hamilton, Lynn & Frank Lindsay, Leena & Mel Sturman, Norma Cugini, Gail James, Rian & Peter McLeod, Caroline Goedhart, Betty Tong, Margaret Dell'Osso, Jane & David Davis, Sandra Dunn, Sharon Richardson, Bob Cremin, Carole Ellison, Jeanne Tweten & Jim Leslie and dozens of others.  (Ken doesn't actually admit to being a ballet aficianado, but I am still working on him!)

Following dinner, PNB Artistic Director, Peter Boal, announced and introduced several dancers new to PNB this season and on stage announced the promotions of both Lesley Rausch and Rachel Foster as Principal Dancers  Each was presented with a big bouquet of flowers onstage to thunderous applause. 

Carrie Imler

The performance was incredible.  It was ALL WHEELDON, a program with all works choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and included Carousel (A Dance), Polyphonia, Variations Serieuses and After the Rain pas de deux.  My personal favorites were Carousel and the After the Rain pas de deux.  Carousel was exquiste with Principal Dancers, Carla Körbes and Seth Orza dancing the lead roles and After the Rain was breathtakingly beautiful danced by Principal Dancers, Maria Chapman and Karel Cruz.  At the performance I sat next to PNB Soloist Dancer, James Moore, who was cast to dance the After the Rain pas de deux on the next night with newly announced PNB Principal Dancer, Rachel Foster.  I didn't hear him even breathe during the entire performance by Maria and Karel.

After the performance, the evening ended with an onstage dance party, where the party patrons and professional ballet dancers had a wonderful time dancing together into the wee hours. 

Stewart Kershaw and PNB - The End of an Era

Last weekend I attended the final PNB performance of the season featuring Stewart Kershaw conducting the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra for the last time.  Stewart was the visionary that 25 years ago built the PNB Orchestra, that has recently been referred to in the New York Times as “possibly the best ballet orchestra in the country”.  He has conducted The Nutcracker so many times that he has totally memorized the entire musical score.  Though gone from PNB, he will still have a chance to interact with the musicians, because he will continue to serve as the Music Director for the Auburn Symphony, and most of those musicians are also members of the PNB Orchestra.  See photos of Stewart and Peter Boal, PNB Artistic Director, above at the post performance reception.

In addition to saying farewell to Stewart, we also said goodbye to ballet dancers, Jordan Pacitti and Mara Vinson.  Jordan is retiring to pursue his fragrance business, but I know I will certainly miss seeing him onstage.  He danced beautifully last week in his final performance of Red Angels and in a fun encore romp featuring a rug!?  He received a standing ovation.  Mara was also exquisite dancing the role of Swanhilda in the final act of Coppelia and she will be missed too!

A Dance Tribute to Brady Richardson

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a fascinating studio rehearsal for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s new production of Coppelia in honor of past PNB board member, Microsoftee, and friend, Brady Richardson who passed away a year ago from cancer.  We all still miss Brady!  His wife, Sharon, in the purple dress in photos above hosted the studio rehearsal in his honor and invited those of us that had donated to PNB in Brady’s name to join her.

A studio rehearsal is always the most interesting opportunity to see dancers at work, because you can really see how hard they are working.  They are close enough that you hear their loud breathing from the exhausting, athletic moves that they are making.  Plus, you can see how hard their muscles are working as the men lift the women, etc. while making it all look effortless and graceful.  Brady and Sharon have both been very active supporters of PNB and many of the dancers have been invited to their home on a regular basis.

Sharon continues to actively support PNB and has been an active and involved member of PNB STARS, the womens’ auxillary group that raises money for PNB as well as provides educational opportunities.  The top photo is of several of the STARS members who attended the rehearsal including Susie Ostrander, Carrie Lee, Amy Andersen, Lisa Hanna, Sharon Richardson and Cindy Lee.

Jordan Pacitti, in the 2^nd and 3^rd photos above, a PNB Corps de Ballet dancer and audience favorite, who is retiring at the end of this season, is dancing the role of Dr. Coppelius, in several of the upcoming ballet performances this week and next.

 

Jenna Fischer needs "A Little Help"

Last evening we had the opportunity to soak up an incredible panoramic view of Lake Union on the 24^th floor of the WEST 8^TH building (along with a glass of wine or a martini) at JJ McKay’s cocktail party.  He invited friends to join him to meet friends, Joe Gressis and Dena Hysell, who were premiering their new indie movie, “A Little Help”, starring Jenna Fischer (see photo of Jenna Fischer above with Stacy Lill and me).

It was an intriguing place for a party which included a vast open, unfinished space with no walls, lighting or HVAC, but perfect for an afternoon party before the sun went down.  There were scores of friends and interesting people there to meet Jenna and wish Joe and Dena well including Piper & Billy O’Neill,  Heather & Michael Sandoval, Afshan Lakha, Betty Tong (see photo of Betty, JJ and me above), Kim Richter, Stacy and Greg Lill, Princess Lada and Larry Schuiski, Vanessa Strickland (see Vanessa & Betty 3^rd photo above) and Nancy Auer, recently retired from Swedish Medical Center.  Also attending were Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Ballet Dancers, Lucien Postlewaite, recovering from a recent operation and sporting hip new glasses and Olivier Wevers, who will be dancing the role of Dr. Coppelius in the upcoming new production of Coppelia which opens next week at McCaw Hall.

In addition to recognizing the party honorees, JJ also made a birthday toast to Marnie Rosen and we joined in a decidedly off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday” in her honor.  It’s the thought that counts!

Salsa Dance Lessons Reward

Following our Beginning Salsa I class at Century Ballroom on Monday evening, JJ McKay and Steve & Fredda Goldfarb and I visited Molly Moon for an ice cream treat to reward ourselves after a sweaty class of practicing four different right-hand turns.  We are having fun along with around 50 other people learning to dance the salsa.  Of course, Steve is a little (a lot?) ahead of the rest of us, since he danced the salsa in the Plymouth Housing Group Seattle Dances competition a couple of months ago!

Sherry! Sherry, Baby . . .

Saturday night, friend Sherry Raisbeck celebrated her 60^th birthday in style!  Sherry has amazing zest for life and was dressed head to toe in 60’s attire.  See top photo of Sherry and me above.  Along with 250 of their closest friends, Ken and I joined Sherry and James Raisbeck at their incredible home where we danced to the music of fantastic Beatles’ band,  Cream Tangerine, ogled James’ amazing classic car collection, raised our glasses to toast Sherry’s big day in between peals of a giant gong brought to the party by George and Elizabeth Brown and watched belly dancers who were able to balance unsheathed swords on their heads while doing the belly dance!  (See bottom photo.)  Judging from the size of the crowd watching, I think many were impressed!

Ken held court sitting in the Raisbeck living room where people came and went and sat down for a few minutes joining him for conversation.  See photo of Ken and Lynne Fluke above.  Jeffrey of The Ruins’ kept his glass filled and hors d’oeuvres frequently coming his way.

It was fun to catch up with many friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen in quite some time including Dave & Dorothy Fluke, John Fluke, Elisabeth Bodal, Bruce McCaw, Micki & Bob Flowers, Kyle Johnson, Linda & Toby Warson, Carmen & Carver Gayton, Gary Gayton, Mark Levine, Ellen Bakke, Lynn & Frank Lindsay,  Jeri Rice and Trudi Syferd (see third photo above), Dave Syferd, Winnie & Richard Baxter (see fourth photo above), JJ McKay, Chloe & Lance Mueller, and MANY others!  

It was really a magical evening.  Even Ken, the “sometimes curmudgeon”, enjoyed himself thoroughly!!

 

Not a tutu in sight.

Thursday evening, Ken and I attended opening night of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s repertory program, 3 by Dove.  At the pre-performance donors’ dinner, in addition to sitting with friends, Dan & Michelle Heidt, Sharon Richardson, and others, we had the opportunity to sit at the same table with Parrish Maynard, who was in town to stage Serious Pleasures, PNB’s fourth Ulysses Dove choreographic acquisition.  As PNB Artistic Director, Peter Boal shared in his Director’s Notebook, “Parrish Maynard was the central figure in the original premiere of the work created for American Ballet Theatre in 1992 turning in career-defining performances.  The work was controversial for addressing the shadowy underworld of sexuality at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic.  Audiences loved it.  The work was nearly lost, with the exception of a few grainy videos and Parrish’s keen memory.  He has brought the work back from extinction for this revival.”

I had not seen the Company in any of their rehearsals, so at dinner Parrish described the set of nine doors that were opened and closed rapidly as dancers entered and exited the stage.  The Lighting Designer, Rico Chiarelli, and his team had their hands full in managing the quick lighting changes in exact sequence.  We were astounded when Parrish shared that there were 53 lighting changes in just the first six minutes of the work!

The entire production and the PNB dancers were incredible!  Principal dancer, Lucien Postlewaite, had the role of the “narrator”.  In this case, the “narrator” doesn’t talk, but tells the story through dance and according to the program is the story of “the merciless battle between spirit and flesh.”  In addition, opening and slamming doors and dancing visually compelling vignettes with names such as “Demons of Light” and “Angels of Darkness” were Lindsi Dec, Karel Cruz, Sara Ricard Orzo, Seth Orzo, Ariana Lallone, Jordan Pacitti, Leslie Rausch and James Moore.

I have to pass along kudos and big thanks to friends and fellow ballet aficionados, Aya Hamilton, Carl & Renee Behnke, and Bob & Joan Cremin for their generous underwriting of this PNB premiere.  What a privilege to have a world-class ballet company of this quality in our community!   

Cathi and Marcelo win the Peoples' Choice Award!

Oh! What a night! Last Saturday evening after months of preparation, I had the opportunity to participate in the new Plymouth Housing Group fundraiser, Seattle Dances! competition featuring local “celebrity” dancers paired with professional dancers. Though I had said “NO” five times before I finally said “YES”, I have to admit that it was so much fun learning this new dance and getting to know new friends in the local dance world. It turns out that all of the other non-professional dancers had a similar epiphany of realizing how much fun they were having learning a new skill and that we found ourselves devoting more and more time to the pursuit. The other non-professional dancers included Kathy Casey, Joyce Taylor, Steven Goldfarb, Michelle Foreman Barnet, Colette Courtion and Paul Lambros.

My dance partner, Marcelo Garces, is a master choreographer and created and taught me the Bachata, a salsa-style dance that comes from the Dominican Republic. He included many complicated steps and the piece de resistance was the “neck drop” where he would support my weight in a flat back-bend while stepping over me several times before letting me slide down his leg to his calf or ankle. He would then return me upright by using his leg to push me back to a standing position. It was quite a trick to learn and I landed on my behind many times during rehearsals. I found the best thing to do was just trust him to return me to a standing position and close my eyes until he did!

What a wonderful experience it was participating in this creative fundraising event! It was such a high-energy and exciting project. The staff of Plymouth Housing Group was amazing! They were unfazed to deal with multiple table seating changes, counting cyber votes and actual votes, and producing a brand-new event without a roadmap. No matter how many questions, concerns and suggestions we threw their way, everything was handled with aplomb by the staff and board leadership. And of course Hallie Kuperman, owner of Century Ballroom produced the dance portion of the event, selecting professional partners for each of the celebrity dancers and providing rehearsal space.

It is so rewarding to hear that that the goal of $350,000 was exceeded and approximately $410,000 was raised for Plymouth Housing Group. Many people supported the project by voting for the dancers at $25 per vote both before the event and during the event. I am eager to hear the final number results for both the Cyber Choice Award and the People’s Choice Award and get a list of all the donors that voted for me that I will want to thank for their support.

Of course I was thrilled that Marcelo and I won the “Peoples’ Choice” award and the sparkling mirror ball trophy is prominently displayed in my ZINO Society office so that I can brag about it frequently.

I will treasure the memories of the people and the activities associated with this incredible event.

We are winners at Seattle Dances Competition!

Last night was an amazing fundraising event at the Fremont Studios to benefit Plymouth Housing Group!  The event was “Seattle Dances” and was a sell-out with 450 people in attendance.  The venue looked spectacular with giant screens, bright pink and black table clothes and napkins and mirror balls everywhere!  The guests came early to participate in the silent auction and to sip the Kathy Casey Signature Cocktail – “The Lizzy Highfly”.  The guests in my cheering squad trailed blue feather boas throughout the party.

Once the guests sat down for dinner, a brief 19 item live auction was held prior to the big dance competition.  Meanwhile all the dancers put on their costumes and got ready with hair and makeup and mentally rehearsed their dances in their minds just one more time.  See photo above of Steve Goldfarb, Kathy Casey, Giuseppe Graziola, our costume designer, and me, photo of Colette Courtion practicing her “attitude” and photo of Joyce Taylor having her makeup applied.  The top photo is my dance partner, Marcelo Garces and me, hoping for success in capturing a mirror ball so we were practicing holding one in anticipation.  The bottom photo is of competitors, Paul Lambros and Steve Goldfarb with their partners, Deron Hayes and Alison Cockrill.   

When it was time to perform, Guest Emcee, Patti Payne, along with Century Ballroom’s Hallie Kuperman introduced us and our dances.  Michelle Foreman Barnet, riveting in a beautiful Tracy Gail red satin dress, was first onstage to dance the tango with her partner Greg Rolnick.  Next in skin-tight black spandex slacks and a see through black mesh shirt was Steve Goldfarb with his partner Alison Cockrill in a tiny black fringe two piece outfit, to dance the salsa and following him Kathy Casey, her hair in finger waves in a hot pink and black lace flapper dress dancing the Charleston with her partner, Joshua Welter.  Next Marcelo and I danced our Bachata, Marcelo wearing a turquoise shirt adorned with crystals and me in a dark blue and turquoise cocktail dress also sparkling with Swarvoski crystals designed and produced by costume designer, Giuseppe Graziola.  After working on the routine for a couple of months, it felt like our two minute dance was over in the blink of an eye.  Following us was Joyce Taylor doing the very high-energy Lindy Hop with her partner, Mark Kihara, and then Paul Lambros doing the West Coast Swing with his partner Deron Hayes.  One of the fun highlights of Paul’s dance was not only his dancing and his acting talents, but his quick de-frocking of his partner, Deron Hayes’ dress, leaving her in a sexy two –piece dance outfit.  The finale of the competition was Colette Courtion dressed in a very sexy black one-shoulder leotard with dance partners Ricki Mason and Tanya Harris sensuously performing the Beyonce Single Ladies’  Dance with attitude!

Following each performance came the part of the evening I was most worried about (after the dance piece!).  It was time for a “raise the paddle” to vote for each dancer individually and of course the votes were in the form of money being donated to Plymouth Housing Group.  I was worried that some of the dancers (me?) might be standing on the stage uncomfortably while no one voted and standing there would be excruciatingly embarrassing.  Fortunately, my concerns turned out not to be a factor at all.  The audience responded enthusiastically to all the dancers with plenty of votes for each!  When Marcelo and I were standing on the stage during this segment, I was astonished and gratified to see so many bid paddles raised voting for us!  I was overwhelmed with the amazing support we received from so many friends and acquaintances in the audience.  I kept blowing kisses to all the generous bidders for what seemed like an endless amount of time while people just kept bidding and bidding, many in chunks of $500 at a time.

Following this, the celebrity judges, Peter Boal, Nicole Vogel and Marco retired to deliberate on the winners while the amazingly talented young nine-year-old dancers from Everett, Erik and Rickie performed.  There was even another opportunity to raise a paddle to donate more to Plymouth Housing Group following their performance.

Finally the dance competitors filed back onstage to find out who would win the three mirror ball trophies.  Patti Payne provided color commentary (something for which I have just coined the name “Patti-Patter”) and  the winners were announced:

Cyber-Choice Award – Michelle Foreman Barnet

Peoples’ Choice Award – Cathi Hatch

Artistic Award – Colette Courtion

Of course, when Patti announced my name, Marcelo and I were thrilled and we held our mirror ball trophy high for all to see!  It was so fun to hear the four Hatch tables and the JP Morgan Chase table erupt in cheers and see blue feather boas waving furiously!

Though I know I have many additional people to thank in addition to those listed in this blog posting, I do want to thank the following people for attending the big event last evening and cheering me on:  First of all my husband, Ken Hatch, who not only attended, but also uncomplainingly stayed so I could dance in celebration into the wee hours of the morning; followed by Joan & Bob Cremin, Bonny & John Midby, Stacy & Dean Jones, Mike Kunath & Kate Harrison, Robin Brummet, Michelle Rubesch, Trudi & Dave Syferd, Toni & Rod Hoffman, Penny & Mick Thackeray, Arlene Wright and Beni Turan, Debe & Jeff Doran, Lynn & Frank Lindsay, Sue & Tom Raschella, JJ McKay, Pat Wallace, Rachel Garces, Spencer Kunath, Trisha Nerney, Delphine & Charles Stevens, Joanne & Ted Baseler, Micki & Bob Flowers, Supida Sanders, Ed Brennan, Katie & Kevin Laramore, and Alicia & Michael Hatch.  I know there were others in the room who cheered me on and voted for me as well but I don’t have all the names yet, but please do know that I so appreciate you too!

And of course another BIG thank you is offered to all the people who voted for me online prior to the event.  I know some of you voted both prior to and at the event and I appreciate every single one of you!  Thank you for your support of me personally and of Plymouth Housing Group.

But, now it is time to put ice on my Bachata inflamed knee and take a nap!    

It is almost here - Seattle Dances!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see the rest of the competitors who will be dancing in the Seattle Dances dance competition on Saturday evening. I was impressed with what each of the non-professional dancers has accomplished in getting ready for this big first-year fundraiser to benefit Plymouth Housing Group.

Beautiful blonde Michelle Foreman Barnet, who is opening her new hotel, the The Maxwell Hotel within a week after the completion is dancing the tango with partner Greg Rolnick. Steve Goldfarb, who has been working out twice a day since he agreed to participate and is looking extremely buff in his see-through black shirt, is dancing the salsa with partner Alison Cockrill. Food and cocktail diva, Kathy Casey is dancing a fun and high-energy Charleston in a bright pink and black dress with her partner, Josh Welter. KING-5 TV news anchor, Joyce Taylor has been practicing for a year working on the Lindy Hop and will dance with partner, Mark Kihara. Their dance includes some fun choreography that ends with them in a heap on the floor. Plymouth Housing Group Executive Director, Paul Lambros looks completely at ease dancing the West Coast Swing with his partner Deron Hayes. Paul is such a good dancer that I wonder if this whole dance competition with him competing was his idea!? (Actually, I know the truth is that it was Board President, Lynn Beck’s idea.) Showing a little skin and going after the “sexiest costume vote” is Colette Courtion who is dancing a sizzling Beyonce’s Single Ladies Video dance with dance partners, Ricki Mason and Tanya Harris. See photo of Colette, dance partners and celebrity judge Marco above. My dance partner, Marcelo Garces, and I are dancing the Bachata, a Dominican salsa-style dance with lots of hip movement. I am currently wearing a knee brace as a result of all our rehearsals and the leg and knee action needed to make the hip movements. Our big trick is the “neck drop” that includes my head sliding down his leg to his ankle and then him throwing me back upright by kicking his leg. I have to close my eyes each time because it is so scary!

It has taken a cadre of staff, volunteers and professionals to produce this event. Hallie Kuperman, pictured above with her video camera, owner of Century Ballroom, is one of the primary sponsors of the event supplying dance rehearsal space for the dancers and providing the dance partners and 10 lessons for each selected dancer. Tamara Wilson (pictured with me above) of Wilson Public Relations has provided all the promotion support for the big event and has already said that she will dance next year in the competition. Marco, who owns the successful and popular hair salon Marco's Hair Salon, is not only serving as a celebrity judge along with Peter Boal, Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Nicole Vogel, publisher of Seattle Metropolitan magazine, he is also providing the hair and make-up support for the dancers. All of the costume design has been provided by Giuseppe Graziola shown in the bottom photo with my royal blue and turquoise costume on which he has worked long and hard. In his final version of my costume, he actually draped the fabric directly on my body so he could fit it perfectly. The Guest Emcee is Patti Payne and the 20 item live auction will be handled by Sharon Friel.

Leading up to the actual event, people have been able to go online and “vote” for their favorite dancer with all funds going to Plymouth Housing Group. Plymouth Housing Group Board President Lynn Beck and Barb Nystrom, serving as event co-chairs have been happily surprised with the response to this pre-event fundraising opportunity with the total raised to date in online voting at $23,000.

Tomorrow is the big day! I will be busy with hair, make-up and rehearsals until the big event begins at 5:30 pm.

Yes, Dancing is Harder that it Appears!

Here I am with wet hair with my amazing Bachata dance partner, Marcelo Garces, following a hard dance workout including a difficult grapevine sequence expected to be danced at warp speed.  The second photo is of costume designer, Giuseppe Graziola and my dance style teacher, Naomi Scoggin.  It takes a village to help get ready for the upcoming Seattle Dances competition fundraiser which will occur on March 13, 2010 at the Fremont Studio.  This dance competition is a fundraiser for Plymouth Housing Group, so when people go online and vote (for Marcelo and me of course), all the funds go to support the important mission of Plymouth Housing Group which is to provide permanent homes for the most challenged homeless people in our community—those suffering from long-term homelessness and multiple disabilities.  Click here to vote for me as “Best Cyber Choice Dancer” (best to do it sight unseen though there is a brief video clip on the website of Marcelo and me at rehearsal).

Please VOTE for Cathi! Voting is now live for SeattleDances.com!

In a shameless attempt to capture the mirror ball, since I am worried that my actual dancing won’t do it, the link is below where you can vote for your favorite “dancer” (I’m hoping you will vote for me at $25 per vote, and Plymouth Housing Group is a great cause of course!). Here is where to go to vote (http://www.seattledances.org/) and just click at the bottom of the page on "Cast Your VOTE" or just click on my name here Cathi Hatch and it will take you to my voting page. 

And, for those of you that are available and want to join Ken and me at our tables on March 13^th, the evening of the humiliating event, the link to register is also http://www.seattledances.org/ . Please do let me (or McKenzie in my office at m.powell@zinosociety.com ) know if you will be joining us so I can save room at our tables. Now, I’m off to rehearsal . . .