onStage Pittsburgh: As PBT enters into the second season fully curated by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe, they are thrilled to share the exciting lineup of shows for the 22 – 23 season! Jaffe carefully selected each show to bring fresh, bold and challenging works to PBT, with a mixture of classical, provocative and innovative performances — from the works of internationally acclaimed choreographers and modern masters to the spine-chilling Dracula, wonderfully romantic The Sleeping Beauty and more.
3 comments:
I feel that I am very ignorant when it comes to ballet culture. Some shows seem classic and overdone to me, for example I would watch The Nutcracker every Winter since I was very young. It is nostalgic and familiar, so I do look upon it reflectively and I know I enjoyed that. But also, I do not consider it any sort of profound or elevated work. The story doesn’t intrigue me or interest me in the slightest. It is something to watch because it is a classic spectacle, the entire second act feels like a talent show. This may seem harsh to some, but to me it is the truth. I am interested in why ballet companies chose to continue to produce these works such as Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker when our expectations for the story are set before the curtain even opens. It seems limiting but I also assume that those name recognitions facilitate ticket sales and high levels of attendance.
This season is very intriguing to me, as it appears to be full of very recognizable and classic productions, such as The Nutcracker, Dracula, and Sleeping Beauty. I am interested to see how the company is able to take such a well-known story, one that is produced frequently, and make it feel not only original to their company but exciting and engaging just in general. I do not know a lot about Ballet, as my interactions with it have been very minimal. I have stage managed and run light board for a few dance concerts at my high school, which have included ballet pieces. However, this was a full ballet production. I have never actually seen a full ballet production done professionally, only summer programs my sister was in. I have no idea how the directing of ballet works. The director is the person who establishes the goals of the production, so it would be in their hands to create the unique and engaging nature of a ballet performance. I have been branching out to professional Pittsburgh theatre recently, and stuff outside of theatre too. Maybe I will add ballet to my list.
This was an interesting article for me to read because I have so little ballet knowledge. I took ballet for maybe a year when I was little but the girls were mean so I quit. With the knowledge that I hold I can say that I think this is a pretty solid season. I had least known some of the names so that was exciting. The last ballet I saw was the nutcracker and one of my friends was in it. I don’t love ballet but I am not against it. I would be excited to see the shows I know, like Sleeping Beauty and Dracula. I think it would be interesting to see how the ballets of these shows compare to my current knowledge of their stories. Overall, Ballet is such a beautiful sport, and now that I have the opportunity to see professional ballet I might look into it more.
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