Advertise on podcast: Ballet Talk with Pacific Northwest Ballet

Doug Fullington kicks off Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2026/27 Season by walking our audience through SERENADE. On this triple bill program are George Balanchine's Serenade, PNB resident choreographer Jessica Lang's world premiere work Pages, and Alexei Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  Doug covers Serenade's importance in American ballet history (Balanchine's first ballet choreographed in the United States!), debunks a few myths (the original dancers were School of American Ballet students but most were adults), gives a brief overview of Jessica Lang's new work Pages (created while in residence at Ernest Hemingway House in Ketchum, Idaho for Ballet Sun Valley), and finished with Alexei Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition's return to the McCaw Hall stage with the piano score of Modest Mussorgsky's composition of the same name.  Recorded live in Seattle, WA in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center in September 2026.

Ahead of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2026/27 Season opening performances of SERENADE. Doug Fullington sat down with Carla Körbes for the dress rehearsal conversation. The two covered Carla's ongoing post-PNB dancer career, Carla's experience with George Balanchine's Serenade as both a dancer and a stager, and more!    Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on September 24, 2026.

Doug Fullington talks through and answers audience questions about ALL LANG. ALL LANG is made up of three dance works by Jessica Lang: the PNB premiere of her showstopping, joy-fueled work ZigZag set to the songs of Tony Bennett, audience favorite Her Door to the Sky, and the moving Ghost Variations. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on June 6, 2026.

Join PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal in conversation with our Resident Choreographer Jessica Lang on the eve of the final performances of PNB's 2026/27 Season. ALL LANG is made up of three dance works by Jessica Lang: the PNB premiere of her showstopping, joy-fueled work ZigZag set to the songs of Tony Bennett, audience favorite Her Door to the Sky, and the moving Ghost Variations. Listen as Peter and Jessica talk through her start in dance, transition to choreography, her mentors and collaborators, and fun anecdotes (including that ALL LANG is the first time Jessica Lang has had an evening-length show made up of only her works presented by a dance company outside of her own!) Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on May 29, 2026.

Moderator Mari Horita (Seattle Kraken, One Roof Foundation) and panelists Caitlin Oiye Coon (Archives Director, Denshō), James Yoichi Moore (Former PNB Principal Dancer, PNB School Faculty), and AC Petersen (Librettist, Lyricist, Playwright) discuss how arts, culture, and storytelling can help to express identity and advance inclusion. Read more about Momotaro Community Day and the panelists here. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on March 28, 2026.

Doug Fullington takes our audience through ballet's preeminent ghost story, Giselle. Fullington talks about the origins of the ballet including the history of multiple versions of the ballet from France and Russia, in depth on Giselle's mad scene, PNB dancers premiering in new roles, and answer audience questions. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on April 10, 2026.

Converge Media host Trae Holiday guests as moderator for the Dress Rehearsal Conversation ahead of PNB's fifth rep of the 2025/26 Season, Giselle. Listen as Trae interviews soloist Amanda Morgan and corps de ballet member Melisa Guilliams about their careers with Pacific Northwest Ballet and their experiences playing Myrtha, queen of the Wilis in Giselle. Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall on April 9, 2026 in Seattle, Washington.

Doug Fullington introduces Pacific Northwest Ballet's fourth repertory of the 2025/26 season, FIREBIRD. On this triple bill program are Alejandro Cerrudo's Little mortal jump, Ulysses Dove's Red Angels, and Kent Stowell's Firebird. Doug covers Alejandro Cerrudo's residency at PNB, Peter Boal's history with Red Angels, fun facts about Firebird after a 20-year hiatus including Stravinsky conducting Firebird Suite in Seattle! Recorded live in Seattle, WA in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center in March 2026.

Listen to Artistic Director Peter Boal and retiring PNB Principal dancer Lucien Postlewaite in conversation ahead of Rep 4 in PNB's 2025/26 Season, FIREBIRD. The two cover a brief history of Lucien's life in dance, building his legacy at PNB and beyond, and passing along choreography in Ulysses S. Dove's Red Angels.  Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in March 2026.

PNB collaborator Doug Fullington talks through the history of the Cinderella story in ballet form. His Ballet Talk touches on Sergei Prokofiev's score, Kent Stowell's choreographic vision for PNB's version of the ballet, PNB's costume archives, and more! The Seattle Times calls Kent Stowell’s Cinderella “warm and joyous and deeply moving.” This ballet combines the story you know and love with spectacular choreography, Prokofiev’s familiar score, and superb design with Stowell's collaborators Tony Straiges (scenic design), Martin Pakledinaz (costume design), and Randall G. Chiarelli (lighting design).  Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in February, 2026.

Enjoy Doug Fullington's pre-show Ballet Talk for PNB's IN THE UPPER ROOM program. Doug talks through IN THE UPPER ROOM's triple-bill production including the premiere of AfterTime, a new work by PNB Company dancers Amanda Morgan and Christopher D'Ariano; Dani Rowe's intimate trio The Window; and Twyla Tharp's ballet blockbuster, the mesmerizing In the Upper Room. Fullington talks through each work and the collaborations that brought each to life, including that all three pieces on the program feature custom-composed scores from Fiona Stocks-Lions and Thomas Nickell (AfterTime), Shannon Rugani (The Window), and Philip Glass (In the Upper Room).  Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA in November, 2025.

The first rep of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2025/26 season marked the return of George Balanchine’s Jewels to the stage after an eight-year hiatus. This trio of ballets features glittering scenic and costume design by Jérôme Kaplan and a perfect assortment of quintessential choreography by George Balanchine. Emeralds evokes French elegance, Rubies brings the glamor and jazz of America, and Diamonds recalls the grandeur of Balanchine’s native St. Petersburg. Doug Fullington takes you through the history of George Balanchine's Jewels, his musical collaborators (Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky), the original NYCB dancers and their relationships with PNB, and more!    Recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle in October, 2025.

Listen along as dance historian Doug Fullington takes the Ballet Talk audience through the three works featured in Pacific Northwest Ballet's final performances of the 2024/25 Season. Twyla Tharp’s American masterpiece Nine Sinatra Songs is still sharp 40 years after its premiere. In it, Tharp effortlessly floats between dance genres, set to the familiar strains of Frank Sinatra hits. Two pieces from innovative choreographers Rena Butler and PNB’s own Kiyon Ross round out the program. Kiyon Ross' ...throes of increasing wonder and Rena Butler's world premiere work for PNB cracks finish off this triple-bill of three entertaining dance works.  Recorded live in the Nesholm Famliy Lecture Hall inside Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in June, 2025.

Enjoy this episode featuring Pacific Northwest Ballet Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Ross in conversation with choreographer Rena Butler ahead of the world premiere of her new work for PNB, Cracks. The two speak on Rena's upbringing in Chicago, her journey from dancer to choreographer, insights into her detailed choreographic process, and her current cultural inspirations.  This episode was recorded live in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA on May 29, 2025.

Jean-Christophe Maillot’s contemporary version of Roméo et Juliette requires that dancers tap into unique skills of storytelling. Converge Media host Trae Holiday moderated this conversation with PNB dancers performing iconic roles for the first time. Listen to Angelica Generosa (Juliet), Dylan Wald (Romeo), Luther DeMyer (Friar Laurence), and Kuu Sakuragi (Mercutio) talk through how they got their starts in ballet, their insights into their characters, and more!   Recorded in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington in April, 2025.