THE TIMES ARE RACING
McCaw Hall
September 20, 2024

Opening night at PNB's triple bill, The Times Are Racing, displayed the talents of three American choreographers who are pushing the boundaries of classical ballet with exciting new works. Justin Peck, the New York City Ballet wunderkind, has matured into an impressive choreographer with an international career, while Edwaard Liang is a Taiwanese American with an international career who is presenting at PNB for the first time. As terrific as these two dancemakers are, it was Jessica Lang - the resident choreographer at PNB for the next three years -who carried away the laurels on opening night with her world premiere of Black Wave, made especially for the wonderful PNB performers.

The evening began with Liang's quietly gorgeous The Veil Between Worlds, first premiered by PNB online in 2021 but seen on stage for the first time on opening night. The ten dancers, dressed in modernistic tank suits, formed an array of elegant and intimate variations separated by billowing silk sails that served to divide and extend time and space. Elle Macy and Dylan Wald led the ensemble to Oliver Davis's swelling music, which featured violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim, who was alternately playful, pensive, and dramatic. This elegant dance drew the audience into an imaginary world of tranquility, frolic, and strength - the perfect antidote to our stressful historical moment. Given the excitement and drama of the two pieces that followed, The Veil Between Two Worlds set just the right tone of joyful expectation.

Lang's Black Wave was the second dance of the evening, one of intense clarity and delicate power for 11 people, who appear beneath the single limb of a mighty tree (designed by Libby Stadstad) that slowly moves and changes as the dancers themselves do likewise during a work by New Zealand composer Salina Fisher called Kintsugi. Lang mentions in the program that she was influenced by the Japanese concept of the same name: the practice of mending broken pottery with seams of gold, transforming flaws into objects of great beauty. As the dancers interweaved with fascinating, sculptural drama, the metaphor of the changing tree mirrored the flaws that remake themselves into something new. This metaphor of life was performed by principals Leta Biasucci, Dylan Wald, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan, joined by soloists Kuu Sakuragi, Lea Terada, and Luther DeMeyer (who was promoted to this position on opening night).

One could attempt to describe this dance in terms of steps, movement, music, mood, and colors - but it would fall short of the impact it had on the audience. My only regret about seeing a premiere is that there are no clips or videos of it online yet. I have only my memory and impressions to relate: Black Wave was beautiful, intricate, and thrilling -truly, a home run. It received a well-deserved roar of approval from the audience at curtain calls. It's wonderful to anticipate what Lang will do as the new resident choreographer at PNB.

The finale on opening night was the piece that gave the evening its name, The Times Are Racing by Justin Peck, the clever young New York City Ballet dancer who has developed into an equally clever young (not yet 40) choreographer. Best known for choreographing the 2021 Steven Spielberg version of West Side Story, Peck is bringing the "sneaker ballet" (no bare feet or ballet shoes) to traditional companies ready to branch out into the exciting middle ground between classical and modern dance. The Times Are Racing uses electronic music by Dan Deacon from the album America to create relaxed, intricate, and fascinating movements. Peck is great at finding patterns for any number of performers, whether they're a dozen who link themselves into a shifting line like a bridge in a storm, or use their legs to make unfolding fans, bringing to mind the three muses in Balanchine's Apollo.

An interesting aspect of The Times Are Racing is that the roles are not gender specific. Dancers mix and match depending on what evening you go, tempting the viewer to come see the piece more than once. On opening night, the 20-person cast was led by Kyle Davis, Christopher D'Ariano, Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan, Lucien Postlewaite, Jonathan Batista, Cecilia Iliesiu, Amanda Morgan, and Lily Wills. In the other two opening weekend performances, the principals are almost entirely different - a casting style throughout the run that gives both dancers and audiences a chance to experience a less gendered approach to what matters in the genre. I was struck by the relaxed movements the sneakers allowed, even as the steps were as challenging, in their way, as traditional ballet. One section, in which four women dance with one man, was so sculptural and varied that it was as if they were living inside a kaleidoscope. Because of Peck's style of casting, I can imagine it with four men and one woman, or three women and two men - or any combo of humans. It's a great way to see the dance and the world.

The Times Are Racing is at PNB through September 29, 2024. Find out more at Pacific Northwest Ballet https://www.pnb.org