Dance Preview
PNB directors bid adieu to mice and soldiers

By Mary Murfin Bayley
Special to The Seattle Times

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES, 1997 The battle rages during the fight scene in the first act of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's annual performance of the perennial holiday favorite, "Nutcracker."

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"Nutcracker" has long been a staple of Pacific Northwest Ballet's season. Choreographed by Kent Stowell, with sets and costumes by famed children's-book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, it helped put PNB on the dance map 21 years ago and continues to draw big audiences — undergirding the company's finances year after year.

However, the ballet is much more than a line-item on the budget for Stowell and Francia Russell, who retire as PNB co-artistic directors in June. In their household, "Nutcracker" has been as inevitable as winter, entwining their holiday season and family life for many years.

When their three boys were young, Russell and Stowell used to pack up all their presents the morning after Christmas and drive to Vancouver to tour "Nutcracker." Thanksgiving dinner has always been sandwiched between days of dress rehearsal.

Looking back, they say that what has kept the annual ritual of battling mice and dancing snowflakes fresh for them has been the passion of the 200-plus children who perform in it each year.

"The kids and the parents who coordinate them always amaze me," Russell said. "There was the year of the snowstorm, for example. I think it was about 12 years ago. People were stuck in cars for hours and hours."

PNB, however, didn't cancel its performances. "Many of the parents rented hotels and motels near the theater and took care of tons of kids so the performance could go on." Stowell remembers the kids reacting to the storm with jubilation. "They thought it was the greatest thing. Staying in a hotel with the snow coming down, a complete adventure."

Home-grown inspiration

It was their own children, in a way, who led Russell and Stowell to the Maurice Sendak collaboration. They had read Sendak's picture book "Where the Wild Things Are" aloud to their three boys when they were living in Germany, working as co-directors of the Frankfurt Ballet.

Coming up "Nutcracker," Pacific Northwest Ballet, Friday-Dec. 28, McCaw Hall, Seattle Center; $19-$96 (206-441-2424 or www.pnb.org).

About four years after taking over the helm at PNB, Russell saw in The New York Times that Sendak had designed a "Magic Flute" for Houston Opera. She wondered what Sendak's imagination would make of "Nutcracker." Soon Stowell was on the phone to the artist.

When Sendak came to Seattle to design the ballet, he and Stowell spent many hours talking about the original E.T.A. Hoffman story, discussing its layers of psychological depth. "We came up with a story line not geared towards instant gratification like candy canes and gum drops," Stowell said. "We imagined a scenario where Clara was the daughter of a diplomat so that many of the exotic things in the house would then become part of her fantasies, coming right from her own life."

In the Stowell/Sendak ballet, Clara feels uncomfortable when the slightly frightening Herr Drosselmeier gives her the toy nutcracker. The extra layers of unease make this version more complex, intriguing teens and adults while it engages small children with its beautiful, fantastical surface of dance and scenery.

Some of the scenic effects of "Nutcracker," such as the giant teeth opening and closing at the beginning and the end, were difficult to build, Russell said. "They're extremely heavy, and to have them capable of closing at a certain tempo right with the music was a big challenge."

Some other effects, such as a boat cleaving through waves and leaping dolphins, are simple but effective illusions borrowed from the 18th century. The drifting cascades of snow are caused by shifting perforated bags of fireproof paper flakes.

"It's become a tradition on Christmas Eve and on closing night to really make the snow a blizzard. The stagehands just dump it on the dancers. It's very funny," Russell said.

Saying goodbye

This year, as part of the farewell season, Stowell will appear as Herr Drosselmeier several times. "I'm a little nervous about it," Stowell joked. "If I make a mistake, every little child in the party scene will know all about it."

When "Nutcracker" closes each year, the children always cry.

"It's both sweet and a little sad. There are always lots of tears the last day," Russell said. "They must be tired, and of course they're keyed up. They can't bear for it to end, so you know they are having a good time."

Russell adds with a laugh. "The company doesn't cry. There's usually a big whoop when the final curtain comes down because everyone's exhausted. Sometimes we whine about it, but I think we all love 'Nutcracker' more than anything because the audiences love it so much and because the kids are so excited."

This year more than ever, Stowell and Russell share the children's sweet and sad feelings.

"It's difficult. This of course has been our life for 28 years. But as we see our sons taking on big new projects and the company well established, it feels like the timing is right," Stowell said.

"I can't imagine Christmas without 'Nutcracker,' " said Russell. "Maybe I'll love it. I just don't know. But I do know I'll miss the kids a lot."

Mary Murfin Bayley: marybayley@aol.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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