PNB brings Midsummer to Edinburgh Festival - Pacific Northwest Ballet; 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'; Edinburgh, England, Aug. 20-22, 1998 - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, August, 1998 by Caitlin Sims

EDINBURGH--"There is no more celebrated arts festival in the world," says Pacific Northwest Ballet coartistic director Francia Russell of the Edinburgh festival. "We are very excited about going." In the company's first appearance there, it performs the U.K. premiere of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, August 20 to 22.

"The director of the festival, Brian McMaster, came last year to visit the company and to see the new production," says Russell. "He was particularly interested in this work." PNB's 1997 Midsummer, with designs by Martin Pakledinaz, was the first major redesign of a Balanchine story ballet authorized by the Balanchine trust. On tour, ballet master Otto Neubert will teach thirty-four local dance students the roles of bugs, fairies, and the Indian Prince.

In contrast to the 1997-98 season of premieres celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, the company's 1998-99 home season in Seattle does not have any premieres. "The anniversary season was a very adventurous season and was also expensive," explains Russell. "In order to persuade our board to agree to approve a deficit budget for this year we had to plan a season next year that did not have new works. After next season, we will be doing our usual schedule of a new work on almost every program."

Although final budgetary information was not available at press time, Russell said that the deficit from the anniversary season was "less than we thought it would be, very small, and completely manageable. The audience has gotten bigger and younger, through our inclusion of new works."

The season's close was also an artistic success, with the popularity of Kent Stowell's Silver Lining, set to the music of Jerome Kern. "The whole audience stood up and yelled," says Russell. "It has been the biggest blockbuster, absolutely the wildest hit we've ever had."