Chaos and Harmony: Crystal Pite’s "Emergence" and Other Contemporary Pieces at PNB

The last thing you expect in the elegant McCaw Hall is the rock energy of The Cramps' Surfin' Bird blasting through the house. Yet, this is only one of the many surprises Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Emergence program brings. The four pieces presented over a little over two hours spark surprise and wonder at every turn, each bringing something new, yet balancing out their companions.

The first piece is Dawn Patrol, the brainchild of PNB soloist Price Suddarth. It being the opening night, I was lucky enough to experience the world premiere of this work. Inspired by military reconnaissance flights held pre-dawn where pilots would fly out not knowing what they were headed into, Dawn Patrol aims to highlight heroism, both in such drastic conditions and in mundane, everyday moments. The piece juxtaposes quick, determined movements with slower, more individual steps–a pattern that’s subtle at the start but becomes clearer as the piece continues. The finale does this most directly, with the dancer switching between strong, powerful leaps and soulful collapses within seconds, fully emphasizing the idea of continuing to get back up and persevere.

Dawn Patrol also showcases the interconnections of trust and dependence, a feat which could not be achieved without the skill of the dancers. There were many sequences from duos that alternated between partnering and synchronization. The choreography featured turns and lifts that required the female dancer to fully trust her partner, and yet in the moments following, the two would become almost mirrors of each other–moving separately but as one. This appears in moments with the larger ensemble of dancers as well, with the group sometimes composed of identical dancers, other times coming together to lift one above the stage. 

Following Dawn Patrol, the audience is presented with something lighter–literally. After an intermission, the curtain opened to a brightset featuring three walls of...a dance studio. Jerome Robbins's Afternoon of a Faun begins with a young male dancer (Lucien Postlewaite) resting on the studio floor–the exact scenario Robbins got his inspiration from. When a female colleague (Clara Ruf Maldonado) enters the studio, we're given a short glimpse into an intimate pas de deux rehearsal between the two. It is short-lived, as the female dancer is scared off by a kiss and exits the studio quickly, but offers a breath of something wholesome between the two.

Afternoon of a Faun is brief and light-hearted, and played with adorable innocence from Postlewaite and Maldonado. This innocence of the piece makes its placement in the program feel deliberate, serving as a short emotional break between the more intense themes of the surrounding works. When the curtain rises again after the intermission, the stage is empty. Nothing but darkness in front of us. This is not a mistake.

If I had one word to describe Marco Goecke's Mopey, it would be "confusion". The piece starts with a hand just barely peeking out from behind the curtain, making us question–accidental or intentional? Briefly, I wondered, have they raised the curtain too early? The audio jumps from utter silence to C.P.E. Bach's Cello Concerto in A minor, only to bring us back into a silence that catches us off guard. Suddenly, The Cramps' Surfin' Bird thunders through the theater. To contrast, the piece ultimately finishes with only the breath of soloist Kuu Sakuragi as our audio.

The confusion of Mopey is felt in the audience’s reaction to the piece as well. While the visuals and audio suggest a solemn, dark mood, there was more frequently laughter echoing through the theatre following Sakuragi’s expertly executed movements. Some of his chaotic, spontaneous motions are just too much–laughter seems like the only reasonable response! The contradictory reaction Mopey triggers is what makes it a powerful piece; it manages to bring one of the most upbeat reactions to such dark themes.

After another intermission, it’s finally time for the titular work: Crystal Pite's Emergence. Originally commissioned for the National Ballet of Canada in 2008, Pite truly captures the meaning of her title: emergence, complexity arising from simplicity.

Much of Pite's inspiration came from the structure of a dance company itself. She connects the not-quite-hierarchy of a ballet company and the structure of a beehive, painting the arrangement as a sort of "feedback loop." In her program note, she discusses heavily the theme of a company being a complex system, and we see that shine through in Emergence.

The auditory choices certainly set the tone for the piece. Our background noise features a vibrating buzz, the kind you might associate with an insect; a low clicking sound, also evoking nature; and most notably, the dancers’ own voices counting in a hushed whisper: one, two, three… This last addition is the most haunting, with so many voices layered over one another, guiding the dancers’ synchronicity.

Pite’s choreography heavily features ensembles. The dancers match the audio, creating a constant droning atmosphere. In the first major ensemble with two dozen on pointe, moving as one, and never stopping. Pite brings us back repeatedly to the idea of a group–or something greater than one–a concept Pite cites as one of the main reasons she connects dance company structures with beehives and insect communities. The most prominent thing about Emergence was the repetition of movements. Pite utilizes this on two scales: throughout the entirety of the piece, we see the same series of steps coming up over and over again, and within each ensemble, we see the same movements appear on an individual basis. Sometimes the group moves as one, but when they don’t, each dancer is still connected through identical but staggered movements.

PNB’s dancers have really gone above and beyond—one can only imagine how many hours in the studio have been required for such flawless results. The moments of full synchronization leave you in full disbelief that it’s real, natural humans performing live on the stage. and is responsible for effectively communicating their intentions when they’re offset. Every step taken feels deliberate and calculated, so even with the dancers’ faces mostly hidden in the dim lighting, Emergence prompts a visceral reaction from the choreography alone.

Overall, Emergence was truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The synchronization between the dancers’ movements was virtually perfect and the combination of all the small details makes such a captivating piece that keeps the audience’s minds spinning. Pite’s work really rounded out the evening, and she and the other choreographers behind these pieces–Suddarth, Robbins, and Goecke–gave the audience a night to remember.

(L-R) Pacific Northwest Ballet soloists Christopher D’Ariano and Clara Ruf
Maldonado with principal dancer Leta Biasucci in the world premiere of Price Suddarth’s Dawn Patrol,
which PNB is presenting on a mixed-bill with works by Marco Goecke, Crystal Pite, and Jerome
Robbins, onstage at Seattle Center’s McCaw Hall March 14 – 23 (and streaming for digital subscribers
March 27 – 31.) For tickets and information, contact the PNB Box Office, 206.441.2424 or PNB.org.
Photo © Angela Sterling.

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