Stirring Up Seattle by R. M. Campbell

Author:R. M. Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2014-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Benaroya Hall, 2013. Photo by Roger Schreiber.

Seattle Symphony on stage (location unknown), 1908. Photographer unknown. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.

Gregory A. Falls, founding artistic director of A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), wrote in a letter in 1977, “There is no support for the festival from either arts professionals or the public.” Very soon, all the glossy financial projections of the festival that were coming from the opera were discredited, as was the idea. Allied Arts did not play any kind of leading role in the festival, but was part of a general community that was at first enthusiastic, then skeptical, then wholly negative. It was the beginning of the end of Ross’s career in Seattle.

Dance was the last of the arts to secure a permanent position in Seattle. There had been plenty of major ballet companies to appear on Seattle stages, including the American Ballet Theatre, but they were all imports. Local dance got its start with the creation of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Association, which began in the warm embrace of the Seattle Opera. (Thank you, Glynn Ross.) The initial efforts of the organization were not only to present concerts and fund a school but also to pursue the creation of a regional dance company and school. The association became known by sponsoring summer residencies for City Center Joffrey Ballet at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. The residency was a way for the Joffrey, which was based in New York and had never enjoyed the benefits of a rich patron, as did the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, to keep its dancers employed. Seattle was a sentimental favorite because Robert Joffrey was born and reared in the city and received his initial training from the redoubtable Mary Ann Wells at Cornish College. Gerald Arpino, the company’s associate director and artistic director after Joffrey’s death, came to Seattle with the US Navy and met Joffrey. In addition to performances, the company held lecture-demonstrations and seminars throughout the state as well as in Oregon and Idaho. The residency lasted from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, until lack of financial support caused it to have to cancel future performances. Allied Arts was active in the support of these summer residencies, including sponsoring and cosponsoring performance nights. Allied Arts got a percentage of the box-office take.

Pacific Northwest Ballet traces its official beginnings as a ballet company to 1972, when it hired Janet Reed as its artistic director, or ballet mistress. Because Reed was a member of New York City Ballet, the ballets of George Balanchine were part of the repertory from the beginning. Reed didn’t stay long. Melissa Hayden, another star dancer from City Ballet, followed, then abruptly departed, causing a brouhaha. In the summer of 1977, Kent Stowell, ballet master of the Frankfurt Ballet, was hired to run the company. He was also a product of City Ballet, as was his wife, Francia Russell, who was to run the school. Russell staged the Balanchine repertory. Soon enough trustees recognized

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