{"id":70802,"date":"2025-11-26T15:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/70802\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T15:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:30:08","slug":"review-pacific-northwest-ballets-in-the-upper-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/70802\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pacific Northwest Ballet\u2019s \u201cIn the Upper Room\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Nov. 7, 2025, Pacific Northwest Ballet<\/a> premiered a new piece by company members Christopher D\u2019Ariano<\/a> and Amanda Morgan<\/a> titled \u201cAfterTime.\u201d\u00a0 Thanks to PNB\u2019s streaming service I was able to watch this as well as \u201cThe Window\u201d and \u201cIn the Upper Room\u201d this past weekend Nov. 20th thru the 24th.\u00a0 As always, the company dancers performed spectacularly, the sets, the costumes and the lighting were all top notch. The question then becomes did the choreography\/direction live up to this rich support system?<\/p>\n

\u201cAfterTime\u201d is a conundrum.\u00a0 An edited excerpt from the program states \u201cAfterTime,\u201d is the embodiment of multiple creative partnerships and collaborations and showcases the importance of these connections and crossing boundaries when it comes to interdisciplinary intersections in dance.\u201d\u00a0 This seems a nebulous premise on which to base a dance and therefore what we see on stage is not cohesive.\u00a0 We do see interesting ideas but no full point of view.<\/p>\n

The piece begins with two dancers, Leah Terada and Joh Morrill, dressed in sophisticated rags crawling across the very dark stage as if survivors of a nightmarish event.\u00a0 Every move is executed with concentrated despair.\u00a0 Though interesting to watch we do not know who they are or why they are in such circumstances.<\/p>\n

Out of the darkness a line of white light flicks across the upstage screen.\u00a0 Is this an alien space ship, we don\u2019t know but soon the light morphs into an interesting black and white 1950\u2019s style Sci-Fi video.\u00a0 The music changes from eerie musicscape to percussive soundscape and on come the aliens which we intuit from their robotic movement.\u00a0 The choreography here often feels like a throwback to a 1960\u2019s idea of how an alien might move and it dips into clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in the world premiere of Christopher D\u2019Ariano and Amanda Morgan\u2019s \u201cAfterTime\u201d \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling<\/p>\n

Throughout, choreographers D\u2019Ariano and Morgan work within the boundaries of contemporary ballet with a modern twist.\u00a0 Their vocabulary is wide and ranging yet occasionally verges on the repetitive. \u00a0\u00a0There are two short but nicely executed duets by Ashton Edwards and Connor Horton and by Yuki Takahashi and Noah Martzall which show that these choreographers are capable of more.\u00a0 They share a good sense of staging although sometimes busyness intrudes and focus is lost.<\/p>\n

When the two protagonists return to perhaps bring us back to earth, Morrill\u2019s solo work shines as he dances with full commitment. Terada also has a moment with an interesting if twitchy solo which again is carried out perfectly, if only we understood the narrative.\u00a0 Not every dance piece needs a story but if you set up a premise as is done here, then a perspective or clear reference is necessary otherwise interest will wane. \u00a0Still, these are very young choreographers who have the time to hone their skills and develop their own voice. \u00a0This, though not perfect, is a good start.<\/p>\n

The score by Thomas Nickell and Fiona Stocks-Lyons was what might be thought of as a music-scape with interludes of sound-scapes woven throughout.\u00a0 This is no longer new or innovative and has become all too common in today\u2019s dance world leaving one longing for the hint of a melody or a theme to empower the onstage work, relieve the tediousness and bring the audience into the fold.<\/p>\n

Lighting Design by the always reliable Reed Nakayama along with Film and Projection by Henry Wurth added atmospheric tension.\u00a0 Effective Costumes were by Janelle Abbott.<\/p>\n

The excellent dancers not mentioned above were; Audrey Malek, Genevieve Waldorf and Lily Wills.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Christopher D\u2019Ariano and Elizabeth Murphy in Dani Rowe\u2019s \u201cThe Window\u201d \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling.<\/p>\n

Dani Rowe\u2019s<\/a> \u201cThe Window,\u201d is an observation of life in five chapters.\u00a0 With music by Shannon Rugani, this was the highlight of the evening. Stellar dancer Melisa Guilliams is living vicariously, watching her neighbors as they wind through the highs and lows of an impassioned love affair.\u00a0\u00a0 Elizabeth Murphy and Christopher D\u2019Ariano are the lovers. Guilliams as \u201cthe Watcher\u201d brings her longing and loneliness to the stage with exquisite dancing and full commitment to her character.\u00a0 The stage lit by Reed Nakayama cleverly becomes two spaces, inside the home of the lovers and outside where the Watcher lingers.\u00a0 This design is perfect in its\u2019 simplicity.\u00a0 Dancing with intensity and desire Murphy and D\u2019Ariano are addicted to each other and addictive to watch.\u00a0 They are tender yet bold, clearly unable to let go, all while unknowingly being watched by the voyeur.\u00a0\u00a0 Murphy and D\u2019Ariano are impeccable partners both are refined dancers and excellent actors who bring an emotional charge to the stage.\u00a0 Guilliams too fills her part with feelings for the lovers, dancing outside the room with misplaced desire and yearning.\u00a0 When the lovers are no longer together, she grieves as they do, when they return altered, she keeps vigil.\u00a0 In the final sequence the dance of dying love is truly heartbreaking as Rowe clearly understands how to induce emotion from her dancers and from those of us fortunate enough to witness her art.\u00a0 The final scene of Guilliams and Murphy together is deeply moving in surprising ways.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Elizabeth Murphy in Dani Rowe\u2019s The Window in Dani Rowe\u2019s \u201cThe Window\u201d \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling.<\/p>\n

Costumes by Emma Kingsbury were oddly conceived. The dress of the Watcher had sparkle and verve while the lovers were bland especially the plain and slightly ill-fitting dress worn by Murphy.<\/p>\n

The final piece of the night was Twyla Tharp\u2019s<\/a> \u201cIn the Upper Room.\u201d\u00a0 Created in 1986 with music by Philip Glass. \u00a0This work was met with great reviews and audience adulation and brought in a new and unique style to the dance world.\u00a0 Divided into nine sections this 40-minute piece never stops moving as it drives its\u2019 way to the relentlessly jam-packed finale. Relying on her signature style of loosely defined skipping, jumping, ambling movement interspersed with ballet technique was innovative in its\u2019 day, now it shows its\u2019 age.\u00a0 Much of Tharp\u2019s work holds up perfectly and will for centuries to come but this piece feels as if she threw in too many ideas and forgot to edit.\u00a0 The Glass music is again very repetitive and other than building in tempo it brings little to enhance the movement.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this over-choreographed dance suffers from the \u201ctoo much is not enough\u201d philosophy.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest Ballet corps de ballet dancer Destiny Wimpye and soloist Kuu Sakuragi in Twyla Tharp\u2019s \u201cIn the Upper Room\u201d \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling.<\/p>\n

The dancers work very hard to keep up.\u00a0 As the piece develops it is clear that they are winded and tired as near the end several lifts turns and jumps were missed and the timing was off.\u00a0 Still, they were intrepid in their effort as PNB dancers always are.<\/p>\n

Knowing that Tharp was in the early stages of her career it is easy to see that she was willing to try anything and everything.\u00a0\u00a0 Though this approach did not always succeed, it ultimately paid off in allowing her the freedom to invent and create a genre of dance that underlies much of the choreographic work we see currently.\u00a0 With absolute focus and unwavering discipline, she became the true artist and innovator we know today.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Twyla Tharp\u2019s \u201cIn the Upper Room\u201d \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling.<\/p>\n

The cool black, white and red, Costumes were by Norma Kamli.\u00a0 The Scenic Design was by Santo Loquasto with Lighting by Jennifer Tipton as recreated by Randall G. Chiarelli.<\/p>\n

The tireless dancers were; Destiny Wimpye, Melisa Guilliames, Genevieve Waldorf, Madison Ryan Abeo, Luther DeMyer, Noah Martzall, Christopher D\u2019Ariano, Clara Ruf Maldonado, Kuu Sakuragi, Yuki Takahashi, Dylan Calahan, Leta Biascucci and Lucien Postlewaite.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Pacific Northwest Ballet, please visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Written by Tam Warner for LA Dance Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Featured image: Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Leah Terada and corps de ballet dancer Joh Morrill in the world premiere of Christopher D\u2019Ariano and Amanda Morgan\u2019s AfterTime \u2013 Photo by Angela Sterling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Nov. 7, 2025, Pacific Northwest Ballet premiered a new piece by company members Christopher D\u2019Ariano and Amanda…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-70802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}