Attending ballet productions without a storyline can be difficult for young kids, but older ones (say ages 12 and up) will find that the four pieces in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s (PNB) upcoming “GHOST STORIES” are likely to deliver two things:
First, viewers will be exposed to four different ballets in one night—”a great mixed plate with something for everyone,” according to PNB spokesperson Gary Tucker
Second, the program promises to appeal to young people who love the spooky and silly, along the lines of films like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” or “Wednesday,” says Tucker. Not to mention, the chance to see dancers closer to their own age—15- to 18-year-old members of PNB’s New Voices program—perform self-choreographed works.
PNB does not give age recommendations, but given some level of spookiness and a bit of skimpy dressing, consider taking your tween or teen ages 12 and up.
PNB company dancers in Alejandro Cerrudo’s Silent Ghost. (Photo by Angela Sterling)
What’s on this mixed-plate?
Although performances of “GHOST STORIES” start after Halloween, they are a haunting quartet. George Balanchine’s La Sonnambula is deliciously gothic with its moonlit sleepwalker, a mysterious old mansion, a masked ball, a murder, and a romance that goes very wrong.
Kyle Davis’ The Raven, which will have its world premiere as part of the production, draws on Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem of the same name. Alejandro Cerrudo’s moody Silent Ghost adds to the spooky theme, and Cerrudo’s PACOPEPEPLUTO provides a splash of silliness. Pieces run between eight and 37 minutes.
Of the creation of The Raven, choreographer Davis said: “I am unremarkable in my fascination with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven – a work that has been chilling readers since its 1845 publication. Its haunting atmosphere, rhythmic structure, and deeply tragic look at love and loss easily entrance any reader and inspire every storyteller. I have loved Poe’s words since I was a child, but it was not until I heard Alexander Dreyschock’s Morceau de concert, Op. 27, that I imagined the text as a dance.”
There are two intermissions during “GHOST STORIES,” and during that time two dozen student dancers will perform short pieces created by students of PNB’s New Voices choreography class, and they’ll do so on six tiny 4-foot-by-4-foot stages throughout the McCaw Hall lobby. Dancers will rotate locations so audiences see different performances during each intermission.
PNB principal dancer Christopher D’Ariano in Cerrudo’s PACOPEPEPLUTO. Costumes give effect of nudity (Photo by Angela Sterling)
Why 12 and up?
Although none of the dance works has gratuitous violence or actual nudity, Tucker said he’d put a PG rating on “GHOST STORIES.” Parents should explain to kids what they will see:
“The short ballet PACOPEPEPLUTO is three short solos danced to old Dean Martin standards, and the men are VERY skimpily dressed, in flesh-colored dance belts that give the impression of their being essentially nude,” said Tucker. “The Raven is moody, in accordance with the Poe poem, but in a goth sort of way. La Sonnambula is a story ballet, albeit a short story. It involves a character who kills another, and has a spooky denouement, but again, I don’t think it’s anything that would be too harsh for kids 12 and up.”
Before your tween or teen takes their seat
If your child has never heard or read Poe’s The Raven, checking it out before attending the show is a great idea. Wikipedia provides a great history of the poem, along with the poem itself.
It may also help an inexperienced balletgoer to enjoy the show if you share the storyline of La Sonnambula beforehand, so here it is in a nutshell:
Inside a crumbling castle, a masked ball is underway. The eccentric nobleman hosting the party welcomes his guests, including a Poet and a glamorous and flirty woman (called a Coquette). She catches the Poet’s eye, and the two dance and flirt as the other guests begin to drift away.
After the woman leaves, the Poet is about to follow when he spots a mysterious woman in white gliding across the rooftops toward him. As the woman in white comes closer, he realizes she is sleepwalking —La Sonnambula translates to The Sleepwalker. The nobleman is immediately captivated, not knowing that she is the ball host’s wife, whom the nobleman keeps hidden away from the outside world.
The Poet and the Sleepwalker dance together, and he is drawn into her strange, dreamlike world. But they are not alone. The jealous Coquette sees them and rushes off to tell the Sleepwalker’s husband.
Before long, the Sleepwalker drifts away. The Poet tries to follow, but the returning party guests block his path. When he finally manages to break through the crowd, the jealous husband follows and stabs him. The terrified guests gather around the fallen Poet. Then the mysterious woman in white appears once more. She gently lifts him into her arms, and together they disappear into the night.
Details
PNB’s “GHOST STORIES”
- When: November 6 – 15, 2026
- Friday, November 6 at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, November 7 at 2:00 and 7:30 PM
- Friday, November 13 at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, November 14 at 2:00 (audio-described performance) and 7:30 PM
- Sunday, November 15 at 1:00 PM
- Where: Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle Center
- Digital streaming:November 19 – 23
- Where: Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle Center
- Tickets: Seats start at $37.
- PNB partners with TeenTix to offer $5 day-of-show tickets for teenagers ages 13–19. You must join TeenTix and purchase tickets. After registering at the TeenTix Webpage, you will receive a TeenTix keychain that you can present at the PNB Box Office 90 minutes before the performance you’d like to attend. PNB requires an info card to be filled out one time – fill one out ahead of time for speedier service when you arrive at the box office.
- PNB offers Pay What You Can every second Friday evening performance (Friday, Nov. 13 for “GHOST STORIES”). Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis with a suggested price of $40 and a minimum of $10 per ticket. Purchase tickets at the box office, which opens 90 minutes before showtime. All individuals in the party must be present when purchasing tickets. Pay What You Can tickets are subject to availability.
