BWW Update: DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT COVID-19, PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET CANCELS ONE THOUSAND PIECES AND BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at McCaw Hall

Washington State is the epicenter of the 2019 COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the United States. King County, where PNB is located in Seattle, has been the hardest hit. Here is the press release from PNB regarding performance cancellations and options for ticket holders. You can also read a Health Update on the PNB site.

Pacific Northwest Ballet announces cancellation of performances at McCaw Hall.

ONE THOUSAND PIECES

March 13 - 22, 2020

Beauty and the Beast

March 15 - 22

SEATTLE, WA, 3/11/20 - In light of Washington Governor Jay Inslee's press conference regarding health and safety efforts around the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Northwest Ballet's Artistic Director Peter Boal and Executive Director Ellen Walker have announced that the organization is cancelling its upcoming performances of ONE THOUSAND PIECES, and Beauty and the Beast. Ticket holders will receive an email today about their cancelled performances. Due to high demands on our staff, we are hoping that ticket holders will review that email before reaching out to the box office.

(Following earlier guidelines by Seattle Public Schools regarding outside activities, PNB previously cancelled the March 21 Discover Dance Community Performance, featuring students from Daniel Bagley Elementary, Eastgate Elementary, Graham Hill Elementary, Thurgood Marshall Elementary, REACH Student Dance Group, and PNB company dancers.)

"PNB's audience is of paramount importance to us: having watched these exquisite programs take shape over the past several weeks, cancelling these performances is heartbreaking, but an understandable mandate," said Mr. Boal and Ms. Walker. "Non-profit organizations like PNB have no contingency budgets in the case of civil emergencies like this one; our resources overwhelmingly go to producing work on stage, and the impact of these cancellations will be devastating. We are hopeful that many of our devoted subscribers and ticket buyers realize what effect this situation has on everyone at PNB - dancers, musicians, artisans, staff, students and faculty - and will consider donating the cost of their tickets as a gift for which we will issue a tax receipt.

"Additionally, as a small consolation, our wonderful dancer, musician, stage, and other unions, as well as the choreographers and designers, have agreed to let the dress rehearsals of these programs be streamed online for our ticket buyers. We hope the audiences who were looking forward to attending the performances at McCaw Hall can find some joy and comfort in being able to watch these lovely performances from home. More details will be forwarded to subscribers and ticket-buyers about this special online opportunity in the coming days.

"We are more committed than ever to bringing great art back to our stage as soon as possible. We are so thankful for your patronage and understanding, and we look forward to seeing you back at the ballet soon."

The PNB School (with locations in Seattle and Bellevue) remains open at this time, however we expect broad announcements about public school district closures shortly, and those decisions will affect the operation of our school. PNB will continue to update its response to COVID-19 on its website at PNB.org/Health.

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