PNBSchool

Dear PNB Families,

As we shift gears into the start of the school year, we turn our focus to planning this season’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker^®.  We are excited to welcome your children back into the theater for this holiday tradition. We’ve missed the energy, joy, and laughter filling the hall. In this letter you will find all the information regarding auditions, casting, rehearsals, performances, and COVID-19 protocols for this year’s production. Some things have changed in the audition, casting, and performance process.

Your children’s safety is at the forefront of our minds. To ensure the safety of those performing, we will have two smaller casts for this year’s production. Some students will have multiple roles (e.g., Solider in Act I, Angel in Act II) and some students will be cast in a “swing” role. All students will have assigned performance dates, but the “swing” roles will be primarily called when dancers are absent. Casting decisions are based on size, performing ability, musicality, technique, and behavior. Students must be no taller than 5’2” at the time of the audition. Students who are injured on the audition date are not eligible to audition for The Nutcracker. All casting decisions are made by the Artistic Staff. While we encourage all eligible students to audition, we do not have roles for every student who auditions. Please discuss the possibility of disappointment with your child before the audition.

While participation in The Nutcracker is a rite of passage for a young dancer, it does require a considerable commitment of time and energy from the entire family at a busy time of year.  Please consider the following before your child auditions for The Nutcracker.

• All students ages 12 and older and parent volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. All students are required to submit weekly COVID tests to PNB.

• Students are expected to be available for the entire rehearsal and performance period, from September 20 through December 28, 2021. Please do not have your child audition if you anticipate any conflicts during that time.

• We cannot excuse students from rehearsals or performances for vacations, family events, school events, etc.; the only acceptable reasons for missing rehearsal are illness, injury, and family emergencies.

• Auditioning for The Nutcracker is a commitment on the part of the student and parent. Dropping out of the production for any reason, other than illness, injury, or family emergency (including dissatisfaction with casting), is a break in the child’s commitment. The student will not be able to participate the following year if the commitment is broken.

• All rehearsals and performances will be at the Phelps Center and McCaw Hall.

Parents’ participation is essential to the success of The Nutcracker. All parent volunteers are required to complete a background check to be eligible for a volunteer position. Assignments will be made by Student Cast and Parent Volunteer Coordinator Lauren Kirchner.

Please click here for detailed information on auditions and a general schedule, including rehearsal and performance dates and important meetings. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, September 19.

Sincerely,

Peter Boal                                Otto Neubert                            Anne Dabrowski                      Giovanni Villalobos

Artistic Director                       Rehearsal Director                   Rehearsal Director                   Rehearsal Director

Hello PNB Families,

We had previously been informing parents that they need to reach out to the Seattle Center in order to purchase parking passes for the parking garage near the Phelps Center for the 2021-2022 school year, however, we have communicated with the center and will once again allow families to purchase their parking passes through the school. Please call the Seattle school at 206.441.2435 if you would like to purchase your parking pass for October. payment is due by the 28th of each month in order to secure a permit for the following month.

Hello PNB Families,

Registration information has been sent to last year’s students. If you believe that you have missed an email regarding registration please contact the school at pnbschool@pnb.org or by calling: Seattle (206.441.2435) Bellevue (425.451.1241)

We are looking forward to the 2021-22 school year!

Dear PNB School Families,

Thank you so much for participating in the Fall Planning Survey. We are reviewing responses and taking all of this information into consideration as we map out class schedules and enrollment projections for the 2021-22 school year. We hope to send registration materials out to families sometime during the week of July 19th.

In the meantime, we do have some updates to share with you regarding classes this fall.

Start date: Thursday, September 9, 2021,for students in Creative Movement – Level VIII

Studio Capacity & Hybrid Instruction
While we look forward to bringing students back into the studios this year, we are planning for lower maximum studio capacity than in years past. These numbers have been set and agreed upon by PNB’s Management Team and COVID Supervisor; they are subject to change over the course of the year:



Level Studio Capacity limit
VI-VIII 22
IV-V 18 (based on vaccination ratio)
I-III 14

How will this affect enrollment and classes? We will offer more than one option in certain levels where we can (for example, more than one class offered for Levels I-IV), but ultimately, we anticipate more students than we have studio space for due to capacity restrictions and studio availability during prime PNB School hours (between 4:00pm and 9:00pm Monday-Friday, and 9:00am-4:00pm on Saturday). Classes in which enrollment exceeds studio capacity will follow a hybrid model of instruction, with a maximum number of students in the studio each day and rotating groups of students zooming into class each week. We hope to keep zooming at a minimum, and we will not assign student pods for the rotation of studio time. Our ultimate goal is to make things less complicated, which will allow for more flexible studio time. We will update you as we get closer to September.

Vaccination Update
PNB is requiring students age 12 and above to be vaccinated in order to participate in studio classes for the 2021-22 school year. More information on vaccination requirements will be included with Fall registration.

Masks
At this time, masks are still required for all students, staff, faculty, and pianists while in the PNB facilities (regardless of vaccination status). This policy will remain in place until further notice.

Nutcracker Returns!
Information regarding student auditions for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® will be sent to students in early August. The auditions will be split over two dates this year: Sunday, September 12 and Sunday, September 19 (times TBD). PNB School students who are registered in Levels II-VI and Intermediate Boys for the 2021-22 school year are eligible to audition.

PNB is still shifting and considering all options in how we can best serve our students when we return in the fall. Thank you for your continued support, and watch for 2021-22 Registration Information in mid-July. We cannot wait to see our students back in the PNB studios!


Sincerely,
Denise Bolstad
Managing Director

Hello PNB Families,

As a reminder, both school locations will be closed, and all classes will be cancelled on Saturday, May 29th and Monday, May 31st in honor of Memorial Day. Classes will resume on Tuesday, June 1st. We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Best regards,
PNB School

Dear Students and Parents,

As the calendar moves toward June and another school year concluding without so many of our traditions, we’re reminiscing about what a special time the end of the school year is.

We love spring at PNBS! Spring brings news of job offers and college acceptance letters and celebrations for all the students that are moving on each year. Preparations for School Performance would be in full swing by now with additional rehearsals somehow finding space in the schedule. Faculty members make plans to highlight the incredible strides each class made that year. And students would excitedly come into the office to share their summer plans, as we make plans to welcome them back again for fall. I miss all of it.

This year, of course, everything is different. We thought, in March of 2020, that this would last a few weeks, then a few months, and then we entered this period of time we’re all sharing now where we’re still in a state of reinvention while so much of what we do remains in a state of suspension. It is so important to acknowledge the grief and hardship suffered by so many in our communities. This has been an exceptionally challenging period of time in all our lives, particularly for young people. Depending on the student and the day, ballet is an escape, a necessary diversion, a happy place, and an opportunity to experience music and movement away from distractions. Ballet studios are special places for those that spend time in them, and we know that being away from them this last year has been devastating for so many students.

The challenges of the past sixteen months have changed PNB and PNB School forever. The current struggle to plan for what comes next while we’re still navigating what’s happening right now is taxing. BUT, we will emerge from this crisis – bruised, but intact – and with greater urgency around our values of inclusivity, transparency, and sharing joy. Zoom ballet from home has not been easy, and yet we discovered how resilient and inventive we are. The connections students and faculty made with each other while navigating this time together are meaningful and lasting. We are exceptionally proud of our students for showing up and doing their best in an unprecedented situation. PNB School students spend the year improving, trying, learning, and moving – all while being good classmates to each other. We’re proud of our faculty for learning how to deliver exceptional ballet training to students from home. And we’re proud of our accompanists and our staff for keeping us all on the beat and moving forward.

As we look to the near future we’re overwhelmed and energized. Overwhelmed thinking through the protocol required to bring all students safely back into the Phelps Center and the Francia Russell Center, but energized by the fact that we are bringing students back for in-person classes! We will start this summer with our scaled-down Summer Course which will pave the way to resume classes in September. As you can imagine, there are so many details to iron out and the advice from our local authorities is still changing frequently, but we can manage this. The situation is trending in a direction that will allow us to get back in new ways to what we love doing – educating your students in person.

Thank you for sticking with us this year, and for your devotion to your student’s ballet experience. We are grateful for you.

Denise Bolstad
Managing Director

Seminar Schedule
Level VI, VII, VIII, Intermediate Boys, Men’s Division, and Professional Division
May, 2021

REVISED 4/28/21

All seminars previously scheduled for May with Josh Spell have been cancelled and replaced with the following Nutrition Seminar with PNB’s Consulting Nutritionist, Monica Van Winkle.

Please note: Zoom links were emailed out on Thursday, Aprli 29th.

Level VI
Saturday, May 15 3:15-4:15pm

Intermediate Boys/Men’s Division
Saturday, May 15 3:15-4:15pm

Level VII
Saturday, May 15 3:15-4:15pm

Level VIII
Saturday, May 15 3:15-4:15pm

Men’s Division/Int. Boys
Saturday, May 15 3:15-4:15pm

Professional Division
Tuesday, May 18 6:30-7:30pm

Dear PNB School Families,

It’s a joy to see students returning to in-person school and spring activities. At PNB School we are working on next steps to increase studio pods at both locations and possibly add some additional levels to in-studio classes, using safety for all as our guiding principle. Our health advisors have cautioned us not to move too quickly in case King County reverts to Phase 2 and we have to roll back changes; we truly don’t want to create any further disruption in the life of your student.

We’ll be back in touch in the days to come with updates regarding in-person instruction for the rest of this academic year, provided that King County remains in Phase 3. Please note we may not be able to offer in-person classes to all levels, but we will keep you informed. We appreciate your patience as we navigate the safest possible avenues for students and staff at the Phelps Center and the Francia Russell Center.

Thank you for being an important part of our PNB community.

Warm regards,
Denise Bolstad
Managing Director

Hello PNBS Families,

PNB School will be holding spring break the week of April 12-18th. No classes will be held during this time. Classes will resume on April 19th as normal.

Enjoy the sunshine!

PNB School

PNB School Mentorship Schedule
April-May, 2021

As of 4/2/21


Prof. Division
• Tuesday, April 27 from 6:30-7:30p PST
• Tuesday, May 11 from 6:30-7:30p PST
• Tuesday, May 25 from 6:30-7:30p PST

Level VI & VII
• Friday, April 30 from 8-9p PST
• Friday, May 14 from 8-9p PST

Level VIII & Int/Adv Men
• Monday, April 26 from 8-9p PST
• Monday, May 24 from 8-9p PST