By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist and creator of the PNB Dance Film Festival, Price Suddarth. (Photo © Lindsay Thomas.)
For Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) dancer and choreographer Price Suddarth, immersion in the dance world was, from a childhood, a matter of degrees.
“When I was 15 years old, and performing the ballet section of ‘The King and I,” it was suggested to me that I should consider taking dance classes,” recalled Suddarth, who’s overseeing the third annual PNB Dance Film Festival, starting on Aug. 3 at Seattle Center’s Mural Ampitheatre.
“At first, I resisted the idea entirely, but I always wanted to be Fred Astaire, so I relented. I said I would take dance class, but no ballet. Then later I said fine I would take the ballet classes, but no tights.
“I quickly came around and trained with the Central Indiana Dance Ensemble for two years, before moving to the School of American Ballet in NYC, and later moving to the Pacific Northwest Ballet.”
He’s overseen the PNB’s Dance Film Festival since the beginning.
“I was so taken aback by the outrageous show of creativity we saw during COVID-19 lockdowns. Artists (myself included) found a way to share their art with their communities. We saw so many people taking to film that hadn’t dreamt of it before, and we saw an audience, hungry for performances, flock to their screens. There was a merger of two industries (film and stage) like never before and I wanted in!
“After creating half a dozen [dance] films in 2021, I started looking for outlets to share them, and realized the difficulties and barriers that tend to hold independent artists back from sharing their work. I came up with a concept, which later would become the festival as we know it, to open the wide platform that PNB enjoys and share it with artists who may not otherwise be able to get their films seen. This endeavor of course worked to support the filmmakers, choreographers, and dancers involved, but also helped shape a new appreciation for categories of dance that the typical PNB audience member may not have been aware of.”
Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist and creator of the PNB Dance Film Festival, Price Suddarth. (Photo © Angela Sterling.)
He was also quick to praise Glenn Kawasaki, the PNB benefactor who made the festival possible.
“Glenn Kawasaki is a prolific supporter of dance in the Seattle community. In fact, many of the performances you see could not exist without Glenn’s enthusiastic support. I have had the opportunity to interface with Glenn a few times throughout my tenure at PNB, and have been amazed by his unwavering passion for this art form. Though many of our communications have shifted online since COVID, I relay gratitude to him every chance I get for supporting these risky and unlikely types of projects.”
The program includes three short dance films developed by PNB company dancers, followed by seven more shorts from dancers in the U.S., Austria, Latvia, and New Zealand.
Suddarth chose the films in collaboration with three jurors: Tamara Rojo (San Francisco Ballet), Lourdes Lopez (Miami City Ballet), and Hope Muir (National Ballet of Canada).
Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Price Suddarth with principal dancer James Yoichi Moore and company dancers in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station. (Photo © Angela Sterling.)
“These jurors were chosen because of their unique perspectives, significance in the ballet world, and willingness to take risks in their own programming. As the director of the festival, I receive all reviews, scores, and general comments on every film that makes its way to our panel, and I always enjoy seeing what works excite our judges, and what works polarize them.
“This should serve as a note to all artists who are concerned their work may not be received well. Art is subjective and while there are certain criteria that make a work successful, there are limitless ways to interpret art, and maintaining the heart is of primary concern.”
The third annual Pacific Northwest Ballet Dance Film Festival shows on Aug. 3 at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre.
For showtimes and more information, visit https://www.pnb.org/season/events/dance-film-fest.