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Showing posts from January, 2017

Porretta's recollections of dance informs and charms

One of Pacific Northwest Ballet's most appealing dancers is principal dancer Jonathan Porretta. Anyone who has attended PNB on a regular basis has a favorite Porretta moment (mine will probably always be is his frolicsome Puck). Award-winning arts journalist and KUOW personality Marcie Sillman chronicled Porretta's story in a Out There: Jonathan Porretta’s Life in Dance . Through interviews done with the dancer while he was healing from a foot surgery, Sillman encouraged him to talk about his own favorite roles as well as his early experiences in dance. The book’s major message—“Be yourself and people will love you for who you are”— was important to Porretta, who discusses growing up gay and often bullied in his small hometown. Publisher and designer Rosie Gaynor met Sillman during an NEA fellowship at the American Dance Festival. The pair had long been talking about doing a longer piece about Porretta's performances, more than just articles for Dance magazine or the