Dance review<\/h2>\n
Jessica Lang\u2019s \u201cZigZag,\u201d a 2021 work making its Pacific Northwest Ballet debut in the current \u201cAll Lang\u201d repertory, is one of those dances that bursts off the stage directly into your heart. Set to 11 recordings by the late Tony Bennett, whose elegant, burnished-around-the-edges voice means home to so many of us, it\u2019s an irresistible exploration of emotion, translated into the language of song and dance. Before the curtain rises, we hear Bennett\u2019s wistful rendition of the Irving Berlin ballad \u201cWhen I Lost You<\/a>,\u201d and it\u2019s clear that we\u2019re in the hands of a gentle ghost, a presence filling McCaw Hall with affectionate nostalgia; the singer is gone, but the song \u2014 and the voice, and the mood \u2014 lives on.<\/p>\n And oh, what a mood. Fourteen dancers \u2014 six in leading roles, eight in an ever-shifting, dazzlingly energetic backup ensemble \u2014 clearly had a ball with Lang\u2019s jazzy choreography, filled with unexpected playfulness (have we ever seen a fish flop on PNB\u2019s stage before?) and buoyant lightness. Angelica Generosa and Christopher D\u2019Ariano brought abundantly goofy charm to \u201cIt\u2019s De-Lovely,\u201d a duet sang by Bennett and Lady Gaga \u2014 and just try not to grin as you see Generosa slide into a split just as Gaga\u2019s voice slid into a note. Dylan Wald\u2019s clean, airy technique matched perfectly with Bennett\u2019s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Two couples \u2014 Wald with soon-to-be-retiring principal Elizabeth Murphy<\/a>, Noah Martzall with Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan \u2014 came together for a sweetly melancholy \u201cSmile,\u201d matching the silkiness of Bennett\u2019s vocal. And the ensemble shone in \u201cIt Don\u2019t Mean a Thing (If It Ain\u2019t Got That Swing),\u201d with the dancers seemingly transformed into jazz musicians trading riffs. \u201cLet the music never end,\u201d crooned Bennett in the final song; surely all of us in the audience agreed.<\/p>\n