Seventh Chop Shop will see ballet legend Patricia Barker return to Pacific Northwest

Dance director Eva Stone’s mission to expose the Eastside to modern dance is entering its seventh year. This year, contemporary dance festival Chop Shop: Bodies of Work will feature the Pacific Northwest premiere of Michigan’s Grand Rapids Ballet, led by Artistic Director Patricia Barker.

“Patricia Barker is a bit of a legend in the ballet world,” Stone said. Barker is the former principal dancer for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and an accomplished international performer many times over; when the ballet company partnered with Hyperion in 1986 to produce “Nutcracker: The Motion Picture,” Barker was their Clara.

The Grand Rapids Ballet’s presence is a nod to a classical art form in a dance festival devoted to the modern style. The creation of that style is “the greatest story ever told,” Stone said.

By Daniel Nash | Bellevue Reporter
Read the story at Bellevue Reporter | Published: Jan 31, 2014