Scoop: Christopher Stowell Leaving OBT

1. BOWING OUT: Portland’s dance community is still reeling from the news that Christopher Stowell, artistic director for the Oregon Ballet Theatre, will leave the company by Dec. 31. Stowell, hired in 2003 with a mission to expand OBT’s repertoire and shore up its classical holdings and technique, accomplished his mission admirably: mounting a production of Swan Lake, licensing Balanchine ballets, putting a Pacific Northwest spin on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and staging work by some of this generation’s best contemporary ballet-makers, including Christopher Wheeldon. But now the company’s board is calling for a new business model, which sounds to many like shorthand for limited budget and expectations. “One thing I was clear about is that things that had been very important to me might have to become secondary or be reduced, and that was a project that wasn’t inspiring,” Stowell says of his decision to leave. “Someone has to be inspired to be successful.” What the company will look like after his departure is still in question. “A variety of repertory is important, but it’s only effective if you’re committed to it,” he cautions. “If you’re doing something just to sell tickets or you’re trying to be hip, I don’t think that works.” Until a replacement is found, OBT staffers Anne Mueller and Lisa Kipp will absorb Stowell’s artistic duties. Stowell, meanwhile, is still considering what his own future may hold. He’s attending a conference of international dance leaders in London in January and considering choreographing, teaching and coaching as the opportunities arise. “A real balance in repertory and training is what satisfies dancers,” he says. “They need that variety—they want to be getting better at all of it.”

1. YOUTHFUL DISCRETION: Portland has a new all-ages music venue, and it’s called Slabtown. Last week, the venerable garage-rock haven received approval from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to turn its back game room into a club for the under-21 set. Beginning mid-December, the venue will open its doors—its rear doors, that is, which bypass the prohibited bar area—to Portland’s young punks, starting with a Sunday evening series called the Church of Rock ’n’ Roll, which will feature bands, movie screenings, readings from musician autobiographies and, since there’s no alcohol allowed, “the administration of communion in the form of black coffee,” according to owner Doug Rogers.

1. FUTURE EATING: After fizzled rumors that celebrity chef Naomi Pomeroy was moving her famed prix-fixe restaurant Beast to new downtown digs, it looks like she’s doubling down in Concordia. Along with St. Jack mixologist Kyle Webster, Pomeroy has applied for a liquor license for a new venture called Expatriate at 5424 NE 30th Avenue, directly across the street from Beast. Another prominent Portlander is branching out: On Dec. 3, Micah Camden of Little Big Burger opened the doors of his new high-end doughnut shop, Blue Star Donuts (1237 SW Washington St.) with free horchata-glazed doughnuts. The menu, which includes a fried chicken and honey-butter doughnut, shows prices at a hefty $2.50-$4.75 a doughnut.

WWeek 2015