Demanding schedule actually is a bit of a rest for Pantastico

Pacific Northwest Ballet's mixed bill opens Thursday night at McCaw Hall. Works range from a revival of Paul Gibson's "Sense of Doubt" to the local premieres of Ulysses Dove's "Vespers" and William Forsythe's "One Flat Thing, reproduced."

Noelani Pantastico is scheduled to dance in three of the four pieces. That may seem like a huge workload for a dancer, but it is nothing compared to February, when she danced all the Juliets -- nine of them over two weeks -- in Jean-Christophe Maillot's "Romeo et Juliette."

Pantastico, who joined the company in 1997 as an apprentice, was going to be one of two Juliets, the other being Carla Korbes. However, in rehearsal Korbes injured her back, leaving Pantastico would have to do all the Juliets with two different partners -- Lucien Postlewaite and James Moore. Juliet itself is extraordinary duty, but nearly nonstop with two partners is unprecedented in PNB's history.

"During rehearsals, I knew her (Korbes) back was bad," Pantastico said. "You feel for a dancer when that happens, but I thought it was just a bump in the road and she would be able to do the role. Nevertheless, I began thinking I might have to do all the performances.

"In reality there was nothing I could do other than what I was doing. I was working as hard as I could and trying to keep a level head. What was scary when she did go out and I went in was to keep changing partners. First, Lucien, then James, back to Lucien. When Jean-Christophe got to Seattle there was an extra hour of rehearsal (just before the dress rehearsal) and my left knee began to hurt a little. I thought 'I can't keep pushing myself.' That is my strong knee, the one I turn on. The ligaments were strained, a little swollen, so I was given some anti-inflammatory medicine, which I stayed on throughout the run. Certainly I worried something would happen. I like to think, with the pain in the knee, God was telling me to be careful."

The worst in the stress category came before opening night, when one person after another at PNB kept asking her, "How are you going to do it?"

"I hadn't thought about it," she said. "I was just going to do it, but people constantly reminding me of what was ahead made it worse. I tried to ignore it all."

Pantastico knew that without her there was no show. Box office was doing a brisk business. Eventually "Romeo" sold nearly 20,000 tickets, almost double the company's projected ticket goal. In dollar sales this represents roughly $631,000. That is a lot of pressure.

She remembers the first week was worse than the second. "With the dress rehearsal (the night before the opening) there were five performances. Jean-Christophe was in town, my parents were in town, and by Saturday I was toast, although I didn't let that get into my head until after the show. I was drained emotionally. Sometimes I would cry during the bows. The story is so sad and I was exhausted. I also wasn't eating enough. The second week was much better, although it was still hard to disconnect after each performance.

"I was a baby when I was hired, so it is nice to know people think I am strong. Although I told Peter I thought I could do all the shows, I questioned it myself."

Pantastico has always been a dancer of considerable gifts, but it was when she danced Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" five years ago that she was singled out for her poise and freshness, speed and spontaneity.

"Kent and Francia (Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, co-artistic directors) brought me to a place I needed to be and a good place to leave me in my career," she said. The two retired from the company in 2005, succeeded by Peter Boal. "When Peter came in that first year, no one knew where they stood. I told myself I had to bring everything I knew into the studio and to be open to anything. The important thing was to leave my ego outside. That was not so hard. I have much to learn. But life had changed. Before I felt I was in this cookie-cutter mold, and now the rep (repertory) forced me to think outside the box. I was doing things I never thought I would do -- Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Ulysses Dove, Victor Quijada, and now Maillot.

"Company life is harder, more cutthroat. There is so much talent. Everyone in the company works hard, and that is a good thing. It boosts the energy in the studio.

"However, the level of pressure is not always the same."