JUMPKUT:
Two former dancers take one big leap
I’m always a little surprised by the optimism of the artists I know.
Obviously, you have to have confidence in yourself and your creative output when you make art for (hopefully) a living.
But it’s a surprise when that confidence comes during times like these, when arts funding on the governmental level is being revoked and public financial and emotional support seems to take a back seat to things like necessary public health or climate research, which is perfectly logical. There’s no denying that the summer of 2025 is a tough one.
And yet, this month former Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) company members Price Suddarth and his wife Emma Love Suddarth are officially launching a multimodal contemporary ballet company called JUMPKUT. A big leap indeed with an uncertain landing, but these two seem to have considered this move from every angle, and they’re ready to jump into a new future.
Price Suddarth had been choreographing for years, while his wife Emma says making art is her husband’s thing. She’s been raising their two young sons and homeschooling the elder boy. Both agree that she’s indispensable to the new company, contributing her strengths in administration as well as communication and lending her keen critical eye in the studio. Price says Emma’s skills allow him to focus on creating the dance instead of explaining it. “I’m free in the studio to say ‘Talk to Emma!’”
For her part, Emma’s been writing about dance since her retirement from PNB in 2021, creating content both for the ballet company and for national dance publications.
“I love writing,” Suddarth says, “but there’s nothing like being back in the studio. Ballet is what I know.”
PNB audiences got a taste of what JUMPKUT has in store when PNB premiered their work Dawn Patrol in March 2025 on a program with choreographer Crystal Pite’s Emergence, in which Price Suddarth danced a featured role.
His Dawn Patrol showcased 10 of PNB’s most established dancers in an episodic piece with all new sets, costumes and music. Those dancers will serve as what Price calls JUMPKUT’s inaugural “pickup” company at a free day of dance on Thursday, August 7 in Seattle’s Occidental Park in Pioneer Square.
The Suddarths are committed to presenting live dance, but Price wants to create a company that also works in film, animation and other technologies. He’s been talking with tech entrepreneurs and creatives who’ve expressed interest in collaborating on projects that might combine gaming, dance and animation.
Price Suddarth has been choreographing at PNB and for ballet companies around the country for several years, but he dates his filmmaking interests to the COVID pandemic. “It was my sourdough bread,” he laughs, referring to the widespread baking craze that took hold when so many of us spent months, if not years, at home.
He worked on several dance film festivals around the country, including here in Seattle, and taught himself to edit film, sometimes staying up into the wee hours watching YouTube tutorial videos. “I wanted to do something scary,” he says.
Although Emma Suddarth has had a few years to try to adjust to her post-performance life, Price only recently said farewell to his stage career (this past June), although he’s been planning for life after PNB since last year when he told artistic director Peter Boal this past artistic season would be his last. Now Price and Emma are thinking long-term, developing business plans they hope will provide a framework for what they call their family business. They envision it as a bucket that will hold a broad range of creative possibilities, in particular collaborations with Seattle’s rich tech community.
“High art and creative ideas can be interesting to a broad spectrum of people,” says Emma Suddarth. The couple is open to almost anything, from contemporary ballet commissions to film projects both large and small. And while both their skill levels and confidence in this new venture are high, they know not every creative idea will be a hit.
“We’re primed to fail,” Price Suddarth laughs.
They’re also set up to succeed.
JUMPKUT will be part of a City of Seattle-sponsored series of free arts and cultural performances called JumpstART, part of its Hope Corps project. The 4-day outdoor festival runs August 6–10 at various locations. The Downtown Dance Celebration will take place on Thursday, August 7 from 3–7 p.m. in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square. JUMPKUT will perform at 4:15 p.m. PNB dancers Lucien Postlewaite and Clara Ruf Maldonado also appear on the program.