Dance Advantage Interview with Garrett Smith

Dancer Garrett Smith, a Houston Ballet II graduate and company apprentice for the 09-10 season, sits down with Dance Advantage to discuss why he started dancing, how he balanced school and dance classes, and why he chose to study at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy.

At 20 years old, Garrett Smith is a recent graduate of Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy and already an accomplished performer and choreographer. He has toured internationally to places like Budapest and Japan. In addition, Garrett has set four works on HB II, often doing double duty as dancer and dance-maker.

Even before being awarded a scholarship to the Academy in 2006, Garrett’s ambition and dedication won him numerous honors. Originally from Riverton, Utah, he has performed off-Broadway and in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Summer Olympics. Garrett is a national title winner of the New York City Dance Alliance competition, awarded in the Junior category at age 13 and selected as Teen Male Outstanding Dancer at 16. And, as an NFAA youngARTS winner, he was one of 20 students selected as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts in 2007. And those are just his dance achievements!

Clearly, on the fast-track to a bright future, Garrett took some time to talk with me about his early training as a young man in dance, his passion for choreography, and what lies ahead for him.

Dance Advantage: You began dancing at age 9 but you didn’t start with ballet. What prompted you to try dance in the first place and why did you decide later to give ballet a try?

Garrett Smith: Sports just weren’t doing it for me so I tried tap, jazz, and hip hop. I loved it. I was silly at age 9 wanting to be famous. I thought if you were a jazz dancer, it meant you were dancing on screen with the Utah Jazz [laughs]. I tried ballet because the studio I was attending was dying down and I switched to this great ballet school in Utah called Jacqueline’s School of Ballet. I changed so much there, as did my opinion of ballet. I guess I never knew what ballet really was until I was in a correct ballet academy.

Continue reading this interview on the Dance Advantage website…

Houston Ballet Announces Launch of Young Professionals Group

Eager to socialize with young, hip arts lovers who adore ballet just as much as you do?

Look no further!  Houston Ballet is pleased to introduce Ballet Barre, our new young professionals group for patrons 40 and younger.  Join today and receive tickets in the grand tier or orchestra center to four productions, discounts to the Nutcracker Market Preview Party and Houston Ballet’s Ball, and invitations to special social/networking events.

If you join by July 30, you will receive one FREE general admission ticket to the shopping extravaganza of the year, the Nutcracker Market.

To subscribe, please visit our website.

***You can also visit our Facebook group, Ballet Barre – Young Professionals for Houston Ballet, for more information on how to subscribe.

See you at the theater!

If you like this blog…

then you’ll LOVE Chron.com’s “So, You Think You Can Blog” written by our very own dancers Kelly Myernick and Oliver Halkowich.  You can check out their entries here.  Each week they trade off writing an entry about their unique Houston experiences.  Enjoy!

Melody Herrera is the New Swan in Town

Principal dancer Melody Herrera chats about being the “new swan” at Houston Ballet on the Houston Chronicle’s new beta site, 29-95.  Herrera was an understudy for the lead role of Odette/Odile three years ago when Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake was premiered.  This year it’s her turn to test her wings.

Article on Sara Webb in Cy-Fair Publication

Principal dancer Sara Webb recently discussed juggling a busy dancing career and family life with an 18 month old son in Cy-Fair Magazine.  Read more here.  Ms. Webb will perform the lead role of Odette in our upcoming production of Swan Lake.

Recent Houston Chronicle Story on Christopher Wheeldon

The Houston Chronicle recently interviewed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, whose work Carousel (A Dance) will be performed as part of Houston Ballet’s upcoming production Of An Era, opening Thursday and running through June 7.  Read more here on the Chronicle’s website.

Carousel is the second Wheeldon work to be introduced into Houston Ballet’s repertoire.  Set to the music of Richard Rodgers’ musical of the same name, this short 13-minute work is full of whimsy and romance.  Some of you may recall his colorful (and often hilarious) ballet Carnival of the Animals, which we performed two years ago.  Carousel is sure to be just as entertaining.

We hope you’ll join us for Of An Era to see this exciting addition.

Join Us for The Power of Movement – June 5

Guest writer: Jim Nelson, general manager

The Houston dance community is thrilled to take center stage this June 3-6^th when Houston hosts the Dance USA Annual Conference. Dance USA is the national service organization for dance, and the Annual Conference is its largest yearly convening of dancers, dance presenters, and dance administrators.

In addition to the daytime conference programming, an evening dance showcase performance is almost always a feature of each summer conference, and it is a great opportunity to spotlight the host city’s dance community to a national audience.

In putting together Houston’s showcase performance, The Power of Movement, it was a priority that we present our dance community in the best way possible. Our goal was to present a great looking professional showcase of Houston’s very diverse dance community in a fully produced performance at Wortham Theater Center’s Cullen Theater. It was also a priority that this performance be open to the general public.

Presenting live theater is very expensive, and knowing that ticket sales would never provide enough resources to produce a performance featuring multiple companies in a professional venue, we started fundraising as early as possible. We assembled a strong local host committee and solicited funding for all of the Houston activities including The Power of Movement performance. We formed a Showcase Committee comprised of representatives from dance-presenting organizations; SPA, Diverse Works, HCC, JCC, and Dance Houston and solicited entries from Houston dance companies through Dance Source Houston’s and Houston Arts Alliance’s websites. The challenge for the Showcase Committee was not only selecting great dances, but selecting a lineup that worked together for an evening-long program.

The program should be great. It features 11 companies, ranging from Dance of Asian America to Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, to Travesty Dance Group and Urban Souls. We’re proud of the depth and diversity of the Houston dance community, and we’re very excited about The Power of Movement.

For tickets, go to www.houstonballet.org or call 713.227.ARTS.  We hope you’ll join us for this special one-night-only event.

-Jim

Jim Nelson, Houston Ballet General Manager, and Christina Giannelli, Dance Source Houston Executive Director, are the co-chairs of the Houston Host Committee.

Stanton Welch Featured in Dance Teacher Magazine

Artistic director Stanton Welch was recently featured in an article in Dance Teacher Magazine, answering questions about his Marie and Swan Lake as well as discussing which dance teachers had an impact on his career as a dancer and choreographer.  Read the story here.

FREE Performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre This Weekend!

The company has returned from Spain and is thoroughly happy to be back in the U.S.  The dancers and production staff have had a quick 5 days to recuperate from their travels and to prepare for this weekend’s three FREE performances of Classically Contemporary at Miller Outdoor Theatre. 

Classically Contemporary, running May 8-10 at 8 pm each night, is a mixed repertory program including Stanton Welch’s Nosotros and Medieval Baebes, Hans van Manen’s Solo, and George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux.  Each provides a beautiful interpretation of classical ballet that shows the range and evolution of dance styles and the virtuosity of Houston Ballet’s dancers.

While all performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are free of charge, Houston Ballet’s performances of Classically Contemporary require tickets to the seated area.  Tickets are available on the day of the performance from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre Box Office. Any tickets remaining are distributed one hour before curtain. There is a limit of four tickets per person. Please call 281.FREE.FUN (281-373-3386) for further ticket information or visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.com.

We hope you’ll join us on the hill for a lovely evening of ballet!

Interview from Spain on KUHF Tomorrow

If you’re interested, KUHF (88.7 FM) will air an interview with our general manager Jim Nelson from Spain–tomorrow at noon on The Front Row.  Jim will give a from-the-road update on the company’s travels and performances. Enjoy!