The Tradition Continues

Guest writer: Katelyn May, student of the Ben Stevenson Academy

Nothing starts the holiday season for me like the beginnings of The Nutcracker.  A family tradition since I was five years old, my parents would cart the troops (also known as my grandparents, sister and I) to the theater to watch the magical ballerinas turn, jump and carry us away to the Land of the Sweets.  I remember watching these magical creatures and wishing that one day it would be me.  Now I am getting my chance.

I am a second year student at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy; therefore, this is my second season performing in the company’s production of The Nutcracker.  I may not be the swirling and twirling ballerina that makes this performance so memorable (meaning that I play a role as a rat) but I find the experience to be rather enjoyable.  Despite popular opinion, I like performing this production over 30 times.  I have to admit, it’s hard sometimes to keep up the morale of all participants somewhere around the 15th show, but overall it is a memorable experience.  When those hard times hit, I find that it helps me to remind myself of all of those little kids out there who, like me, are aspiring to become ballerinas that dance in the Land of the Sweets.  I think it is this reminder that will continue to keep this production going on.

As for me, I find it enjoyable to perform this ballet so many times because I get to watch the people that I idolize dance.  Not only is it great as an entertainment aspect, but I also learn new techniques of dance and performance from watching them.  I try to apply these techniques to myself so that one day I may be the Sugar Plum Fairy. 

Performing so many shows is also special socially.  We are at the theater not only for the month that we are performing, but we also start rehearsing almost a month before the actual opening of the show.  Needless to say, we learn a lot about each other.  Most of us (the Academy students) live away from home, and it is nice to have a wide support base of friends during the holiday season, when it can be the hardest time to be away from home.

Each Nutcracker season is so unique, and I look forward to all of the performances to come. 

-Katelyn

Follow-up to Sara Webb’s Blog

We are happy to report Ms. Webb gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Monday, November 26. Sara, her husband Ryan, and baby Joshua Keith are all doing fine.

Look for a new blog from Sara in the spring about her return to the stage…

Rentals Galore!

Guest writer:  Brian Walker, Production Manager

Something most people don’t realize is when they come to the ballet, frequently what they see on stage does not belong to Houston Ballet.  It is very rare for a ballet company to own 100% of the ballets that it is performing in any given season. As a result, there is a booming rental business that exists as part of our industry.  In any given season Houston Ballet will rent anywhere from 3 – 7 of the ballets performed.  This season, productions that were or are being rented are Petite Mort, Cinderella, Falling and Five Tangos.  Even The Merry Widow was a rental until we decided to purchase the production from Pacific Northwest Ballet. 

We begin our planning process to secure rentals a year to two years in advance depending on how much we know about our season and whether we feel we will have a problem getting a particular production.  We are one of the few companies that actually plans as far out as we do, which often creates problems for the companies that we are renting from who don’t know their own seasons yet.  It takes quite a bit of planning and follow-up to make sure that we can get the productions with enough time for fittings and alterations.

We have a unique setup with the Australian Ballet in that when we rent a production from them, we keep the show for 18 months.  This allows us to perform the show multiple times.  We have had Madame Butterfly for about a year already and have performed it at the Wortham, on tour this fall, and we will be performing it again on the spring tour to Montreal.  We also have their production Cinderella, which will probably have a similar a life while it is in the United States.  We do this to maximize our costs because in addition to the rental cost, there are significant shipping costs involved in getting and returning the show to Australia.

In addition to renting shows for our own performances, we rent out a lot of our productions to other companies.  Some of the ballets that we currently have on the books for rental are Bruiser, Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Giselle, Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Four Last Songs and Cleopatra.  Our production of Dracula will be rented out 5 times over the next 4 seasons.  Houston Ballet has been a major provider of full length ballets, having built quite a few productions throughout the years.  Our rentals generate roughly $100 – $150,000 in income a year depending on the total number of productions that go out on rental.  We spend a lot of time maintaining the productions that are rented so that they can continue to have a life for our own use and for the use of other companies on rentals.

Rentals are a big part of the ballet business, but not something that most people really have any idea about. 

-Brian

Houston Ballet is Now on Facebook!

Houston Ballet’s new Facebook page is the perfect place to watch exclusive dress rehearsal videos, see pictures from our productions, and chat with other Houston Ballet lovers on our wall.  We also created a group called “Fans of Houston Ballet”.  By joining, you will be alerted about upcoming shows and receive announcements about the company.

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Tis’ the season to be dancing…

Guest writer: Aria Alekzander, corps de ballet
(Read Ms. Alekzander’s bio…)

To put it boldly, I love The Nutcracker. With that statement I’m at the risk of a pointe shoe or two being tossed at my head. Like most ballet dancers I performed my first Nutcracker at the mature age of six, and now getting ready for this year’s production I’ve performed well over a couple hundred Nutcrackers. By now the music should be more haunting than enlightening and the costumes more heavy and itchy than beautiful and glamorous.

However, I will again put myself in the ring of fire and say I love The Nutcracker. I’m not sure what the reason is for my chemical imbalance. But the truth is, no matter how many performances, no matter how many rehearsals, the music is never less than uplifting and the shows never lose their magic. I believe the main reason for this is that I come from a dancing family: both my parents were dancers and currently direct a small ballet company, I have an older brother who dances and a younger sister who dances as well. I like to think of our family as the Von Trapp family of ballet. So growing up, my holiday memories coincide with my Nutcracker memories. My mother choreographed her version of The Nutcracker while she was pregnant with me. So I like to also think that my rare reaction of joy and happiness to The Nutcracker is due to the fact that I heard the Waltz of the Flowers while still in the womb, and I was practically born into candyland.

I love each Nutcracker season differently and hope that some of my favorite memories have been and will continue to be shared with the audience. Starting as a little soldier, dreaming of becoming one of the big girls with toe shoes, it’s unbelievable how my dreams have come true.

This being my first season at Houston Ballet, I’m thrilled to hear that we have over thirty performances of The Nutcracker. With inspiration in every rehearsal studio, I look forward to my favorite time of year. See you all in candyland!

-Aria