Theater District Open House

Guest writer: Sarah Stern, marketing manager

You may think the artistic and administrative staff gets a break during the summer since we’re on performance hiatus from June-September. Unfortunately for us, this is not the case.  Here are a few things we’ve been working on in the office:

-The production department has had their hands full keeping up with the Academy’s multiple performances.  Everyday life at the studios has also been borderline chaotic since all studios are filled with students from the summer intensive.  There are two summer intensive performances today and tomorrow at San Jacinto Community College, and every time we perform in a new and different space, it produces some challenges for the production staff.
-The wardrobe department is in high gear building tutus and working with designer Kandis Cook on shopping for fabrics for Stanton Welch’s world premiere of Marie. They’re also building from scratch costumes for another world premiere of his, Medieval Babes, which will be performed in September.  All while they’re re-habbing some costumes from The Nutcracker to keep them fresh and in good repair.
-The development department is working away on The Nutcracker Market (the giant that never seems to sleep!)
-The academy staff, as you read from Lindsey’s blog, is working to pull off 4 successful performances this week to cap the summer intensive.  After these are over, they will take a much-deserved break before full-time students arrive back in August.

As for me, I’m busily preparing for this year’s Theater District Open House, which will be held on Sunday, August 24 from 12-5pm.  This event is a unique opportunity for patrons like you to go backstage in all of the theater district venues, meet the performers, watch free performances, and take advantage of some great ticket deals. Houston Ballet will be displaying costumes and props from the 2008-2009 season, and we will have costumed characters from The Nutcracker ready to take pictures with you.  HBII, our professional training company, will perform at noon in the Cullen Theater of Wortham Theater Center. The performance is free and seating is first come, first served.

So if you’re looking for a fun way to spend your Sunday afternoon in downtown Houston, this event is great–free food, free entertainment, and a great way to get to know Houston Ballet a little better!

-Sarah

Summer Intensive from the Inside

Guest writer: Lindsey Hurst, Ben Stevenson Academy administrative associate

Approximately 200 students plus an estimated 200 classes a week.  Five performances within two weeks, four of which occur over two days…they don’t call it an intensive for nothing.

Looking back on June 9th, just a week out from commencement of the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy’s 2008 Summer Intensive Program, the administrative staff felt as though we were standing among the foothills of Mount Everest staring at the summit.  Registration forms, scheduling, arranging student visas for students from over 10 different countries…it is easy to say we had our work cut out for us. 

Then June 16th arrives, and prepared or not, the train has left the station.  HBBSA’s Summer Intensive Program is intense for everyone involved.  Students, teachers, staff, and parents–everyone is involved in the process of taking these students from studio to stage.  Students and teachers spend hours in the studio training, instructing, and perfecting their art.  Parents provide their love, support, and of course pocket books.  Meanwhile, the administrative staff handles the random and in between. Perhaps one day it is scheduling a doctor’s appointment or assisting the teachers with casting.  The next day it could be dolling out lunches or setting up tables for a Career Studies class.  Creating programs for performances, providing CD and DVD support for teachers, preparing journals for students can all be attributed to the work of the Academy’s administrative staff too.  Amongst our more traditional duties of registering, managing, and scheduling the summer program, the administrative staff likes to think of ourselves as a bevy of renaissance women.  Give us a task, and somehow, some way it will be accomplished!

Over the course of the summer program, the administrative staff faces trials and tribulations, toils and snares, but in the end it is never in vain.  We may get tired, and cranky, and make a mistake here and there; but then again we’re human.  More importantly, we all feel honored to be a part of something so big for so many students.  For when the sixth week rolls around and we somehow put on four shows in two days, one can’t help but smile when watching the students do what the love…dance.  To see the talent and ability of each student is a pleasure and delight.  The administrative staff only hopes that each student’s experience during the summer is one they will enjoy and cherish for years to come.  As the curtain comes down on the final performance, it resembles a tidy bow wrapping up the end of an exceptional experience. 

-Lindsey

Don’t Judge Me By My Tights

Here’s a really interesting article about the stereotypes associated with being a male dancer that was published several months ago in Newsweek magazine. Enjoy!