Free Performance by HBII This Weekend at Miller Outdoor Theatre

Join us for the 15th Annual Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance, September 25-26.  Presented by Dance Source Houston, this is a free dance festival that will take place at Miller Outdoor Theatre and will showcase Houston’s finest range of choreographic styles set to a variety of music, including Amy Ell’s gravity-defying aerial dance skills in Thread; Freneticore’s dance-on-film, Tetjusin; and Polly Motley’s Charmed Romantics, performed by the Atlanta/Houston company CORE Performance Company. Other works include those by Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Hope Stone, Urban Souls Dance Company, and many more.  For more information about the festival, please visit Dance Source Houston’s website.

HBII, Houston Ballet’s pre-professional training company, will perform “Dance Around the World” on September 26 at 11 AM.  This special family matinee is a free event at Miller Outdoor Theatre which will showcase the many talents of our second company.

Come help us celebrate the great dance talent that Houston offers!

Behind the scenes at Houston Ballet’s commercial shoots

Here is a great blog entry by Locke Bryan Productions about the making of our television commercials.  We’ve been working with Locke Bryan for many years, and the results are always fantastic.  With their help we’ve won 3 Gold Addy Awards and 1 Silver.  Enjoy!

A Very Special Audition Opportunity

Guest writer: Melissa Seuffert, public relations intern for Houston Ballet

Growing up as the granddaughter of a European ballerina who came to the U.S. and founded her own ballet company, I’ve had my fair share of Nutcracker experiences.  My most vivid memory was watching dress rehearsals with my grandmother.  It was always so magical seeing visions come to life, and every performance I see to this day captures me in a way that takes me back to my childhood.  I’ll admit it; dreams of being the Sugar Plum Fairy still manage to find their way into my head.

Imagine how excited I was to find out that this year, for the first time EVER, Houston Ballet is opening up auditions so young ballerinas can have the opportunity I missed – to dance in this year’s production of The Nutcracker as Mother Ginger’s clowns!  Head over to Houston Ballet’s studios (1921 W. Bell in River Oaks) on Saturday, September 26 at 3 PM ready to dance.  The audition is open to girls aged 10-12 who are no more than 4’10” in height and have had at least four years of ballet training.

Mother Ginger Clowns from Houston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Photo by Jim Caldwell.

If you’d like more information about the auditions, contact Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy at 713.535.3210.  If I were you – or your daughter, niece, granddaughter, you name it – I wouldn’t miss this chance to shine!  If only I’d had the chance to dance with the big wigs like these girls will, maybe this Houston Ballet intern wouldn’t be sitting at the computer, but dancing in the studios instead.

-Melissa

What’s in Amy Fote’s Closet?

Principal dancer Amy Fote discusses her fashion sense with the Houston Chronicle.  Check out the article here.  Fote will make her debut as the lead in Manon, running September 10-20.