Houston Ballet Receives NEA Grant

Houston Ballet has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts! The prestigious $40,000 grant will assist in the creation of new works by Stanton Welch (debuting in March 2012) and Nicolo Fonte (debuting in May 2012). The NEA has been a long and valued partner to Houston Ballet over the years, making it possible for the company to commission many new works and bring new pieces into Houston Ballet’s repertoire.

You can see the NEA’s grant put to good use by attending performances of Rock, Roll & Tutus and Made in America. Don’t miss your chance to see an exciting world premiere! Tickets are available at www.houstonballet.org

Houston Ballet opens with Return of the Masters

Houston Ballet will kick off the 2011-2012 season with Return of the Masters, a program showcasing three stunning works that have been absent from our repertoire for too long! We’re thrilled to bring back Sir Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs, Jerome Robbins’s In the Night and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth. Artistic Director Stanton Welch shares his thoughts and a little background information on each of the ballets here.

Enjoy these beautiful photos from our archives and definitely check out our photo gallery for more! Return of the Masters opens Thursday,  September 8 and runs through September 18.

Li Cunxin, Janie Parker & Gregg Garrett in Song of the Earth p. Geoff Winningham

Mireille Hassenboehler & Susan Bryant in Les Patineurs p. Geoff Winningham

Janie Parker & Li Cunxin in Jerome Robbins's In the Night p. Geoff Winningham

Off to the Races

Guest writer: Andrew Edmonson, director of marketing and public relations

Houston Ballet’s dancers are leaping towards the conclusion of our 2009-2010 season.  Instead of a leisurely stroll around the home stretch, the company is engaged in an all-out sprint to the finish line on June 20, performing seven ballets, in three venues, in two different states, over the next seven weeks. 

First up on the calendar is an annual rite of spring for the company:  three free performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre Friday, May 7 – Sunday, May 9.   This year, Stanton has put together a stellar program that showcases the contemporary side of the company’s repertoire:  Nacho Duato’s modern classic Jardí Tancat  (literal translation:  Enclosed Garden), set to the haunting Spanish folk songs of  Marie del Mar Bonet; Twyla Tharp’s groundbreaking work In the Upper Room that takes its audience on an exalted journey from earth to a more transcendent space; and Stanton’s beautifully classical work for five couples to the music of Mozart, Falling.   Take a peak at Stanton’s Falling on Youtube. 

From May 27 – June 6, the company returns to Wortham Theater Center to present Pecos, a mixed repertory program featuring the company premiere of George Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina.  A very special style is required to perform Balanchine’s works.   Our dancers have been blessed to be taught and coached in Ballo by the legendary American ballerina Merrill Ashley, who not only had the good fortune to work with Balanchine from 1967 to 1983, but also created the leading female role in Ballo in 1978. 

“Balanchine always seemed to take special delight in challenging me with difficult steps, and since he knew I excelled at moving quickly, he decided to make that the feature of Ballo – virtuoso steps at high speed,” commented Ms. Ashley.  “He highlighted all my strengths in Ballo, giving me a ballet that not only was challenging and fun to dance, but one that gave me the opportunity to communicate the joy of dance, which was my favorite mood to express on stage. Ballo epitomizes the essence of the technique that he advocated, as it requires extreme precision, clarity, speed, and expansive movement. Dancers who are not trained in the Balanchine style are always startled to find how much easier the steps are when they use the technique Balanchine advocated. His choreography is constructed with the idea that the steps will be done as he would have taught them. That is what makes the angles of the steps look best, and what makes the transitions from step-to-step possible at high speeds.”

For more information on Ms. Ashley and her amazing career, read a 1997 interview with her in The New York Times discussing her special link to Balanchine, and the 1997 review of her final performance with New York City Ballet detailing so many of the qualities that audience adored about her.

A very different balletic style is required to perform the works of Sir Frederick Ashton, whose 1960 masterpiece La Fille mal gardée closes Houston Ballet’s season on June 10-20.  The English critic Alastair Macaulay has observed, “The ballet style shown in Ashton’s ballets is a particularly intricate one, with upper and lower body maintaining a lively activity, and many internal embellishments of head, arms, épaulement and footwork.”  Two experts in the Ashton style have been in Houston helping our dancers to prepare to perform Fille:  Englishman Christopher Carr, a former dancer and ballet master with London’s Royal Ballet, and Australian Grant Coyle, principal dance notator to The Royal Ballet.

There will be no rest for the weary.  The weekend after Fille opens, ten Houston Ballet dancers will hop on a plane to Washington, D.C. to perform Stanton’s work, Falling, for the prestigious national ballet festival, Ballet Across America II, at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Houston Ballet was a part of the very successful first installment of Ballet Across America in 2008 and is very happy to make its 8th appearance at The Kennedy Center.  Houston Ballet opens the festival Tuesday, June 15 and Wednesday, June 16 on a program with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre.

Then the ten dancers who performed in Ballet Across America will rush back to Houston for the final four performances of Fille June 18 – 20.  And then, it’s off to a very well-deserved long summer break for most of the company. 

-Andrew

On the road to the Prix de Lausanne, part III

Guest writer: Shelly Power, associate director of Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy

My duty today is to transition from Houston Ballet Academy Associate Director to Prix de Lausanne jury member. Now that Claudio Munoz has arrived, my transition should be easier…right Claudio?

Claudio arrived in Lausanne around 8:30 am and made his way to the hotel, and then met HBII’s at 12:15 for the official registration. Claudio will not only observe our students, but he will begin tomorrow to find those he wishes to recruit for Houston Ballet’s summer program and perhaps the year. He will watch select classes and make notes of student numbers, then follow them throughout the weekend.  No approaches are made to students until the final round as not to disrupt their concentration on the competition. He will observe classes as well as stage time. Many long hours of sitting, watching and waiting will begin for Claudio.

My day began with a 9:00 am jury meeting to assure that we understand the policies and procedures of the Prix.  The Theatre de Beaulieu jury room looks out to Lausanne’s beautiful architecture, giving a sense of solidarity and fortitude. Against the church steeples, the hills and valleys are more beautiful views of the lake outlined with the snow-tipped Alps.  The skies are usually clouded over and a bit gray this time of year, and today is no different. Growing up in frigid cold winters, I appreciate having only one week of winter, and that week being in Switzerland (albeit inside) happens to make it all the better.

We begin with observation only today with no scoring. Without the pressure of scoring we are to (hopefully) become better acquainted with all 70 contestants. We all shine in different ways and this is no different. Students must come in ready to show what brought them to the Prix in the first place, whether that means one or several different talents. Artistry, facility, and natural movement are all among those attributes we search for at this competition, along with technical abilities and most important: potential.

At the end of today, we completed four 1 ½ hour classes of observation time.  I felt it gave us a good introduction to the overall group. This year the Prix has more boys competing than girls, which marks the first time in Prix history.  There were over 220 applicants originally (also a record), which resulted in only 70 acceptances. 

I had little, if any, contact with our HBIIs today and of course I am not to comment on any of them. But I think I am safe to say that they were acknowledged as being good candidates (don’t read anything more into this than that).  All three appeared to be having fun and ready for the week’s challenge.

Sitting on the other side of the table is definitely different, as you don’t get to feel the pressure-cooking quite the same as you do behind the scenes.  Imagine sitting in the pit of the Indy 500 with racecar engines roaring and revving up for the big race. Backstage is much the same.

On this side of the table however, I find myself turning inwards, searching for the most intuitive approach to assessing these young students. Life doesn’t deal anyone a totally fair hand, but in the midst of our imperfections I believe there is a natural order that seems to make it all fall into place and allows each of us to make choices as we gather feedback along the way. So although the engines are a bit quieter for me, the anticipation is perhaps a little more intense knowing that my vote does count this round.

I hope to serve the jury well and to provide each candidate my undivided attention, as they all deserve this moment in time as a fresh new beginning.  Wish me luck.

And by the way, the rumors about Swiss chocolate are NOT exaggerated.

-Shelly

P.S. I don’t want to forget a “shout out” to the ladies in the Academy–Liz, Jennifer, Rachel and Lindsey!

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Performance Cancelled

Due to inclement weather, the October 9 performance of Houston Ballet’s Swan Lake + Two program was cancelled.  If you purchased tickets to this performance, please visit the Pavilion’s website for more information about refunds.  Thank you, and very sorry for any inconvenience!

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!

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.

My Favorite Roles

Continuing with questions posed to us on Facebook, Nancy Sands asks:  What are your dancers’ favorite roles and why?

Soloist Nao Kusuzaki took a break from rehearsal to answer:

I’ve been thinking about your question for a few days–there are so many!–and I’ve narrowed it down to four.  They are:

“Red Couple” in Stanton Welch’s Tu Tu.  This ballet is simply gorgeous–its movement and music harmoniously creates an exquisite piece of jewelry to be showcased.  So just from watching the ballet, Tu Tu was a special piece to me.  And it became even more so in dancing the Red Couple.  The Red Couple dances a luxurious pas de deux: always flowing and graceful, and unexpectedly dynamic, balancing fragility, strength, searching, yearning.  Experiencing and exploring these sensations in studio and on stage, it now holds a special place in my heart.  

Suzuki in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly is another one of my favorites.  From the beginning of rehearsal, I felt a deep sense of connection to this ballet through my Japanese roots, and while exploring Suzuki’s character I became attached and attracted to her attributes—her strength, integrity, stubbornness, kindness, charm, drama, and character–a true friend who is always on Cio-Cio San’s side.  I came to find out how complex this character was and couldn’t leave her alone.  I enjoyed nurturing her.

Grandmother in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker–because she is the oldest character I’ve tackled so far!  She and the Grandfather are the oldest characters in the ballet, and yet they have as much fun as Clara and Fritz.  I love that!  Not to mention it has stretched me in a different way than a typical dancing role or a character.

Dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker is a role I love and look forward to every year because it is one of the most elegant, classical, and challenging ballet characters.  Every year I’m humbled–it does not get easier!  She is the quintessential ballerina role; growing up, I looked up to her, and I’m finding out it’s quite a task portraying and becoming this beauty!

Best Regards,
Nao

HB Receives Stellar Review from Chicago Dancing Festival

This past weekend, Houston Ballet sent five dancers to Chicago to participate in the Chicago Dancing Festival.  Sara Webb, Connor Walsh, Melody Herrera, Jessica Collado, and Joe Walsh performed William Forsythe’s tour-de-force The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude for 9,000 dance fans at Millennium Park.  Here’s a stellar review for our great group of dancers!