Houston Ballet II Steps Center Stage in Toronto

From April 28 – May 4, the dancers of Houston Ballet II will tour to Toronto to appear in the prestigious international ballet festival Assemblée Internationale 2013 (AI13) in the Betty Oliphant Theatre at 404 Jarvis Street. Houston Ballet II dancers will appear along side other young dancers from some of the world’s most elite training institutions, including Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Ballet of London, the Royal Danish Ballet, the National Ballet of Cuba, and The Australian Ballet.

Ballet: Fingerprints; Dancers: Artists of Houston Ballet II; Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Hosted by Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS), the AI13 will bring together students and artistic staff from eighteen international professional ballet schools for an intensive seven days of classes, performances, forums and professional development. Former Houston Ballet dancer Garrett Smith is choreographing a new work that will premiere at the festival. Houston Ballet II will also perform the first movement of Stanton Welch’s work Fingerprints, inspired by the music of the famous Kronos Quartet’s Pieces of Africa.

Tickets to four public performances can be purchased by calling the box office at 416-964-5148 or by email at boxoffice@nbs-enb.ca. For more information, visit Assemblée Internationale’s website. 

We are so proud that Houston Ballet II has been invited to Toronto to participate in the prestigious Assemblee Internationale 2013, the international ballet festival April 28 – May 4. Learn more about this innovative program that brings together the best young dancers from all over the world for an incredible week of classes, professional development and performances.

Corps Member and Choreographer Garrett Smith’s Work to be Performed at Jubilee of Dance

Guest writer: Lorena Capellan, PR intern

Each year Houston Ballet performs the Jubilee of Dance, a one-night-only gala performance of audience favorites and dancer showcases.  This year’s Jubilee of Dance, held on December 3, will feature the second movement of Garrett Smith’s Vivacious Dispositions.  A corps de ballet member with Houston Ballet, Mr. Smith is a burgeoning young choreographer whose work has already been performed in the United States and abroad.  I had a chance to chat with him about his work and what it means to him for his choreography to be featured in a Houston Ballet performance.

LC:  What inspired you to create this piece? Is there a story/meaning behind it?
GS:  The music is what inspired me because there is something special and unique about Baroque music.  The distinct harpsichord accompanied by the dramatic strings act like the bass of a modern pop song.  Vivaldi has a way of bringing dramatic sound to the strings with the heavy and pounding beat that intensifies but is also playful.  When I hear his cello concertos in a minor key, I relate so well to the dark and mysterious tones.  Also, the liveliness and vivacious energy you feel when listening to the music of his double cello concerto immediately draws me in, making my body move which inspires contemporary movement.

LC:  How did you pick the music? Is it a piece you always wanted to choreograph to?
GS:  I was searching for cello concertos, mainly works composed by Antonio Vivaldi when choosing music for this piece.  I was actually on YouTube when I first heard his double concerto in G minor.  I loved it! I played the music over and over, that whole night.

LC:  What essence or mood were you trying to capture with your choreography?
GS:  There were specific moods I wanted to capture through the three different movements, or “dispositions”.  The first movement was first created when I heard “La Nolte,” which means “The Night.”  This was a very fast and energetic flute concerto by Vivaldi and was meant to be the “Vivacious” disposition.  It is full of energy with a hint of flirt and dramatics.  The ideas were mainly about vivacious personality or energy.  The second movement was inspired by a calm beautiful oboe concerto.  This dance happens first as a pas de deux between a man and a woman.  It also represents a calm, shy, expressive, and more intimate disposition.  The last movement is inspired and created from the music itself, Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto in G minor. The music says it all: power, playful, friendly, expressive, and positive.  This music just makes me want to dance!   For the Jubilee of Dance, we’ll be performing the second slower movement.

LC:  How was it choreographing on your fellow company members?  Did you pick the cast?  If yes, why did you pick who you did?
GS:  Choreographing on my fellow company members was a huge treat.  I really had no limitations.  The talent in this company is crazy!  I did select a certain few dancers from pieces I had choreographed in the past because I am a big fan of their movement and versatility.  I also picked some others I had not yet had a chance to work with yet.  I was very anxious to work with them because I knew they would bring my ideas to life without words.

LC:  Were there any unanticipated challenges?
GS:  There were of course challenges here and there.  Sometimes I get a crazy idea or lifts in my head that are almost impossible, so I recreated them in rehearsals and changed the vision a little.  This cost time, but I grew from the experience and any other challenge I faced.

LC:  What does it mean to you for an excerpt to be performed on the Brown Theater with the professional company?
GS:  For me to have an excerpt from my choreography on the Brown Theater stage for the very first time is some of the most exciting news Stanton could have told me this season.  The Brown Theater stage is massive.  I am so excited to have my work on such a great stage so the dancers can utilize all the space and let the movement really come to life as they dance this again.  It really is a big step for me to have the opportunity of using this professional venue to show the viewers the second movement of Vivacious Dispositions on this stage at the gala.  I think the most exciting part of this opportunity is it gives my mom and dad a good reason to fly here to see my choreography!  They have never seen Houston Ballet perform, and have never been in the Brown Theater.  I’m so happy that they will be here to see an important first moment for me.

-Lorena

Blogging from the Road: HBII’s Tour to Germany

Guest writer:  Jim Nelson, general manager

It is so gratifying to look back over the past few years and see the growth of our second company, Houston Ballet II (HBII).

While so many dance companies say they have a second company, when you look closely they are generally a group of upper level students who sometimes dance with the first company in larger productions like The Nutcracker, Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty.  Rarely are these junior companies giving their own fully-produced performances in professional venues. 

That is what sets Houston Ballet’s second company apart from the majority of dance companies around the globe.  In 2006, we took a leap of faith that our second company was ready to give public performances that had less of a graduation concert feel or educational/outreach focus.  Our first season on the road included a terrific trip to Monterrey, Mexico as part of the Extremadura Gran Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporanea.  Since 2006, HBII has performed internationally in Hungary and China as well as nationally in Louisiana, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma.  Additionally, HBII performs regularly in Houston at Wortham Theater Center, Discovery Green, Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the Moores School of Music at The University of Houston.

From April 18-28, I’ll be accompanying HBII to Germany for a five-performance, two-city tour.  We’re traveling with 12 dancers, ballet master Claudio Muñoz, and production manager Brian Walker.  We will give four performances in Schweinfurt and one performance in Villingen-Schwenningen.  We fly from Houston to Frankfurt and then bus to Schweinfurt.  The repertoire for this tour is Stanton Welch’s Long and Winding Road and Blue, Garrett Smith’s Den III, and Claudio Muñoz’s staging of excerpts from Raymonda (Act III).  And while the dancers are all quite young (16-18), there is nothing junior or watered down when these dancers take the stage.

This tour is a real milestone for HBII, and I’m terribly proud of all they have achieved.  The touring component is only one part of the HBII program, but it serves us in providing additional performance opportunities, expanding our national and international presence, and attracting the best dancers we can find to Houston Ballet and the Houston Ballet Academy.  The success of the program is the result of the great work of the Houston Ballet Academy, which is led by Stanton Welch, Shelly Power and ballet masters Claudio Muñoz and Sabrina Lenzi.  I don’t know of another second company that has the level of dancers we do:  three Prix de Lausanne finalists (including a winner) in a group of twelve dancers!

I’ll be sending photo updates and blogs from overseas.  Follow us while we embark on this great adventure!

-Jim

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…