Houston Ballet Announces Promotions and Additions to Company for 2013-2014 Season

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Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced plans today for the company's 2013-2014 season, including eight promotions and additions of several new dancers. Houston Ballet's roster now stands at 53 dancers.

Jessica Collado and Katharine Precourt have been promoted from soloist to first soloist, and Christopher Gray has been promoted from corps de ballet to demi soloist. Apprentices Dylan Lackey, Zecheng Liang, Madeline Skelly, Alyssa Springer (all graduates of Houston Ballet Academy) and Derek Dunn have moved up to the corps de ballet.

Houston Ballet II graduates Asia Bui, Silken Kelly, Rhys Kosakowski, Bridget Kuhns, Hayden Stark, and Joel Woellner join the company as apprentices. Mr. Woellner placed sixth overall out of 78 international contestants and won the Contemporary Dance Prize at the 2013 Prix de Lausanne Dance Competition. Renee Kester, who trained at Southland Ballet Academy and Washington Ballet, also joins the company as an apprentice.

Houston Ballet has six ranks of dancers: apprentice, corps de ballet, demi soloist, soloist, first soloist, and principal, the top level in the company.

Jessica Collado on being promoted:

Ms. Collado remarks, "I couldn't be more excited about my promotion to First Soloist. I only hope that with this promotion I will continue to be pushed and challenged as a dancer and as an artist. It has been a wonderful journey so far...I look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead."

Jessica Collado was born in Coral Springs, Florida and was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She trained with the Gwinnett Ballet Theater under the direction of Lisa Sheppard Robson. During her summers, Ms. Collado attended programs at South Carolina University and Boston Ballet. Between 2001-2003, Ms. Collado attended Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy Summer Intensives as well as a year with Houston Ballet II on full scholarship. Upon her graduation from the academy in the spring of 2004, she received the Michael Wasmund Memorial Award. Ms. Collado joined Houston Ballet as an apprentice in July 2004, was promoted to the corps de ballet in July 2005, to demi soloist in March 2009, to soloist in July 2011, and to first soloist July 2013.

2009, Ms. Collado was named "25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine. And she was awarded "Top 10 Standout Performances in 2011" by Pointe Magazine for her performance in Christopher Bruce's Grinning In Your Face. Ms. Collado has also had the privilege of performing with Houston based company iMEE and San Francisco based company Post:Ballet.

Ms. Precourt on being promoted:

"It is always an honor to be promoted. I feel particularly lucky and thankful to be recognized and rewarded for what I love to do. I am looking forward to an exciting season and many new challenges and opportunities in the future." commented Ms. Precourt.

Katharine Precourt began her dance training under the direction of Robin Morgan at the San Diego School of Ballet, where her teachers included the legendary Dame Sonia Arova and Jillana. At the age of ten she was selected for the part of Clara in the San Francisco Ballet's The Nutcracker and the following year she performed with American Ballet Theatre in their televised production of Le Corsaire. Ms. Precourt attended Summer Intensive programs on full merit scholarship at some of the most renowned schools in the nation: Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy, the School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School and she was the recipient of a scholarship award from Regional Dance America to American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive program. She continued her training year round in Houston as a member of Houston Ballet II and during this time she was an ARTS Ballet Award winner in the 2004 competition sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. She was then invited to perform at their 2005 Gala honoring Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Ms. Precourt is delighted to have the opportunity to participate and dance in community related events and fund-raising benefits including the 2011 Pink at the Brown. She also represented the company, performing with the Houston Ballet II, at the inauguration of the new award-winning Houston Ballet's Center for Dance.

Pictured: Jessica Collado at Houston Ballet