Houston Ballet Announces 40th Anniversary Season!

Following last season's triumphant premiere of Marie, Houston Ballet returns to the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts on October 24 at 8pm for a special command performance to open NOBA's 40th Anniversary season of dance.

Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the nation's best ballet companies," Houston Ballet has a long relationship with New Orleans that began in 1979 when the company first performed here. The company, also celebrating its 40th anniversary this season, brings an extraordinary program of work by four of the world's preeminent choreographers. The evening begins with Nacho Duato's poignant Jardí Tancat (1983), set to Catalonian folk tales passionately sung by Spanish vocalist Maria del Mar Bonet. With a sweet, yet fervent melancholy, these folksongs and their dance portrayal tell the story of the people who work the barren land praying for rain that does not come.

Stanton Welch's Falling, originally created for the San Francisco Ballet in 2005, is a classical, playful piece for five couples set to Mozart's Salzburg Symphonies. At the premiere, Michael Wade Simpson of the San Francisco Chronicle observed, "The whole work has a fresh sense of direction and musicality....Falling is a delight in shades of pastel, with good ideas and excellent dancing delivered in a joyful, Mozartian spirit."

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (1996), set to Franz Schubert's Allegro Vivace from his Sympony No. 9 in C Major, is a series of solo variations, pas de deux, pas de trois and ensemble sections for five dancers, two men and three women. One of William Forsythe's more conventional ballets, this dynamic 12-minute work is full of energy and vitality and "is a brilliant outburst of neo-classical style." (The New York Times)

Having recently added its first piece by Twyla Tharp, Houston Ballet closes the evening with her signature work, In The Upper Room. As one of America's most celebrated dance makers and director of the Broadway hit Movin' Out, Tharp has a reputation for merging modern dance and ballet set to a variety of music types. In The Upper Room (1986), is a hard-driving, yet spiritual contemporary work set to music by Phillip Glass. "Legend has it that Tharp named her 1986 opus for a Mahalia Jackson recording that refers to the upper room where Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Last Supper. In Tharp's view, a dance floor is a similarly exalted space. Her place of reverence is a wide-open stage, with ballerinas in flippy skirts and pointe shoes sharing the spotlight with the other dancers in trousers and sneakers. The effect is not ironic, but harmonious." (The Washington Post)

The Houston Ballet performance begins at 8pm; ticket prices range from $20 to $125. Students and seniors (65 and older) receive a $7 discount off the regular ticket prices of $40 and higher. Group discounts also are available. For tickets or information, call the New Orleans Ballet Association Box Office at (504) 522-0996. Tickets may be purchased online through www.nobadance.com, or via Ticketmaster at (504) 522-5555 or www.ticketmaster.com.

In addition to the performance, Houston Ballet will also conduct two master classes. On Friday, October 23, there will be a community class at 6:30pm at Tulane University's McWilliams Hall. On Saturday, October 24 at 11am, the company will conduct a ballet master class for the NORD/NOBA Center For Dance. For more information about master class opportunities call (504) 522-0996 x 203 or email cmock@nobadance.com.