Stanton Welch News

One of Bollywood's brightest stars, Australian born Pallavi Sharda will add a touch of Bollywood glamour to the opening night of Stanton Welch's La Bayadère when she joins Melbourne's glitterati for its Australian première this August.

April 26, 2014 marks the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth. In honor of this milestone in world culture, Houston Ballet will present dance interpretations of great Shakespearean works by choreographers from three continents: a lavish new production of Romeo and Juliet by Stanton Welch; the company premiere of John Neumeier's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a revival of John Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew.

Houston Ballet is closing their 2013-2014 season with a gorgeous revival of Stanton Welch's SWAN LAKE. Settling in for the lengthy production, I could barely contain my excitement. Impressed as I was by the show, I discovered that Darren Aronosky's Black Swan left me with expectations for the ballet that were not delivered.

From today, June 15-15, 2014, Houston Ballet will cap its 2013-14 season with Stanton Welch's vibrantly theatrical staging of Swan Lake, which he created for Houston Ballet in 2006.

Summer is upon us, and Houston Ballet is helping Houstonians beat the heat by presenting the idyllic classic SWAN LAKE. Featuring choreography by Stanton Welch, this version of SWAN LAKE first premiered in 2006 and this production marks the third time that Houston Ballet dances this crowd-pleasing version. In anticipation of Thursday's opening night, I recently chatted with Sara Webb about SWAN LAKE and dancing the iconic dual roles of the White and Black Swans.

Living in Houston and covering Houston's illustrious theatre scene thoroughly spoils us. However, we are always more than happy to share the wealth and talk about what is happening all over town. This summer, we are thrilled that Houston's theatre community is embracing women and giving Houston audiences the chance to see a plethora of shows featuring strong female characters and fascinating female leads.

From June 15-15, 2014, Houston Ballet will cap its 2013-14 season with Stanton Welch's vibrantly theatrical staging of Swan Lake, which he created for Houston Ballet in 2006. Set to the hauntingly beautiful Tchaikovsky score, Swan Lake tells the classic tale of Odette - a beautiful maiden transformed into a swan by an evil knight - and the prince who swears his enduring love for her. It's good and evil in black and white, danced on rich and spectacular sets by the late, great New Zealand designer Kristian Fredrikson. Houston Ballet will give nine performances of Swan Lake at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston.

Following its 2012 Jacob's Pillow debut, The Hong Kong Ballet returns with sleek elegance, technical precision, and a range of contemporary ballets. Directed by Madeleine Onne, former Artistic Director of The Royal Swedish Ballet, the company performs a varied program that includes Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor's In Light and Shadow, set to Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' and 'Orchestral Suite in D Major No. 3'. The company's male dancers will present Nacho Duato's commanding Castrati, which explores themes of masculinity and sacrifice to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and Karl Jenkins. A poetic trio from A Room of Her Own, by National Ballet of China resident choreographer Fei Bo, opens this international program. The Hong Kong Ballet kicks off the 2014 Festival in the Ted Shawn Theatre, June 18-22.

Now through June 1, 2014 Houston Ballet offers up a mixed repertory program showcasing works by three of the twentieth century's greatest choreographers entitled Modern Masters. The program features the company premiere of Jir?i? Kylia?n's comic and delightful Sechs Ta?nze (Six Dances), along with revivals of his playful and sexy work Petite Mort, William Forsythe's explosive In the middle, somewhat elevated and George Balanchine's complex and inventive The Four Temperaments. Houston Ballet will give six performances of the program in the Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center.

From today, May 22 - June 1, 2014, Houston Ballet offers up a mixed repertory program showcasing works by three of the twentieth century's greatest choreographers entitled Modern Masters.

SASHA DE SOLA, soloist of the San Francisco Ballet, and TIIT HELIMETS, principal dancer of the San Francisco Ballet, will appear as guest artists in a collaborative performance co-presented by the Allen Civic Ballet and the Allen Philharmonic. Ms. De Sola and Mr. Helimets will dance the Grand Pas de Deux in The Sleeping Beauty Act III in collaboration with the Allen Civic Ballet and the performance will be accompanied by the Allen Philharmonic at the Performing Arts Center at Allen High School in Allen, Texas on May 17, 2014.

Today, May 9-11 at 8 p.m., Houston Ballet will present three free performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre. These performances will showcase Houston Ballet's extraordinary versatility, featuring an excerpt from a great 19th century classic alongside two 21st century works choreographed by artistic director Stanton Welch.

Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced today that Jared Matthews and Yuriko Kajiya, currently soloist dancers with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), will join Houston Ballet as first soloists for the 2014-15 season beginning in August 2014.

From May 22 - June 1, 2014 Houston Ballet offers up a mixed repertory program showcasing works by three of the twentieth century's greatest choreographers entitled Modern Masters. The program features the company premiere of Jir?i? Kylia?n's comic and delightful Sechs Ta?nze (Six Dances), along with revivals of his playful and sexy work Petite Mort, William Forsythe's explosive In the middle, somewhat elevated and George Balanchine's complex and inventive The Four Temperaments. Houston Ballet will give six performances of the program in the Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center. Tickets start at $19, and may be purchased at www.houstonballet.org or by calling Houston Ballet box office at 713-227-2787, or 1-800-828-2787.

From May 22 - June 1, 2014, Houston Ballet offers up a mixed repertory program showcasing works by three of the twentieth century's greatest choreographers entitled Modern Masters. The program features the company premiere of Ji?i Kylian's comic and delightful Sechs Tanze (Six Dances), along with revivals of his playful and sexy work Petite Mort, William Forsythe's explosive In the middle, somewhat elevated and George Balanchine's complex and inventive The Four Temperaments. Houston Ballet will give six performances of the program in the Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center. Tickets start at $19, and may be purchased at www.houstonballet.org or by calling Houston Ballet box office at 713-227-2787, or1-800-828-2787.

May 9-11 at 8 p.m., Houston Ballet will present three free performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre. These performances will showcase Houston Ballet's extraordinary versatility, featuring an excerpt from a great 19th century classic alongside two 21st century works choreographed by artistic director Stanton Welch.

May 9-11 at 8 p.m., Houston Ballet will present three free performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre. These performances will showcase Houston Ballet's extraordinary versatility, featuring an excerpt from a great 19th century classic alongside two 21st century works choreographed by artistic director Stanton Welch.

The Music Center celebrated 12 teen performing artists and four teen visual artists at The Music Center's 26th Annual Spotlight Awards during a finale performance on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Hosted by Oscar-nominated actor, musician and author, John Lithgow, the awards show culminated The Music Center's year-long free recognition and scholarship program for Southern California high school performing and visual artists. A first place and runner-up were named in each of eight categories, including ballet, non-classical dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental, jazz instrumental, two-dimensional art (works of art with height and weight, but no depth, using drawing, painting, computer generated or mixed media) and photography (black/white, color and digital). This year's top performing and visual artists were awarded more than $100,000 in cash scholarships with $5,000 for students selected as first place finalists and $4,000 for runners-up in each category; five honorable mentions in each category received $250.

Tonight, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 26 at 1:30 p.m., Houston Ballet II and the entire school will present its 2014 Spring Showcase in the Cullen Theater at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston.