Do713 - What to do in Houston

September 9-19, 2010, Houston Ballet launches its 41st season with a mixed repertory program entitled Body, Soul & Gershwin, featuring Stanton Welch's lively and colorful neo-classical work Tu Tu, Ji?í Kylián's emotionally charged abstract balletForgotten Land, and The Core: Gershwin, the Heart of the Big Apple, Mr. Welch's Broadway-style ode to 1930s New York City glamour. Houston Ballet will give six performances of Body, Soul & Gershwin at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston.

A lavish, crowd-pleasing blockbuster inspired by the movie musicals of Hollywood's golden age, Mr. Welch'sThe Core: Gershwin, the Heart of the Big Apple is a highly theatrical depiction of the Big Apple, incorporating archetypal New York characters with plenty of Broadway flash and dazzle in a work featuring the full company.The Core: Gershwin, the Heart of the Big Apple is set to George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, and was premiered by Houston Ballet in 2008.

Houston Chronicle dance critic Molly Glentzer noted when reviewing the world premiere of The Core: Gershwin, the Heart of the Big Apple, "Welch's choreography - a hyperdriven blast of showbizzy arms, sweeping lunges and classic Broadways steps - moves deftly." (February 23, 2008)

"Tu Tu is a large ensemble work in three movements featuring 22 dancers. Tu Tu reflects the different aspects of ballet technique and what it means to be a dancer. The ballet moves through an adagio focusing on the dancers' balance and line, to powerful and energetic soubrette, to pas de deuxs highlighting each couple," explains Mr. Welch. "It is a playful, humorous look at classical ballet. Tu Tu is tart and very tongue-in-cheek."

Originally created for San Francisco Ballet in 2003 and set to Maurice Ravel's Concerto for Piano in G major, the dancers are outfitted in brilliantly colored tutus and briefs. Designed by Holly Hynes, the stunning costumes were inspired by Gustav Klimt's gold-hued paintings. Austrian-born Klimt (1862-1918) was a well-known Art Nouveau painter who became famous for his sensual depictions of women. The tutus and briefs worn by the dancers feature a dazzling array of colors: gold, turquoise, red and orange. Bare midriffs and striped retro-fashioned shorts ramp up the sex appeal. "I tried to capture the luscious feeling of Klimt's work in the costume design and choreography," Mr. Welch notes.

Arts Houston Magazine dance critic Nancy Wozny noted in April 2007 that "Tu Tu revealed the mighty talents and distinct personalities of its dancers in a shimmering display of technical bravado and gripping choreography." Houston Press critic Marene Gustin observed, "They knock out double fouettés en pointe and attack the floor with lightning steps while flexing supple backs and wafting arms in the most amazing port de bras to Ravel's lyrical Piano Concerto in G Major. Both women and men use their arms to sublime effect, with rippling back muscles and long limbs." (March 1, 2007)

Created in 1981 for Stuttgart Ballet, Ji?í Kylián's Forgotten Land is a somber and soulful work for 12 dancers. In creating the piece, Mr. Kylián was inspired by a painting by Norwegian expressionist artist Edvard Munch and English composer Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, with its images of the sea engulfing the land. John Macfarlane's painterly scenic design and Mr. Kylian's movements suggest the rising waves of a grey sea, the ebb and flow of life, and themes of metamorphosis central to human existence.

In September 2006, Houston Ballet's company premiere of Forgotten Land was cut short by the impending arrival of Hurricane Rita, and eerily the story behind the ballet paralleled this event: of a community under siege from nature. "Forgotten Land has great emotional resonance for Houston and other Gulf Coast cities that regularly face devastating storms," Mr. Welch points out.

TU TU (2003)
Music by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Piano concerto in G major
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Costume Designs by Holly Hynes
Lighting by Lisa J. Pinkham

FORGOTTEN LAND (1981)
Music by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Sinfonia da Requiem, Opus 20
Choreography by Ji?í Kylián
Scenic and Costume Designs by John F. Macfarlane
Lighting by Joop Caboort

THE CORE: GERSHWIN, THE HEART OF THE BIG APPLE (2008)
Music by George Gershwin (1898-1937), Concerto in F for piano and orchestra
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Scenic Designs by Thomas Boyd
Costume Designs by Holly Hynes
Lighting by David Grill

Houston Ballet Orchestra conducted by music director Ermanno Florio.

Piano concertos in Tu Tu and The Core: Gershwin, the Heart of the Big Apple played by Katherine Burkwall-Ciscon.

Houston Ballet's performances of Body, Soul & Gershwin are made possible from the generous support of Cooper Industries.

About Houston Ballet
On February 17, 1969 a troupe of 15 young dancers made its stage debut at Sam Houston State Teacher's College in Huntsville, Texas. Since that time, Houston Ballet has evolved into a company of 53 dancers with a budget of $18.4 million, a state-of-the-art performance space built especially for the company, Wortham Theater Center, and an endowment of just over $50.7 million (as of December 31, 2009), making it the United States fourth largest ballet company by number of dancers. Under the administrative leadership of managing director C.C. Conner since 1995, the company has maintained a strong financial position.

Houston Ballet has toured extensively both nationally and internationally. Over the last decade, the company has appeared in London at Sadler's Wells, at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, in six cities in Spain, in Montréal, at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in New York at City Center, and in cities large and small across the United States.

Houston Ballet has emerged as a leader in the expensive, labor-intensive task of nurturing the creation and development of new full-length narrative ballets. The company has also commissioned new one-act ballets from some of the world's most respected choreographers, including Julia Adam, Christopher Bruce, James Kudelka, Trey McIntyre, Paul Taylor, Glen Tetley, Natalie Weir and Lila York.

Writing in The Financial Times on March 6, 2006, dance critic Hilary Ostlere praised Houston Ballet as "a strong, reinvigorated company whose male contingent is particularly impressive, a well-drilled corps and an enviable selection of soloists and principals." Dance Europe editor Emma Manning observed of the company in November 2004, "One of the first things that hits you about this company is the technical strengths not just of the principals, but throughout the ranks. Watching artistic director Stanton Welch take class on a Sunday morning before a matinee, one could not help but marvel at the multiple turns tossed off by the young women in the corps....The three new works shown in this program will be followed by no fewer than four more Houston premieres. Can any other major ballet company in the world match that?

Pictured above:  Dancer(s): Mireille Hassenboehler and Ian Casady. Ballet: The Core: Gershwin in the Big Apple. Choreographer: Stanton Welch. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

Pictured below:
Forgotten Land - Dancer(s): Christopher Coomer and Jessica Collado. Ballet: Forgotten Land. Choreographer: Jiri Kylian. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

TuTu -  Dancer(s): Mireille Hassenboehler and Nicholas Leschke. Ballet: Tu Tu. Choreographer: Stanton Welch. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

The Core: Gershwin in the Big Apple - Dancer(s): Melody Herrera, Artists of Houston Ballet. Ballet: The Core: Gershwin in the Big Apple. Choreographer: Stanton Welch. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

Forgotten Land (2) Ballet: Forgotten Land, Dancers: Kelly Myernick and Nicholas Leschke, Photo by: Drew Donovan.

Thursday, September 9 ,  7:30 pm 
Saturday, September 11 ,  7:30 pm 
Sunday, September 12 ,  2:00 pm 
Friday, September 17 ,  7:30 pm 
Saturday, September 18 ,  7:30 pm 
Sunday, September 19 ,  2:00 pm