HOUSTON BALLET 2015-16 SEASON
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HOUSTON BALLET 2015-16 SEASON
I.
MANON (1974)
Music by Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912)
Orchestrated and arranged by Leighton Lucas,
with the collaboration of Hilda Gaunt
Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Designs by Peter Farmer
Lighting by Christina Giannelli
A modern classic, Manon charts the romantic adventures of an irresistibly beautiful femme fatale
and her one true love, the impoverished student Des Grieux, from the demi monde of Paris to the
bayous of Louisiana. Sir Kenneth has created a brilliant dance drama that explores the relationship
between love, sex, and the corrupting power of money. The passion and danger of Manon's
central pas de deux have proven irresistible to audiences around the world, and have made it one
of the most popular full-length ballets of the second half of the twentieth century.
At 7:30 pm on September 10, 12, 18, 19, 2015
At 2:00 pm on September 13, 20, 2015
II.
FALL MIXED REPERTORY PROGRAM
NEW GARRETT SMITH
Music by
Choreography by Garrett Smith
Costume Designs by
Lighting Design by
GHOST DANCES (1981)
South American Folk Songs recorded by Inti-Illimani
Choreography by Christopher Bruce
Set design by Christopher Bruce
Costume design by Belinda Scarlett
Lighting design by Nick Chelton
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TAPESTRY (2012)
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Violin Concerto No. 5
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Costume Designs by Holly Hynes
Houston Ballet’s fall mixed repertory program will showcase the best of contemporary
choreography. Back after twelve years is Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances, which movingly
evokes the political upheavals of Latin America, danced to the haunting music of Inti-Illimani. Also
featured on the program is Stanton Welch’s Tapestry, a spectacular showcase for Houston Ballet’s
dancers, to Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5. Rising star choreographer and former Houston Ballet
dancer Garrett Smith is also set to create his second world premiere on the company.
At 7:30 pm on September 24, 26 October 2, 3, 2015
At 2:00 pm on September 27 and October 4, 20015
THE NUTCRACKER
Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Choreography by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E.
Scenic and Costume Design by Desmond Heeley
Lighting Design by Duane Schuler
A wonderful ballet for the entire family, The Nutcracker is the perfect way to introduce young children
to the power and beauty of classical dance. Join Clara on her unforgettable journey as she travels to
the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets, and marvel as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker
Prince dance a pas de deux of crystalline beauty.
November 27 – December 27, 2015
At 7:30 pm on November 27, 28*, 29*
and Dec. 5, 6*, 11*, 12, 13*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27*
At 2:00 pm on November 27, 28, 29
and Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27
*Indicates discounted performance.
JUBILEE OF DANCE
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Houston Ballet will present Jubilee of Dance, a one-night-only event showcasing the depth and range
of the company in a program of premieres and high-energy excerpts from signature works and beloved
classics.
At 7:00 pm on Friday, December 4, 2015
III.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (1990)
Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Choreography by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., after Marius Petipa
Scenic and Costume Designs by Desmond Heeley
Lighting by Duane Schuler
In celebration of his 80th birthday, Houston Ballet will revive Artistic Director Emeritus Ben
Stevenson’s spectacular staging of The Sleeping Beauty, which launched Stevenson’s career as
a choreographer in London in 1967. The Sleeping Beauty is recognized as one of the supreme
achievements of classical ballet. The ballet is based on the classic French fairytale by Charles
Perrault: a beautiful princess is cursed by an evil fairy, and doomed to sleep for a hundred years
-- only to be awakened by the kiss of the handsome prince who loves her. Desmond Heeley's
spectacular designs beautifully evoke the magic, drama and whimsy of this great work.
At 7:30 pm on February 25, 26, 27, March 4, 5, 2016
At 2:00 pm on February 28 and March 6, 2016
At 1:30 pm on February 27 and March 5, 2016
IV.
WINTER MIXED REPERTORY PROGRAM:
DYAD 1929 - 2009 (Houston Ballet Premiere)
Music by Steve Reich, Double Sextet
Choreography by Wayne McGregor
Stage concept: Wayne McGregor and Lucy Carter
Costume design: Moritz Junge
Lighting design: Lucy Carter
WEST SIDE STORY SUITE (1995) (Houston Ballet Premiere)
Choreography by Jerome Robbins; co-choreographed by Peter Gennaro
Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Costume design by Irene Sharraff
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Set design by Oliver Smith
Lighting design by Jennifer Tipton
WINGS OF WAX (1997) (Houston Ballet Premiere)
Music by: Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Passacaglia for solo violin,
John Cage: Prelude for Meditation for prepared piano,
Philip Glass: Movement III from String Quartet No. 5,
Johann Sebastian Bach: Variation No. 25, Adagio, in G minor, (arranged for string trio by Dimitri
Sitkavetsky) from "Goldberg Variations”
Choreography by Jiří Kylián
In its winter repertory program, Houston Ballet introduces three masterpieces into the
company’s repertory in a thrilling evening of dance. Dyad 1929 is the first work by the
celebrated British, Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor to be performed by Houston
Ballet. Set to Steve Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet and dedicated to the memory of
modern dance legend Merce Cunningham, the work showcases Mr. McGregor’s trademark
style of dynamic contrasts and intensely physical partnering. West Side Story electrified
audiences when it premiered on Broadway in 1957, and this collection of dances and songs
from that landmark production exemplifies the electricity, vitality and dramatic poignancy of
this quintessentially American work. Jiří Kylián’s Wings of Wax is a visually arresting work in
which eight dancers perform to haunting pieces of music by four great composers, with their
encounters unfolding underneath the canopy of a giant tree.
At 7:30 pm on March 10, 12, 18, 19, 2016
At 2:00 pm on March 13, 19, 20, 2016
ACADEMY SPRING SHOWCASE
Houston Ballet Academy Spring Performance
The gifted young artists of Houston Ballet Academy cap their studies with two performances of
a program featuring works tailor-made to show them at their best.
At 7:00 pm on Friday, April 22.2016
At 1:30 pm on Saturday, April 23, 2016
V.
SPRING MIXED REPERTORY PROGRAM
SERENADE (1934)
Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
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Choreography by George Balanchine
Costume Design by RayDelle Robbins, after Karinska
Lighting Design by Tony Tucci
GLORIA (1980)
Music by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Scenic and Costume Designs by Andy Klunder
Lighting Design by John. B. Read and Christina R. Giannelli
CACTI (Houston Ballet Premiere)
Choreography and costume designs by Alexander Ekman
Lighting Design by Tom Visser
Text by Spenser Theberge
Costume design by Alexander Ekman
Houston Ballet’s Spring Repertory is powerhouse program, pairing two twentieth century
masterpieces with the company premiere of a delightfully comic work created in 2010. George
Balanchine’s romantic masterpiece Serenade, a showcase for the company’s classical
technique, opens the evening. Inspired by Vera Brittain’s poignant wartime memoir Testament
of Youth, Gloria is a haunting elegy for “the lost generation” of young men who perished in
World War I. The ballet is a magnificent synthesis of dance, theater, and music: Poulenc’s
exquisite choral work, performed live by an ensemble of 50 singers, combines with the drama
of love, loss and heartbreak. Closing the evening is Cacti, the first work by Alexander Ekman to
enter Houston Ballet’s repertoire -- a gleeful, hilarious parody of the excesses of contemporary
dance.
At 7:30 pm on May 26, 28, and June 3, 4, 2016
At 2:00 pm on May 29, June 5, 2016
V.
GISELLE
VELOCITY
Music by Michael Torke
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Scenic and Costume Designs by Kandis Cook
Lighting by Francis Croese
American Premiere
on May 25, 2006, by Houston Ballet in the Brown Theater at the Wortham
Theater Center in Houston, Texas.
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GISELLE
Music by Adolphe Adam
Choreography by Stanton Welch, after Marius Petipa, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot
Costume and Scenic design by Roberta Guidi di Bagno
Lighting design by Lisa Pinkham
Houston Ballet caps its 2015-16 season with a lavish new production of Giselle, staged by
Stanton Welch, the company’s first new production of this great work in over three decades. In
Giselle, the supreme example of 19th century balletic Romanticism, a beautiful peasant girl is
deceived in love by an aristocrat disguised as a commoner. Love, betrayal, and redemption play
out with stunning simplicity. Also on the program is Stanton Welch’s fast-paced Velocity,
created for eight men and eight women, which premiered in 2006.
At 7:30 pm on June 9, 11, 17, 18, 2016
At 2:00 pm on June 12, 19, 2016
At 1:30 pm on June 18