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FOR RELEASE ON JULY 18, 2010
CONTACT: SHAUNA TYSOR
KIM ESPINOSA
713 535 3226
pr@houstonballet.org
Houston Ballet Announces
Additions to the Company
Gold Medal Winner Jun Shuang Huang Joins as a Principal Dancer
Karina Gonzalez and Melissa Hough Join As Soloists
HOUSTON, TEXAS - Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced plans today for the company's 2010-2011 season, including the addition of several new dancers. Houston Ballet's roster now stands at 53 dancers.
Jun Shuang Huang joins the company as a principal dancer, the company's top rank. A native of Shanghai, China, Mr. Huang is a junior third winner of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Ballet Competition, a junior silver in the Taoli Cup Dance Competition (China's top dance competition) in 2006, a bounty award winner at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2008, and a gold medal winner in the senior division at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in Finland in 2009. He trained with the Shanghai Dance School for seven years and has danced professionally with the Guangzhou Ballet Theater as a principal since joining in 2007. His repertoire includes principal roles in Swan Lake, La Bayadère, La Sylphide, Coppélia, Le Corsaire, and Don Quixote. Mr. Huang has also toured the United States and Switzerland as a guest artist.
"Huang has a very strong classical technique with a beautiful foundation. He is a magnificent danseur noble - tall, elegant, with huge elevation. He has both the attributes of a lyrical dancer and a virtuoso dancer as well as being a strong and caring partner. We are looking forward to him being a part of the company," comments Mr. Welch.
New soloists include Karina Gonzalez and Melissa Hough. Ms. Hough is a bronze medal winner in the 2005 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, a jury award of merit winner from the Jackson International Ballet Competition in 2002 and a senior outstanding dancer at New York City Dance Alliance in 2002. She trained with The Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. and has danced professionally with BalletMet, M & Company, and Boston Ballet, where she reached the rank of principal in 2009. Her classical repertoire includes Nicholas Sergeyev's The Sleeping Beauty, Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, James Kudelka's Cinderella, Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote, George Balanchine's Rubies, Ballo della Regina, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, to name a few. Her contemporary repertoire includes such works as Jiří Kylián's Petite Mort and Falling Angels, William Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated, and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room.
"Melissa is a strong, intelligent, athletic and brave dancer. I choreographed on her at BalletMet when she was 15 or 16. She then left for Boston Ballet and we lost touch, until Houston Ballet and Boston Ballet were both performing as part of Ballet Across America at The Kennedy Center in D.C.," states Mr. Welch. "Seeing Melissa again was a reminder of how focused and detail oriented she is as a dancer. She is a remarkable and strong dancer with impressive technique. I saw her do an extraordinary performance of the Lilac Fairy, which was both stylistically correct, but with the strength and confidence of a great dancer."
Karina Gonzalez is a native of Caracas, Venezuela and is a silver medal winner of the New York International Ballet Competition in 2007. She trained at the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School in Caracas, Venezuela and has danced professionally with Ballet National of Caracas and Tulsa Ballet Theater, where she reached the rank of principal in 2007. She has danced principal roles in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Andre Prokovsy's The Great Gatsby, as well as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty. She has danced roles in works by the world's foremost choreographers, including George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp and Christopher Wheeldon. Ms. Gonzalez has also been a guest artist at the Gala International Colombia (2006), San Antonio Metropolitan's Ballet Gala (2009), and the New York International Ballet Competition's Gala (2009).
"I initially met Karina at Tulsa Ballet when I set Bruiser about four years ago and I cast her as the lead. She is a sensual, feminine, powerful, and extremely passionate dancer," remarks Mr. Welch. "Dance comes to her naturally, almost innately. I immediately knew she would be a perfect addition to Houston Ballet. She has the indefinable "it" factor which makes a magnificent ballerina."
Rupert Edwards III, a native of Jamaica, joins the company as a corps de ballet member. He trained at The School of Hartford Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut. He has performed professionally with American Repertory Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet, where he reached the rank of demi soloist. His diverse repertoire includes works by internationally renowned choreographers such as Nacho Duato, Jerome Robbins, John Cranko, George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Ben Stevenson, and Jiří Kylián.
"Rupert is a very seasoned performer, bringing great maturity to the company and he is an excellent partner," notes Mr. Welch.
Apprentices William Newton, Garrett Smith, Megumi Takeda, and Natalie Varnum have been promoted to the corps de ballet. In 2009, Mr. Newton was praised for his performance in The Nutcracker's Waltz of the Flowers by the Houston Chronicle dance critic Molly Glentzer as a young dancer "who could develop into a major talent." Also in 2009, Houston Ballet was awarded a Fellowship Initiative grant from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet, to support the development of new choreography by Mr. Smith in a studio setting. Mr. Smith was given an opportunity to hold a choreographic workshop with Houston Ballet dancers. The workshop culminated with an informal showing of the work created during the fellowship.
Houston Ballet Academy graduates Beth Miller, Madison Morris, Aaron Sharratt and Liao Xiang join the company as apprentices. Both Mr. Sharratt and Ms. Xiang were top 20 finalists of the 2010 Prix de Lausanne competition with Mr. Sharratt placing fifth. Brian Waldrep 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.
Houston Ballet's New $53 Million Center for Dance
Opening in 2011
In a move designed to propel Houston Ballet to the next phase of its development, the company broke ground on July 15, 2009 on its new Center for Dance, a 115,000-square-foot facility located in downtown Houston at the intersection of Smith and Preston Streets. The building, which is budgeted at $53 million, is set for completion in 2011.
The six-story building will boast nine dance studios, a dance laboratory that seats 200 for presentations as well as rehearsals, and artistic, administrative and support facilities for Houston Ballet and its academy. The new facility will more than double the space that Houston Ballet has at its current home, located at 1916 West Gray in the River Oaks section of Houston, which the company renovated in 1984 and features six dance studios.
The new structure, designed by globally-recognized architecture firm Gensler, will be the largest professional dance company facility of its kind constructed in the United States. The Houston Chronicle has observed that the building "could be the most exciting new architecture Houston has seen in decades." (July 31, 2009) Art Gensler, chairman and founder of Gensler, acknowledged the importance of the project, commenting: "What a privilege it's been to create the new home for Houston Ballet, literally opening a window through the building's design that lets all of Houston see the beauty, talent and passion of Houston Ballet. We are thrilled to be part of this wonderful addition to downtown Houston and its Theatre District."
Richard Maxwell is the project principal and Jim Furr is the regional managing director from Gensler. The project manager is Lorrie Foreman. The general contractor managing the construction is W.S. Bellows Construction Corporation.
The co-chairs of the ongoing capital campaign are John C. Bass, Jesse H. Jones II and Anita B. Stude. (Stude served as co-chairman of the campaign until her death in July 2009.)
A live web feed of the current construction progress can be found at: www.oxblue.com/pro/open/houstonballet/centerfordance.
About Houston Ballet
Houston Ballet is America's fourth largest ballet company, an ensemble of 53 dancers with an annual budget of $17.7 million and an endowment of just over $50.7 million (as of December 31, 2009). Hailed by The New York Times as "one of the nation's best ballet companies," Houston Ballet has toured over the last decade to New York, London, Montreal, Hong Kong, the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and to cities large and small across the United States. For more information about Houston Ballet visit www.houstonballet.org.
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