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FOR RELEASE MARCH 2011
CONTACT: SHAUNA TYSOR
713 535 3226
KIM ESPINOSA
713 535 3224
pr@houstonballet.org
HOUSTON BALLET REVIVES ITS GLITTERING PRODUCTION OF
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
Karina Gonzalez, Melissa Hough, Katharine Precourt,
Danielle Rowe, and Sara Webb Dance Title Role
Ian Casady, Connor Walsh, and Joseph Walsh Debut as Prince
Black Swan Ticket Stub Holders Receive 50% Off Grand Tier Seating
at Select Performances
HOUSTON, TEXAS - From March 10-20, 2011, Houston Ballet will revive Ben Stevenson's staging of The Sleeping Beauty, a flagship work for the company and a piece that is recognized as one of the supreme achievements of classical ballet. The ballet is based on the classic French fairy tale by Charles Perrault: a beautiful princess is cursed by an evil fairy and doomed to sleep for 100 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. Houston Ballet will give seven performances of The Sleeping Beauty at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.
Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch describes performing The Sleeping Beauty as "the pinnacle of a dancer's career and a monumental performance to undertake. There are so many great roles and we have scores of talented dancers. The piece has always been an audience favorite, but it is also a technically challenging work for the dancers."
During these performances of The Sleeping Beauty, principal dancer Sara Webb returns to the role of Aurora, partnered by principal Connor Walsh, making a role debut as the Prince. Australian Danielle Rowe, Houston Ballet's newest first soloist who joined the company in January, will be partnered by Simon Ball as the prince. While Ms. Rowe has appeared in Stanton Welch's production of The Sleeping Beauty for The Australian Ballet in 2005, these performances in Houston mark the first time that she has performed in Ben Stevenson's staging of the work. Soloist Karina Gonzalez will be partnered by soloist Joseph Walsh, recipient of a 2009 Princess Grace Award who gives his first performances as the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty in March. Ms. Gonzalez counts performing the title role of The Sleeping Beauty while still a member of the corps de ballet (sharing the role with the celebrated Italian ballerina Viviana Durante) as a defining moment in her career. Soloist Melissa Hough will partner with principal Ian Casady and recently promoted soloist Katharine Precourt will partner with principal Jun Shuang Huang.
50% Off Grand Tier Seating at Select Performances
Houston Ballet will offer 50% off grand tier seats to performances of The Sleeping Beauty on Thursday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. for individuals who present a ticket stub from the Black Swan in person at Houston Ballet Box Office at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Avenue (at Smith Street). Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
History of The Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty was first performed at the Maryinsky Theatre on January 16, 1890, bringing together two seminal figures of ballet history, the composer Peter Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa, utilizing a scenario created by Petipa and Ivan Vsevolojosky. The work is considered the climax of the czarist ballet culture of the 19th century, a golden period in ballet history. Writing in The New Yorker in 1973, critic Andrew Porter observed, "The Petipa-Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty, first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890, is the grandest, fullest, and finest achievement of Classical ballet - its 'definitive statement' and an enduring inspiration to later choreographers. Balanchine, Ashton, and Kenneth MacMillan all proclaim their debt to the inventions of Petipa."
In 1990, Ben Stevenson created a lavish new production of The Sleeping Beauty in honor of its centenary, drawing upon his notes of the famous 1939 staging of the work for the Sadler's Wells (later Royal Ballet) by Nicholas Sergeyev, a Russian ballet master who left Russia after the October Revolution with Stepanov notation of 21 of the Maryinsky ballet productions. Dame Margot Fonteyn, the celebrated British ballerina who was one of the greatest exemplars of the leading female role of Aurora in the 20th century, coached Houston Ballet dancers for the 100th anniversary production. Desmond Heeley's lavish scenery and costumes for this production were inspired in part by Oliver Messel's celebrated, much beloved 1946 production of The Sleeping Beauty for the Sadler's Wells (later Royal Ballet).
With regard to the challenges it presents to dancers, Houston Chronicle arts critic Molly Glentzer noted "The Sleeping Beauty isn't just the Godiva of eye candy. It's technically demanding, combining precise, pricking footwork with difficult balances, speedy turns and those testy little leaps known as cabrioles, in which the dancer's feet beat in the air at an angle." (September 20, 2003)
The ballet version of The Sleeping Beauty, like the fairy tale, tells the story of the beautiful Princess Aurora. During the prologue, the court of King Florestan is celebrating the christening of Princess Aurora. Six fairies dance and bring gifts to the infant princess. The wicked fairy Carabosse interrupts the ceremony. She is angry because she has not been invited and delivers a curse upon the tiny princess: she will grow up to be beautiful, but will one day prick her finger and die. The Lilac Fairy changes the curse so that the Princess will not die, but sleep until she is awakened by the kiss of a prince.
Act I contains the famous Rose Adagio, one of the greatest challenges of 19th-century choreography because of its demands of stamina, technical skill, and mastery of classical style. In this sequence, during the celebration of her 16th birthday, Princess Aurora dances with four visiting princes, each of whom, desiring to be her husband, offers her a rose and declares his love. As the celebration continues, the disguised Carabosse hands Aurora a bouquet in which a spindle is concealed. Aurora pricks her finger, and as she falls asleep, the Lilac Fairy appears and casts her spell, putting the entire court to sleep.
In Act II, a century has passed, and the handsome Prince Florimund is revealed with his hunting party at a lake. The Lilac Fairy leads him to the castle where Aurora has been asleep for 100 years. Act II climaxes in a moment of unforgettable grandeur and romantic spectacle as the prince gently kisses Aurora, awakening her from her slumber.
Act III is devoted to the celebration of the nuptials of Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund. Characters from other fairy tale's - Puss n' Boots, the Bluebird and the White Cat - dance divertissements for the pleasure of the assembled courtiers. Aurora and Florimund perform the stunning grand pas de deux and the celebration closes with the entire court joining in the finale.
Houston Ballet's performances of The Sleeping Beauty are made possible by the generous support of ConocoPhillips, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and The Wortham Foundation.
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 $47 million (as of June 2010), 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?"
In a move designed to propel Houston Ballet to the next phase of its development, the company broke ground on July 15, 2009 on the Center for Dance, a new 115,000-square-foot facility located in downtown Houston. The building, budgeted at $53 million, is set for completion in the spring of 2011. The six-story building will boast nine dance studios, a dance laboratory 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, and become the largest facility for dance in America.
Houston Ballet Orchestra was established in the late 1970s and currently consists of 61 professional musicians who play all ballet performances at Wortham Theater Center under the instruction of music director Ermanno Florio.
Houston Ballet Academy has reached over 19,000 Houston area students (as of the 2009-2010 season) and has had four academy students win prizes at the prestigious international ballet competition the Prix de Lausanne, with one student winning the overall competition in 2010.
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HOUSTON BALLET
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
FACT SHEET
WHAT: 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
Houston Ballet Orchestra Guest Conductor Charles Barker
Generously underwritten by:
ConocoPhillips
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
The Wortham Foundation
ABOUT THE PROGRAM: A flagship work for Houston Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty is recognized as one of the supreme achievements of classical ballet. The ballet is based on the classic French fairy tale 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.
WHEN: At 7:30 p.m. on March 10, 12, 18, 19, 2011
At 2:00 p.m. on March 13, 20, 2011
At 1:30 p.m. on March 12, 19, 2011
WHERE: Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
501 Texas Avenue in downtown Houston
TICKETS: Start at $18. Call (713) 227 ARTS or 1 800 828 ARTS
Tickets are also available at www.houstonballet.org and
Houston Ballet Box Office at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Ave. (at Smith St.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit Houston Ballet online at www.houstonballet.org
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HOUSTON BALLET OFFERS 50% OFF TICKETS TO
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
FACT SHEET
For Patrons Who Present a Valid Movie Ticket Stub from Black Swan.
TICKET DISCOUNT REDEPMTION: Patrons who present valid movie ticket stubs from Black Swan will receive a 50% discount on tickets to Houston Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty on Thursday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. Valid only in the grand tier section. Tickets must be presented in person at the Wortham Theater Center Box Office (501 Texas Avenue at Smith Street) to receive the discount. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
WHEN: Thursday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
501 Texas Avenue in downtown Houston  |
