HOUSTON BALLET PRESENTS
PECOS
PROGRAM FEATURES WORKS BY MARK MORRIS,
GEORGE BALANCHINE AND STANTON WELCH
Company Premiere of George Balanchine's Ballo della Regina
Highlights Program
Mark Morris's Witty Sandpaper Ballet and
Texas's Favorite Dramatic Tale Pecos Bill
Return to Delight Audiences
HOUSTON, TEXAS -- From May 27 - June 6, 2010, Houston Ballet presents Pecos, a spring mixed repertory program, featuring Mark Morris's witty and inventive Sandpaper Ballet alongside George Balanchine's classically virtuosic Ballo della Regina and Stanton Welch's Pecos Bill, a dramatic tale of the Texas legendary cowboy and his poignant romance with gutsy tomboy Slue-foot Sue. Houston Ballet will give seven performances of Pecos at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.
"Ballo della Regina is one of my absolute favorite Balanchine ballet, and it is one that I knew I wanted to bring to Houston Ballet from the moment I became artistic director. It is one of the first Balanchine works I saw live. When I was a student at San Francisco Ballet School, I watched Merrill Ashley set the piece, which was truly special. Balanchine created Ballo for Merrill, who is an American icon of ballet. Bringing Merrill to Houston Ballet to set Ballo provides an invaluable experience to the dancers. The piece showcased how a tall dancer can move with furious speed and quick steps. It is nice to see a tall ballerina move so fast on stage," comments Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch on bringing Ballo della Regina to Houston.
"Sandpaper Ballet is funny and quirky, but yet very natural in the movement, and not overly complex. Mark loves classical ballet and it shows in this piece. He is a gifted, very contemporary choreographer. He makes classical ballet look cool. I have always admired his musicality and sense of humor. Mark's choice of Leroy Anderson music will touch each audience member because the music is imprinted in the minds of Americans and known well around the world.
"I choreographed Pecos Bill on Houston Ballet in 2004 as one of my first works as artistic director here. It is nice to return to a piece with most of the original cast. Mireille Hassenboehler and Ian Casady were excellent in the leading roles that were created on them when Pecos Bill debuted, and they will continue to grow and deepen their interpretations when they dance them a second time," continues Mr. Welch on the revivals of Sandpaper Ballet and Pecos Bill.
George Balanchine's Ballo della Regina Is Fireworks On Stage
Ballo della Regina, a ballet for two principals, four female soloists, and corps de ballet, is set to the music of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlos. New York City Ballet premiered the work on January 12, 1978. George Balanchine choreographed the ballet to showcase the talents of New York City Ballet ballerina Merrill Ashley. Lincoln Kirstein, who with Balanchine co-founded New York City Ballet, wrote that the ballet seems to take place in a grotto, with reference through lighting and costumes to the original tale of a fisherman's search for the perfect pearl. "From Verdi's way of dealing with the chorus," Balanchine told biographer Bernard Taper, "I have learned how to handle the corps de ballet, the ensemble, the soloists, how to make the soloists stand out against the corps, and when to give them a rest."
Ms. Ashley commented, "Balanchine always seemed to take special delight in challenging me with difficult steps, and since he knew I excelled at moving quickly, he decided to make that the feature of Ballo -- virtuoso steps at high speed. He highlighted all my strengths in Ballo, giving me a ballet that not only was challenging and fun to dance, but one that gave me the opportunity to communicate the joy of dance, which was my favorite mood to express on stage. Ballo epitomizes the essence of the technique that he advocated, as it requires extreme precision, clarity, speed, and expansive movement. Dancers who are not trained in the Balanchine style are always startled to find how much easier the steps are when they use the technique Balanchine advocated. His choreography is constructed with the idea that the steps will be done as he would have taught them. That is what makes the angles of the steps look best, and what makes the transitions from step-to-step possible at high speeds."
Ballo della Regina is one of the most technically challenging neoclassical ballets in the Balanchine canon. The piece demands dizzying turns with lightning-speed reflexes and is noted for the female leads technically difficult allegro choreography.
Mark Morris's Tongue-in-Cheek Sandpaper Ballet Is a Delight For All
Houston Ballet will revive the deliciously witty Sandpaper Ballet by legendary choreographer Mark Morris. Mr. Morris's Sandpaper Ballet is a lively ensemble piece for 25 dancers set to a suite of 1940s and 1950s all-American tunes by American composer Leroy Anderson, including Sleigh Ride, The Typewriter and Fiddle Faddle. Noted fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi created the vivid, colorful costumes in green and white, which add an inspired note of whimsy to the ballet.
Mr. Morris explains, "Anderson's novelty numbers are under known and under appreciated. They are wonderful small scale compositions that feature different sections of the orchestra. No one ever plays more than one of them on a program, as an encore. How about all encores? It is a fun gift for the orchestra and the public. What's better than Sleigh Ride?"
"Mark Morris is a living legend for dance choreography. Houstonians love his humorous take on classical ballet. Sandpaper Ballet reaches all levels of the audience from beginner to seasoned aficionados," explains Mr. Welch, "It is like a haiku in poetry -- simple -- not tricky, but deep and rewarding. The piece has a calming effect on viewers."
Writing for the San Francisco Examiner, dance critic Allan Ulrich exclaimed, "Sandpaper Ballet lifts you out of your seat with its sheer, rib-tickling insouciance....If you hate ballet, you will love it. If you worship ballet, you will understand it. And if you've never seen a ballet in your entire life, you will convert instantly." (April 28, 1999) Originally created for San Francisco Ballet, the work premiered on April 19, 1999 in San Francisco. Sandpaper Ballet was the first work Mr. Morris created to a full orchestra.
Since the 1980s, Mr. Morris has choreographed over 120 dances. Each dance exemplifies a style that is entirely his own formed from a background of ballet, modern, postmodern, and folk dance. Earning Mr. Morris a reputation for being "the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical," by The New York Times. At Houston Ballet's Sandpaper Ballet premiere Houston Chronicle dance critic Molly Glentzer described the movement as teasing "with vaudevillian soft shoe, Fred Astaire-inspired suavity, a little Broadway Balanchine and Kilgore Rangerette-ish line dances that look simple but require fast, precise execution." (May 28, 2005)
Mark Morris formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980. From 1988-1991 he was the director of dance at La Monnaie, Brussels and in 1990 he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has choreographed works for San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet, among others. His work is currently in the repertory of Houston Ballet, Ballet West, Dutch National Ballet, New Zealand Ballet, English National Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and The Washington Ballet. His opera credits include directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera and Royal Opera, London. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society, and the subject of a biography by Joan Acocella (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). In 2001, he opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, New York, his company's first permanent headquarters in the U.S.
Stanton Welch's Texas Tall Tale Pecos Bill Returns
Stanton Welch's 2004 work Pecos Bill takes as its subject the mythical Texas cowboy Pecos Bill. One of the most colorful figures in Texas folklore, he was raised by a pack of wild coyotes after he fell from his mother's covered wagon when they were crossing the Pecos River. The relationship Pecos establishes with these animals leads to many adventures throughout his life. His best-known exploits include lassoing a cyclone, riding a mountain lion, and using a rattlesnake as a whip. Legend also has it that he invented the branding iron to stop cattle rustling, drained the Rio Grande to water his ranch during an enduring drought, and taught gophers to dig postholes.
Mr. Welch focuses on the poignant romance between Pecos Bill and his beloved, Slue-foot Sue. "I'm not really touching upon the more traditional aspects that many people are familiar with," he comments. "I'm developing the less familiar stories and the relationship with the women in his life. I think the end of Pecos's relationship with Sue is something that everyone can relate to."
Mr. Welch commissioned the rising composer Matthew Pierce to compose the music for Pecos Bill. Mr. Pierce has written ballet scores for numerous companies, including The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
Acclaimed New Zealand designer Kristian Fredrikson created the costumes and scenery for Pecos Bill, ranging from Pecos Bill's playful red, white, and blue chaps to the coyote's fur-trimmed headdress. Mr. Fredrikson noted, "The concept for Pecos Bill is to capture not only the comedic myth of Bill's origin and his courtship of the enthusiastic Slue-foot Sue, but also the ever growing size of Texas, which is itself practically a myth throughout the world. The set represents this by a single image ever arising into multiple sizes, and the costumes pay homage to the frontier folk who pioneered this often flat and golden land. My inspiration was the landscape of an American quilt – that colorful folk art which is so beloved and which, I feel, lies deep in the American soul. For me it is a patchwork of images that represent a state that took the star as its emblem and now seeks to move physically on into the reality of the constellations."
Mr. Fredrikson designed a large number of productions for The Australian Ballet and The Australian Opera, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Turandot, and The Merry Widow. He collaborated with Mr. Welch on several pieces, including his first professional ballet, Of Blessed Memory (1991), and his versions of Cinderella (1995) and The Sleeping Beauty (2005) for The Australian Ballet and Swan Lake (2006) for Houston Ballet.
Houston Ballet's performances of Pecos are made possible from the generous support of Baker Botts L.L.P.
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HOUSTON BALLET'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
PECOS
FACT SHEET
WHAT: PECOS
SPRING MIXED REPERTORY PROGRAM
SANDPAPER BALLET (1999)
Music by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
Choreography by Mark Morris
Costume design by Isaac Mizrahi
Lighting design by James F. Ingalls
Staged by Tina Fehlandt
PECOS BILL (2004)
Music by Matthew Pierce
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Costumes and scenic design by Kristian Fredrikson
Lighting Design by Lisa J. Pinkham
BALLO DELLA REGINA (1978)
Houston Ballet Premiere
Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), from the opera Don Carlos
Choreography by George Balanchine (1904-1983)
Staged by Merrill Ashley
Designs by Ben Benson
Lighting by Ronald Bates
Generously sponsored by: Baker Botts L.L.P.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
Created by the legendary George Balanchine for New York City Ballet in 1978, Ballo Della Regina is a virtuoso set of variations to ballet music that was cut from the original production of Verdi's Don Carlos. Set to a specially commissioned score by Matthew Pierce, Stanton Welch's vibrantly theatrical Pecos Bill dramatizes the poignant romance between the legendary Texas hero Pecos Bill and the gutsy tomboy Slue-foot Sue. Modern dance legend Mark Morris's Sandpaper Ballet contains the hallmarks of his work: wit, humor, and dazzlingly inventive movement, along with whimsical green and white costumes by noted fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.
WHEN: At 7:30 PM on May 27, 29, and June 4, 5, 2010
At 2:00 PM on May 30, and June 5, 6, 2010
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 on the Web at www.houstonballet.org.
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