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    Spirit of Swayze

    Modern dance troupe plans time of its life in new location, where nobody puts Baby in the corner

    Joel Luks
    Jan 3, 2014 | 12:28 pm

    Before we fell in love with Johnny Castle in the film Dirty Dancing and Sam Wheat in Ghost, the famed Houstonian who played those roles lived a double life as a football hopeful and an emerging dancer. After practicing the sport at Waltrip High School, Patrick Swayze would walk across the street to take lessons at the Swayze School of Dance and the Houston JazzBallet Company, an academy managed by his mother, Patsy Swayze, located in a commercial strip built in 1970.

    The space at 3480 Ella Blvd., which was vacant and in disrepair for a number of years, will become the new home for Suchu Dance, a modern dance company that has earned its rightful place in Houston's cacophony of entrepreneurial and avant-garde art.

    After searching for four years, it was by serendipity that Suchu artistic director Jennifer Wood found the storied studio in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest neighborhood, which residents endearingly coined "The Goof." Wood was en route to a friend's home when she saw a vacancy sign on the building, which was most recently some type of tile showroom, and placed a call.

    "It's not easy to find a suitable performing arts and teaching space in Houston," Wood tells CultureMap. "Either the rents are not affordable for a nonprofit operation, or the buildings require too much updating. We were lucky that this landlord helped with the build out."

    "It was a baby that grew into a giant elephant. I never wanted something so grandiose."

    The 1,500 square foot studio, which Wood has leased for three years, will be divided into two areas. The larger, measuring 38-by-30 feet, will accommodate performances and an audience of approximately 50. The smaller, measuring 29-by-17 feet, will be dedicated to classes, workshops and multidisciplinary projects.

    This Suchu Dance studio is more appropriately sized for the company than its previous home at Barnevelder Movement Arts Complex, which it turned over to Dance Source Houston in March. Now called The Barn, the 7,000-square-foot theater in the East End had become a burden for Suchu Dance, inhibiting the troupe's creative output with the financial responsibility of overseeing a facility that was used by a number of small and midsized performing art groups, Wood says.

    "We had been at Barnevelder for 12 years, and we needed a change," she says. "When Barnevelder grew into a space for the arts community, it became too big for us. Often I was put in a difficult position of asking friends and colleagues to meet financial commitments they weren't able to at the time, but I had to, as the main tenant, pay the bills.

    "It was a baby that grew into a giant elephant. I never wanted something so grandiose."

    The move allows for more creative freedom, Wood explains. The cost of creating new work, which includes building sets, decreases in smaller spaces.

    To christen the studio, Suchu Dance will present Nothing, a new evening-length work set for Feb. 6-22. With choreography by Wood, the performance run breaks a six-month hiatus in the company's performance calendar. Although Wood has been busy with residencies at the University of Houston and work in Las Vegas since the summer, this silence marks the first time in 20 years that Suchu has not presented a work in the fall.

    For Nothing, everything has been painted white. Soft sculptures swathed in white fabric will suffuse the stage. The aesthetic represents Suchu Dance starting from a blank slate, a look that mirrors the endless possibilities of Wood's new home, breathing life into an seemingly unremarkable building that holds remarkable history.

    "I hope this isn't the biggest mistake in my life," she jokes. "Change is good, right?"

    Lets hope, as the movie says, Wood has the time of her life.

    Jennifer Wood, Suchu Dance artistic director.

    Jennifer Wood, Choreographer and artistic director of Suchu Dance
      
    Photo courtesy of Suchu Dance
    Jennifer Wood, Suchu Dance artistic director.
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    Salutations, Soon Youn

    Houston Ballet principal dancer announces retirement after 13 years

    Holly Beretto
    Jun 20, 2025 | 10:00 am
    ​Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho
    Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2016). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.
    Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho and in Theme and Variations.

    Houston Ballet principal dancer Soon Youn Cho has announced her retirement, after 13 years with the company.

    For more than a decade, she has captivated audiences with her elegance, emotional authenticity, and technical brilliance. Audiences have seen her in roles such as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, among many others.

    Cho’s retirement follows a period of recovery from spinal surgery prompted by chronic back issues that intensified during and after her pregnancy.

    "This decision was not made lightly, but with a great deal of reflection and acceptance over the past year," said Cho. “Since I first began ballet at the age of four, it has been the greatest love of my life. Even through pain and injury, I felt joy and purpose in every moment. I gave my best to every step along the way, and I now leave the stage with a peaceful heart and deep gratitude.”

    Cho further said that even before becoming pregnant, she had been managing chronic back issues throughout her career.

    “With dedication, careful conditioning, and the unwavering support of those around me, I was able to continue dancing for many years,” she said. “Despite my best efforts to recover, I’ve come to the difficult realization that I won’t be able to return to dancing at the level I once did. With a heavy but full heart, I’ve decided to retire from the stage.”

    Born in Korea and trained there, as well as in Canada and Germany, Cho danced with Opera Leipzig Ballet in Leipzig, Germany and the Tulsa Ballet in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was promoted to principal in 2010. She joined the Houston Ballet in 2012 as a demi soloist. She quickly rose through the ranks, promoted to soloist in 2014, then first soloist in 2016. In 2018, she became the Houston Ballet’s first Korean principal.

    Upon achieving the designation, she said, “I feel like I have made an important mark in history, along with other great dancers, for my people in such a great company.”

    Cho’s roles onstage reflected her wide artistic range and commitment to storytelling through dance. Her Houston Ballet colleagues and audiences admire and praise the passion and sincerity she brought to every performance. One of those, Cho’s portrayal of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, is especially close to her heart, not only for its emotional depth but for the lifelong friendship it sparked with fellow principal Yuriko Kajiya.

    “Becoming part of this Company and working alongside such extraordinary people has been one of the greatest blessings and privileges of my life. I close this chapter with a full heart and immense appreciation for the art, the audiences, and the people who made it all so meaningful.”

    Cho said that while she doesn’t yet know what will come next, she departs the company filled with gratitude.

    “Looking back, I feel nothing but gratitude,” she said. “Gratitude for the incredible colleagues and mentors I’ve shared the studio with. Gratitude for the audiences who supported us performance after performance. And gratitude for the art form itself — so demanding, so beautiful, and so deeply rewarding. I leave the stage with peace in my heart. Because I gave everything I had to this journey, I can move forward without regret.”

    \u200bHouston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho
      

    Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2016). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.

    Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho and in Theme and Variations.

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