golden giselle

Houston Ballet leaps into golden season with million-dollar classic

To celebrate the past as it achieves a grand jeté into the future, the Houston Ballet begins its 50th anniversary season this week with artistic director Stanton Welch’s stunning vision of the classic ballet Giselle.

A not-so-simple tale of a peasant girl who dies of heartbreak, the ballet holds powerful and dynamic female roles and ultimately reveals a message of love, forgiveness, and redemption through dance.

Set to 19th-century French composer Adolphe Adam’s immortal score, Welch’s (literal) million-dollar production of the ballet was created for Houston Ballet dancers. It first debuted and was last seen at the Wortham Center in 2016, and many in the company then will return to their original roles for this production.

The decision to bring this production back for the 50th anniversary season was no happenstance, as Marius Petipa’s Giselle was the first full-length ballet performed by the company’s precursor, the Houston Ballet Foundation.

“I really wanted to honor what brought ballet to Houston and what inspired this city to build a professional ballet company,” explained Welch in a statement about the production.

Giselle features set and costume designs by a HB favorite, Italian designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno, who also created the opulent world of The Merry Widow in June and will return to design for the romantic tragedy that concludes this season in 2020, Romeo & Juliet.

Giselle takes the first pirouette into this season-long spin through the Houston Ballet’s rich past that also gives dance lovers glimpses into the future, for this golden anniversary season holds resonating visions of the classics as well as innovative world premieres.

“Part of the mission in creating the season’s repertoire was to look back at what we have done. Our body of work is so rich, and we’ve drawn from it an extraordinary collection of ballets and choreographers. We are so excited to share this anniversary season with Houston,” declared Welch, when the 50th season was announced back in February.

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Giselle runs September 6-15 in the Wortham Center. For tickets and showtimes, visit the Houston Ballet.

Principals Yuriko Kajiya as Giselle and Connor Walsh as Albrecht in Stanton Welch’s Giselle.

Photo courtesy of Houston Ballet

Principals Yuriko Kajiya as Giselle and Connor Walsh as Albrecht in Stanton Welch’s Giselle.

dance

a high note for Houston

New international partnership brings fresh talent to Houston Grand Opera

Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera/Instagram

Houston Grand Opera's new partnership with Gran Teatre del Liceu means new collaborations between the two internationally renowned companies.

Houstonians know that Houston Grand Opera is among the city’s finest arts organizations. What they may not know is that it is also among the leading opera companies in the world, garnering awards like a Grammy and being praised as an innovator in the arts.

Now, the company is pushing its innovation and arts leadership reputation even further by launching a partnership with another internationally renowned opera company. This week, HGO announced its new alliance with Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu to foster cultural exchange and collaboration.

The partnership officially launches January 26, 2025 at the Liceu’s 62nd Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition, where HGO will present the Torras Family Foundation Prize of $25,000. The prize will be awarded to a finalist whose voice and artistry demonstrate potential for an international opera career. It is underwritten by the Torras Foundation and Ignacio and Isabel Torras. Ignacio “Nacho” Torras, who founded Tricon Energy in 1996 — now a leading multinational commodities trading platform — also owns Houston restaurants MAD, Rocambolesc, and BCN Taste & Tradition, which was recently awarded a Michelin star.

The Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition is one of Europe’s most prestigious contests for new voices in opera. HGO’s Colin Michael Brush, director of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio, the company’s elite training program for young artists, will travel to Barcelona to select the first winner of the annual prize.

“We are honored to be part of this partnership between two great houses, Houston Grand Opera and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, from two cities that are so close to our hearts,” said Ignacio Torras. “By creating and underwriting this new prize to be awarded at the Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition, we expect to build a strong bridge that allows art to transcend borders and cultures through the sublime form of opera.”

HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor expressed gratitude for the underwriting support of the partnership and her excitement at working with Gran Teatre del Liceu.

“HGO is an international company serving a vast, diverse metropolis where people from across the world live and do business,” she said. “With this new partnership, we seek to build upon Houston’s emerging identity as a global hub, attracting the finest young artists from around the world to Houston while welcoming international audiences from throughout our city to the Wortham Theater Center to experience our art form. We are thrilled to join forces with our close colleagues at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.”

The winner of the Torras Family Foundation Prize also receives automatic entry as a semifinalist to Houston Grand Opera’s 38th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias in 2026. The annual event recognizes the most talented emerging artists in opera while helping the company to identify candidates for its highly competitive Butler Studio program. Tickets for the 2025 Concert of Arias, which takes place on January 17, are available now.

Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera/Instagram

Houston Grand Opera's new partnership with Gran Teatre del Liceu means new collaborations between the two internationally renowned companies.

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