it's on pointe

Houston Ballet leaps into new season with world premiere and fan favorites

A Houston premiere and a world premiere highlight the Houston Ballet's 2024-2025 season, the company has revealed. Those two offerings are among the six ballets included in the season, which continues to showcase a company at the top of its artistic game.

The season opens with John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, making its Houston premiere. With music by Lera Auerbach, it tells the familiar story of a mermaid who makes a deal with a sea witch in exchange for the chance to find true love. The show will run September 6-15.

The season continues September 19-29 with Velocity, a mixed repertory program that includes Come In with choreography by Aszure Barton and music by Vladimir Martynov; a world premiere program choreographed by Silas Farley and a commissioned score by Kyle Werner; and the titular Velocity choreographed by Stanton Welch, AM with music by Michael Torke.

Beloved holiday classic The Nutcracker returns to the Wortham Theater Center stage as a season add-on, running November 29-December 29, and features Welch's choreography set against Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's iconic score.

The Ballet launches the new year with In the Night, another mixed rep that runs February 27-March 9, 2025. The program includes Jerome Robbins' In the Night set to a score by Frédéric Chopin; Welch's Maninyas with music by Ross Edwards; and Celts, choreographed by Lila York and featuring music by The Chieftains, Mason Daring, William J. Ruyle, Bill Whelan, and Celtic Thunder.

Another classic, The Sleeping Beauty, takes the stage March 13-23, featuring choreography by Ben Stevenson O.B.E., and Tchaikovsky's recognizable score.

The world premiere of Raymonda comes to life May 29 to June 8, with choreography by Welch, music by Alexander Glazunov, and costumes and set design by Roberta Guidi di Bagno. This marks Welch's eighth full-length ballet created for Houston Ballet’s repertory.

The season closes June 12-22 with Sparrow, which features Theme and Variations with choreography by George Balanchine and music by Tchaikovsky; Four Last Songs with choreography by Stevenson O.B.E. and music by Richard Strauss; and Sparrow choreographed by Welch and music by Simon & Garfunkel.

“The incredible range of ballets offers growth for our dancers as well as audiences,” artistic director Julie Kent said in a statement. “From curtain up to curtain down, this season explores the depth and breadth of this art form, and I’m so excited to be involved in presenting works we’ve never seen before and the kind of classics that are a wonderful way to introduce new audiences to ballet.”

Two additional season add-ons bring Houston Ballet traditions back to the stage with the Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance, December 6, and the Academy Spring Showcase, April 25 - 26, 2025.

Season tickets for the six-ballet series start at $171. For more details, see houstonballet.org.

$Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch\u2019s Velocity$

Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2010). Courtesy of Houston Ballet

Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Velocity

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untitled art 2026

Prestigious contemporary art fair returns to Houston for 2026

Courtesy of World Red Eye

Untitled Art, the acclaimed contemporary art fair, returns to Houston this October.

A prestigious contemporary art fair is coming back to the Bayou City. Untitled Art, Houston returns this October for its second edition. To mark the occasion and kick off plans, the show commissioned two artist projects that will be unveiled this weekend at the 39th annual Art Car Parade on Saturday, April 11 in downtown Houston.

The art show will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center October 2 to 4. An invitation-only VIP and Press Preview will take place on Thursday, October 1.

Houston was the organization’s first expansion from its home base in Miami. When the show arrived in the city last fall, it showcased the works of contemporary artists from Houston, other parts of Texas, and around the world.

Houstonians showed lots of enthusiasm for last year’s inaugural fair. The organization reported that several galleries reported six-figure sales and sold-out booths, and leaders from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Menil Collection, and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston were in attendance all weekend.

This year, the show promises to be even more dynamic, with programming that includes live podcast recordings, panel discussions, culinary activations, and artist-led projects with an emphasis on embedding the fair within Houston’s civic and cultural fabric. Show attendees can expect an international roster of galleries alongside collectors, curators, and artists increasingly attuned to Houston’s evolving position as both a cultural gateway to Latin America and a substantial force in the international art scene.

“Houston has proven to be a vital artery for the contemporary art market, blending a deep institutional history with a bold, global future,” Jeffrey Lawson, founder of Untitled Art, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to return and deepen our commitment to the city’s creative community.”

Beyond the exhibits at the show, Untitled Art has made a commitment to helping ensure art and art collecting is accessible to the larger community. Last year, programming events took place all over the the city, with private collection visits, studio tours with artists, and guided engagements at institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Asia Society Texas Center, in collaboration with more than two dozen cultural partners.

This year’s Art Car entry marks the first of its kind for the organization. Untitled Art commissioned collaborations with ascendant emerging Los Angeles-based artists Aryo Toh Djojo and Mario Ayala. Ayala's exhibition Seven Vans is currently on view at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

“Houston continues to assert itself as a cultural capital of the South, and the inaugural edition confirmed that there is a serious and attentive audience invested in contemporary art from local, national, and international dealers alike," said Michael Slenske, director of Untitled Art, Houston.

Information about ticket sales will be available closer to the opening.

Courtesy of World Red Eye

Untitled Art, the acclaimed contemporary art fair, returns to Houston this October.

visual-art shopping untitled art