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    The Arthropologist

    New dance buildings are all the twirl in Texas: Houston Ballet Center for Dancehas company

    Nancy Wozny
    Apr 18, 2011 | 11:12 am
    • Artists Jordan Reed and Katlyn Addison rehearse in the new Houston Ballet Centerfor Dance.
      Photo by Amitava Sarkar
    • Ballet Austin's Butler Dance Education Center in downtown Austin
      Photo by Andrew Yates
    • Class in progress in the Pearl Argyle Ballet Studio of the ODC Dance Commons inSan Francisco
    • James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center at Sam Houston State University
    • The Atlanta Ballet Carlos Dance Centre with artist Nadia Mara
      Photo by Charlie McCullers/Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
    • Located in Manhattan, The Joan Weill Center For Dance, affectionately known asThe Ailey Studios
    • Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, New York
      Photo by Michael Hart
    • Joffrey Tower, home of The Joffrey Ballet
      Photo by Herbert Migdoll

    "When I get my career off the ground, I'm going to perform in this alley," I told my brother some three decades ago. The pathetic part is that I wasn't kidding.

    That alley was eventually officially named "Dance Alley," even though the venue was forced into an even more marginal area. During my dancing life, I performed in all manner of hovels, ramshackle spaces and places that the fire marshal deemed not fit for the public (fine for dancers though).

    So you can just imagine my joy when I returned from summer vacation two years ago to find Houston Ballet's Center for Dance already on its way to becoming Houston's temple of dance.

    New buildings and arts organizations make a touchy subject. Putting money into bricks and mortar has bankrupted many a theater company in this nation. But I was the one getting defensive if anyone gave me grief about Houston Ballet's new digs. I would ask, "Have you ever been in C.C. Conner's office when the men are jumping? Houston Ballet needed a new building to match the level of their national stature. Let's get on it with." And they did.

    As a card carrying-citizen of Planet Houston dance, I take pride in that shiny new structure. My name is scribbled on the last steel beam, along with those of the staff, the company and members of the entire Houston Ballet community. I walked into the building with the company for the first time, and watched their very first plie. Company class may have been business as usual, yet I imagine the day stirred many a dancer to wonder, "I work here?"

    Here's a question: How do you know how society values you based on the buildings you work in? I set off on a pilgrimage to find out.

     New York

    I nearly fell over crossing 55th Street, when I first laid eyes on the Joan A. Weill Center for Dance, home of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II and The Ailey School in New York City. It's that impressive. Large windows allow you to gaze on all kinds of dancing. Light and airy, if buildings could breath, this one does.

    The in-house theater has perfect sight lines for dance, too. I like to pop in every time I'm in New York and feel in a "dance is in the dumps" mood. I perk right up as I imagine the some 5,000 students do who train yearly in the 77,000-square-foot facility. It's a dance monument, if I have ever seen one.

    I ventured over to Center For Performance Research, Brooklyn's first L.E.E.D. Certified green building of its kind. The award-winning lab offers affordable space for performance and rehearsal along with innovative programing. Developed by Jonah Bokaer and John Jasperse, the 4,000-square-foot space is a mixed-use residential and commercial condominium that also houses a non-profit community arts facility on the ground floor. It's one smart way of having a place to develop your work.

    Bokaer and Jasperse, two seminal American dance makers, built the studio's floor themselves. I had to think about that for a minute. You should too.

     Austin

    I promised I would drive by Ballet Austin for a brief chat with their artistic director Stephen Mills last year when Dominic Walsh was featured in the troupe's New American Talent program Two hours later, I was still there, entranced by the tale of how executive director Cookie Ruiz granted Mills' wish of finding a downtown location.

    Today, the Butler Dance Education Center houses two schools, Ballet Austin's Academy, The Butler Community School, along with the professional company and Ballet Austin II, who just happen to be performing Thang Dao's Quiet Imprint in Houston on Saturday at the Hobby Center. The building is glamorous, a total looker, just teaming with motion and so welcoming.

    If a building could say, "Hey, come on in," this one does. No wonder I didn't want to leave — that and everyone's warm Texas hospitality.

     Sam Houston State & Others

    There are buildings I have written about but have yet to visit, like ODC's The Dance Commons in San Francisco, Mark Morris Dance Group's Brooklyn-based The Dance Center, Joffrey Ballet's Joffrey Tower in Chicago and Booker T. Washington's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas' sleek new arts district. I'd like to see Atlanta Ballet's snazzy new place as well.

    My most recent visit was to Sam Houston State University's new James & Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center, which opened this past fall. I was there to visit classes, catch up with the faculty and review their inaugural concert in The Dance Gallery, built especially for dance. The building is graceful, there is no other way to explain it. A dramatic James Surls sculpture fills the atrium of this spacious facility, which encourages students of various disciplines to mix and mingle.

     Dana E. Nicolay, associate dean and professor of dance, treated me to an in-depth tour. As a key person in the planning process, Nicolay could explain the thought behind every decision in elaborate detail. The pride he exuded was palpable. We lingered for a long while, watching classes through the expansive windows.

    The experience of a new space is considerably different for those who endured the difficulties of the dance department's former quarters than for freshmen, who have only known this elegant place.

    Even though I already knew the answer to my question, I couldn't resist asking. "Do you think it affects dancers' self esteem to learn in a building like this?" The look in Nicolay's eyes told me everything I needed to know.

    His comments made me think about the Summer Intensive students who will enter Houston Ballet's building soon and never know anything different. This will be their first impression of Houston Ballet.

    If buildings could talk, this one is whispering, "You are valued."

     Watch Melody Mennite and Nicholas Leschke dance Christopher Bruce's Hush, one many dances you just might see through the windows of Houston Ballet's Center for Dance.

     

     Get a taste of the dancing going on at Sam Houston State University

     

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    Movie Review

    New Superman movie forges into the future while honoring the past

    Alex Bentley
    Jul 11, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    David Corenswet in Superman
    Photo by Jessica Miglio
    David Corenswet in Superman.

    When the character of Superman was invented in 1938, it was perhaps easier to see the world in good and bad terms. Fascism was already on the rise in Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the idea of an all-powerful superhero who stood up for people in need was a welcome one. In the nearly 90 years since, though, the world and the character have undergone multiple evolutions, and the thought of someone who is purely good is often met with cynicism or worse.

    The new Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, puts the superhero (or metahuman, as the film calls him and similar creatures) squarely in the midst of the modern world, with geopolitical conflicts, mega-corporations, and social media all combining to make the altruism of Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) questionable. That skepticism even extends to his coworker/girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whose knowledge of his exploits puts her in a tricky position personally and professionally.

    Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is out to dominate the world and take down Superman, with his eponymous corporation and vast group of underlings dedicated to doing both. Superman is generally a one-man fighting crew, but he’s occasionally aided by a group calling themselves the Justice Gang, comprised of heroes many have never heard of like Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a version of Green Lantern; Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), a flying metahuman; and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who knows all kinds of technology.

    One of the best things about this new version of Superman is that it mostly dispenses with introductions, putting the audience in a world where Superman is already a well-known quantity who’s adored by many and hated by some. Gunn has used his new position as co-CEO of DC Studios to honor the past of the hero and take him into the future. With the 1978 John Williams theme song echoing throughout and Corenswet giving off Christopher Reeve vibes, it’s clear Gunn wants audiences to feel nostalgia while still getting something new.

    He also appears to want viewers to fight against the negativity that the modern world can bring. The plot involves manipulation of the public, usually at the hands of Luthor, through bombastic talk shows, political theater, and social media, the latter of which — in a great joke — comes to involve hundreds of typing monkeys. The film could be read as a rebuttal of many real-world ills as, despite Luthor’s machinations, many choose to continue to believe in the goodness of Superman.

    There is a lot going on in the film, but somehow it never comes off as overly complicated. Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane and Luthor’s attempts at taking him down are given the most prominence, with everything else supporting those two main things. The Justice Gang is a fun addition, with Mr. Terrific becoming the breakout hero of the group. The addition of the (CGI) dog Krypto provides levity, poignant moments, and unexpectedly great action scenes. The only part that gets somewhat short shrift is the crew of The Daily Planet, with everyone besides Lois and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) getting little more than face time.

    Being the new Superman is a lot to live up to, but Corenswet is completely up to the job. He, like Reeve, plays the character as someone who is earnest but not naive, a quality that comes through even when he’s in the middle of fight scenes. Brosnahan is also fantastic, providing a nice balance to the relationship while also proving the character’s own worth. Hoult makes for a great new version of Luthor, and Gathegi nearly makes the case that Mr. Terrific should get a starring film of his own.

    Just as he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has shown that success can be found through making characters people want to see. Not everyone in this Superman will be familiar to viewers, but in the end a group of people working together toward a goal that serves the common good is one worth watching and cheering for.

    ---

    Superman is now playing in theaters.

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