The Arthropologist

Butterfly Amy Fote: The Houston ballerina's Madame Butterfly swan song

Houston Ballet artists Amy Fote and Jessica Collado in Madame Butterfly
Photo by Amitava Sarkar
Amy Fote and James Gotesky in the Houston Ballet's production of MadameButterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch
Photo by Amitava Sarkar
Amy Fote in Madame Butterfly choreographed by Stanton Welch
Photo by Maarten Holl
Amy Fote in Madame Butterfly choreographed by Stanton Welch
Photo by Maarten Holl
A scene from Madame Butterfly featuring artist Amy Forte
Photo by Amitava Sarkar

A butterfly flapped its wings and — you know the story — something big happened in Texas.

The result was butterfly Amy, as in Houston Ballet's renowned principal dancer Amy Fote. The 2012-2013 season opens with Stanton Welch's tragic Madame Butterfly, which premiered Thursday night and runs through Sept. 16, featuring Fote returning to the very role that brought her here.

Let me explain.

In 2004, Fote was performing Madame Butterfly at the Royal New Zealand Ballet when ballet master Steven Woodgate discovered her talents and quickly passed the info on to Welch. A year later, Fote left her position as a principal at Milwaukee Ballet, loaded up her Audi and headed to Houston to take up her position as a first soloist. Known for her flawless technique and emotional interpretations, Fote was promoted to principal in 2006. She became an audience favorite and one of mine as well.

Known for her flawless technique and emotional interpretations, Fote was promoted to principal in 2006.

"It was a whirlwind," Fote recalls of her first few weeks in Houston.

Butterflies are not forever, and Fote's run in Houston Ballet is not either: This Madame Butterfly will be her last. Although one of Houston's best-loved ballerinas spins her last pirouette and takes her final bow this December in The Nutcracker, Fote considers the entire fall season her swan song.

But the ballerina is not disappearing without the appropriate fanfare, as the Jubilee of Dance on Nov. 30 will serve as a tribute to her impressive career.

I met Fote before she even unpacked that Audi, when she had already been cast as Titiana in Onegin. We chatted about her hometown of Milwaukee, decorating, cooking and, of course, becoming Titiana. When she later sent me a recipe (which turned out to be way over my skill level), I was touched and reminded that, underneath her prima ballerina veneer, there was a real person quite tied to the world around her. Turns out, all of that shows up in her dancing.

"I'm ready to take the next step," Fote tells CultureMap. What exactly that next step is has yet to be determined. Right now, she's focused on flapping those great butterfly wings one more time.

The last dance

Welch's signature story ballet is famous for its breathtaking pas de deux, which is full of go-for-broke partnering, and Fote excels in the airspace, never dropping character as she flies about the stage or leaps into her lover's arms. It's a dream role for a ballerina exactly because of its mix of pyrotechnics and emotion. Fote is ready to bring it on.

"Butterfly is so close to my heart. I don't want to anticipate it, but let it happen," she says. "The role is so heartfelt and moving. It's a role any dancer would hope to do. The emotional arc gets inside you. Cho-Cho-San is so trusting of Pinkerton. She thinks that she is so special, and doesn't see what's coming at all when Pinkerton abandons her."

Over her eight years with the company, Fote has danced Butterfly with Ian Casady, Simon Ball and Nicholas Leschke, enjoying what each dancer has brought to the role of Pinkerton, the dashing ne'er-do-well who leaves Cho-Cho-San.

"It's wonderful to have a new partner. I develop a different rapport with each partner. They speak to me in their own ways," says Fote, who is now partnered with James Gotesky.

At almost 40, Fote is in her prime — and what's even more amazing, she has never been injured.

Fote looks back on her time at Houston Ballet as a gift. She already had an established career at the Milwaukee Ballet before arriving here. There was even a time she thought of retiring after leaving Milwaukee, but Houston came into her path and added yet another chapter to her career.

"I've done so many things here," says Fote. "It's been so inspiring to be here. I am pushed every day to do my best, and that I get to do Butterfly again is bittersweet."

At almost 40, Fote is in her prime — and what's even more amazing, she has never been injured. "My body has been good to me, I've treated it well. I have good genes maybe," she adds, modestly.

The ballerina who always left us breathless is ready to confront the big unknown of life beyond dance. She will be missed, by myself and many others.

"I might be still for a bit," quips Fote. "I promise to let you know. It's a work in progress." Fote is staying open for the calling of the next step in her life. With a bounty of talents and interests, I have no worries. I suspect that she's not done giving her best to the arts.

Fote deepened my dance watching. It's not all about the steps, flash and technique (although Fote has those in spades), but what is held back from the audience, which makes them feel and think for themselves.

While writing a feature story on her career in Dance Magazine, I asked her about her nuanced performances, the way she lets us in to her interior drama. "I want the audience to lean in a little bit," she told me. This fall, they will be leaning in for the last time.

Amy Fote talks about the role of Cho-Cho-San in Madame Butterfly:

unspecified

Movie review

Will Arnett shines in Bradley Cooper’s divorce drama Is This Thing On?

Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Jason McDonald

Will Arnett in Is This Thing On?.

With 12 Oscar nominations in the past 12 years in multiple categories, Bradley Cooper has turned into not only an acclaimed actor, but also a touted filmmaker. Given that pedigree, it might be difficult to remember that he first gained recognition as a comedy star in movies like Wedding Crashers, Yes Man, and The Hangover series. For his latest directorial effort, he has married comedy with drama in Is This Thing On?.

Unlike the previous two films he directed, Cooper only has a supporting role, ceding the lead to Will Arnett. He plays Alex Novak, who, as the film begins, is starting the process of divorce from his wife of 20 years, Tess (Laura Dern). Forced to move to a depressing apartment in New York City and only getting limited time with his two kids, Alex finds the unexpected outlet of stand up comedy when he signs up for open mic night at the famous Comedy Cellar.

The film follows Alex as he continues to pursue comedy while still having to see Tess on a regular basis, thanks to a shared custody agreement and get-togethers with friends like Balls and Christine (Cooper and Andra Day) and Stephen and Geoffrey (real life couple Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle). While the comedy serves as a form of counseling for Alex, truly moving on proves more difficult than expected.

The film, co-written by Cooper with Arnett and Mark Chappell, is loosely based on the real-life story of British comedian John Bishop, so one of the biggest things they needed to get right was the comedy itself. Alex’s marital situation lends his comedy more of a confessional style than actual jokes, and his evolution in that space is done well. Shooting in the actual Comedy Cellar and populating the club with real comedians like Amy Sedaris, Jordan Jensen, Reggie Conquest, and more gives those scenes an extra dose of realism.

As if to underscore the personal and emotional nature of the story, Cooper and cinematographer Matthew Libatique make liberal use of closeups with handheld cameras. The camera is constantly moving around and often seems to be right in the actors’ faces, something that is most noticeable when Alex is performing. As if the stories Alex was telling weren’t intimate enough, having Arnett's entire face fill the frame forces the audience to pay attention to what his character is saying.

If there is something to knock about the film, it’s a lack of dramatic stakes. While there’s natural tension between Alex and Tess due to the divorce, it’s way less than in a movie like, say, Marriage Story. There’s also a sneaking suspicion that Cooper was just looking to have fun with the film, casting himself as the comic sidekick and working with good friends like Arnett and Hayes. If ever there was a good hang divorce movie, this is it.

Arnett rarely gets to be in movies, much less as the lead, but he ably embodies this somewhat dramatic part. It helps that he’s given a great scene partner like Dern, who knows when to dial her acting up or down for a particular situation. Cooper and Day are also good despite their story being slightly superfluous, and Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds as Alex’s parents lend the film some extra gravitas.

Is This Thing On? is a much different type of film from Cooper’s first two directorial efforts, A Star is Born and Maestro, and it’s nice to see the filmmaker offer something new. It has a relatable story for anyone who has ever been married while offering an element of uniqueness with someone discovering an undiscovered skill late in life.

---

Is This Thing On? opens wide in theaters on January 9.