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:

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Movie Review

Anne Hathaway's busy 2026 continues with meta-thriller Verity

Photo by Alisha Wetherill

Anne Hathaway in Verity.

Anne Hathaway has been inescapable for movie fans in 2026, starring in no fewer than five different movies across multiple genres, including Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street. The actor (who’s pregnant and about to take a well-earned break) is wrapping up her supremely busy year with the psychological thriller, Verity.

Hathaway plays the title character, Verity Crawford, a hugely successful author who writes beach read thrillers, often from the perspective of the villain. An unpublicized car accident renders her immobile and mute, and her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and agents make the decision to recruit someone to ghostwrite her next book in order to continue her legacy.

The person hired for the job is Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), an aspiring author whose books mostly get ignored. She’s eager to take on the project, but the reality of Verity’s situation throws her for a loop. When she discovers a secret file that seems to be Verity admitting to some very bad things, Lowen starts to spin even more, imagining situations that may not actually be happening.

Directed by Michael Showalter and adapted by Nick Antosca from the book by Colleen Hoover, the film initially has a nice rhythm to it, setting up the three main characters well and building up tension. Though current day Verity can’t speak or move, the film gets to the heart of her through old interviews Lowen watches to get to know her mind better. Using that footage and other small moments at the house, a type of rivalry develops between the two characters.

Strangely, though, Showalter and Antosca fail to capitalize on the early momentum. The story stagnates about halfway through the movie and never delivers on what it seems to be promising. Whether they’re too true to Hoover’s original story or change things too much is difficult to tell for those who haven’t read the book, but either way, the result is a big tease with not much in the way of a payoff.

What’s most disappointing about the film is its inability to decide on a tone. There are some points where it feels like over-the-top, campy fun, and others where it seems like the filmmakers are going for a straight-up horror vibe. The down-the-middle approach that they land on serves neither the story nor the characters well. Moments that should be full of suspense or could get laughs often fall flat because of the indecisiveness of the filmmakers.

Due to her character’s affliction, Hathaway is reduced to a supporting role in the film, but she gets by on presence alone and still has a few scenes where she demonstrates her star power. Johnson delivers a good performance despite her typical lack of emotion. Like many of her roles, it’s her body that seems to get more attention than her acting. Hartnett is on a roll thanks to recent roles in Oppenheimer and Trap, and he puts in solid work here, as well.

Verity has the bones of a tense thriller, but it’s filled in with a bunch of questionable story beats that don’t prove as satisfying as the premise. The meta-plot of the authors of thrillers becoming involved in a thriller themselves should have been juicy and full of great twists, but ultimately it’s as catatonic as Verity herself.

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Verity is now playing in theaters.

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