Houston Ballet Expands On It’s 2020 Plans For Digital Programming
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jacalyn Lawton
Public Relations Manager
HOUSTON BALLET EXPANDS ON ITS 2020 PLANS FOR DIGITAL PROGRAMMING
A Look at the Rest of 2020 for Houston Ballet and the Premiere of its First 2020-2021 Repertoire
HOUSTON, TEXAS [Oct. 5, 2020] — Houston Ballet prepares to present the rest of its programming in 2020 digitally, beginning first with A Night at Jacob’s Pillow on October 9. While the organization fulfilled subscribers’ benefits with previously recorded digital programming in the remainder of its 2019-2020 season, its opening repertoire of the 2020-2021 season will be the first on-demand program available to single ticket buyers as well.
“We are so excited to be able extend the Houston Ballet digital experience to ballet lovers near and far with our first digital program of the 2020-2021 season,” says Angela Lee, Houston Ballet Director of Marketing and PR.
A Night at Jacob’s Pillow, will present the exclusive performance footage of Stanton Welch’s Just premiering at Jacob’s Pillow. It captures a historic event nearly 40 years in the making. Jacob’s Pillow is a National Historic Landmark located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, recipient of the National Medal of Arts and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival. The premiere of Houston Ballet’s performance of Just, among its other works presented during its 2018 program, marked its first time back to Jacob’s Pillow since its inaugural appearance there in 1979. Just, a three-movement ballet depicting a disintegrating romance, has not been seen in its entirety by audiences outside of Jacob’s Pillow.
“Jacob’s Pillow is a great cathedral of modern dance in America, and we wanted to bring that history and our experience to Houston,” says Stanton Welch AM, Houston Ballet Artistic Director. “I created Just with every aspect of the venue in mind – from the intimate theater and the history, to the specialized audience and extraordinary nature that surrounds it. It’s a dark edgy work with modern American music. There’s a tremendous amount of raw emotion from the dancers, which the audience there experienced up close and the camera captured for everyone to view now.”
Tickets are on sale to the public now, and the ballet can be viewed anytime from October 9-18. Single tickets buyers will purchase the Viewing Room for $20, which includes a digital program and access to the ballet on Vimeo. Season subscribers will have access for 30 days with exclusive bonus content and an invitation to After the Curtain Falls, a live Zoom discussion about Just with Welch and the creative team.
The rest of 2020 includes diverse digital programming. The unannounced second repertoire of the season is estimated to premiere in mid-November. The Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance will remain a one-night-only digital event on December 4. A new holiday show, which replaces the beloved The Nutcracker, will premiere mid-December. Welch also plans for a new dance project to be presented freely on social media during fall 2020. Houston Ballet hopes to return to the stage by early 2021 with programming that fits within social distancing protocols.
Learn more about Houston Ballet’s reimagined 2020-2021 season, generously supported by Houston Methodist Hospital, at www.houstonballet.org.
ABOUT HOUSTON BALLET
With more than 50 years of rich history, Houston Ballet has evolved into a 61-dancer Company with a budget of $33.9 million and an endowment of $79.2 million (as of June 2019), making it the country’s fifth largest ballet company. Its Center for Dance is a $46.6 million state-of-the-art performance space that opened in April 2011 and remains the largest professional dance facility in America. Houston Ballet’s reach is global, touring in renowned theaters in Dubai, London, Paris, Moscow, Spain, Montréal, Ottawa, Melbourne, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and more.
Houston Ballet attracts prestigious leaders in dance. Australian choreographer Stanton Welch AM has served as Artistic Director of Houston Ballet since 2003, raising the level of the Company’s classical technique and commissioning works from dance legends such as Julia Adam, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Christopher Bruce, Alexander Ekman, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Edwaard Liang, Trey McIntyre and Justin Peck. Executive Director James Nelson serves as the administrative leader of the organization, a position he assumed in February 2012 after serving as the Company’s General Manager for more than a decade.
Beyond its stage presence, Houston Ballet maintains a strong foothold in continuing to foster a love for dance in future generations. Its Education and Community Engagement program reaches more than 70,000 individuals in the Houston area annually. Houston Ballet Academy trains more than 1,000 students every year, producing more than 50 percent of the elite athletes that comprise Houston Ballet’s current Company.
For more information on Houston Ballet, visit houstonballet.org.
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