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Jubilee of Dance: A Tribute to Barbara Bears

Presented by Houston Ballet at Wortham Theater Center - Brown Theater

December 4, 2009

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On Friday, December 4, 2009, Houston Ballet presents its sixth annual Jubilee of Dance: A Tribute to Barbara Bears, a special one-night only performance showcasing the talent and artistry of the company dancers in a program of high-energy excerpts from signature works and beloved classics.

Houston Chronicle dance critic Molly Glentzer called the 2006 Jubilee of Dance "the event of the season," noting "The audience gave it a rousing standing ovation." The Jubilee of Dance will be held at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.

At the Jubilee of Dance, the company will unveil the world premiere of 40, a piece d'occasion by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch featuring all 53 dancers in honor of the company's 40th anniversary. (In an unique coincidence, Mr. Welch also turned 40 in October 2009.) 40 is set to Capriccio Espagnol Op. 34 by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This 16-minute piece will highlight the strengths of the company's current dancers. Houston Ballet's costume shop will design the costumes for 40, with the ladies wearing empire cut flowing dresses and the men in blue shirts and tights.

The Jubilee of Dance opens with act one showcasing solo and pas de deux performances from Houston Ballet Principal Dancers Simon Ball, Ian Casady, Amy Fote, Mireille Hassenboehler, Melody Herrera, Connor Walsh and Sara Webb as well as first soloists Nicholas Leschke and Kelly Myernick. Each vignette will show off the company's versatility. Excerpts from several ballets will be performed, including Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch's 2005 work Falling, set to Mozart's Salzburg Symphonies, and his 2000 work Fingerprints,inspired by the music of Kronos Quartet's famous Pieces of Africa.

The 2009 Jubilee of Dance will also pay tribute to Barbara Bears, an adored company star for over two decades who will give her final performance with the company at the Jubilee of Dance. In honor of her final performance, Ms. Bears will dance the beloved classical showpiece  The Dying Swan."This is a solo ballet all the world's great ballerinas need to dance and is an appropriate piece for Barbara to say farewell with," commented Mr. Welch. The legendary 20th century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova premiered The Dying Swan on December 22, 1907 at the Hall of Noblemen, St. Petersburg, featuring choreography by Michel Fokine and set to Saint Saens's much-loved music The Carnival of the Animals.

For over 100 years audiences have been captivated by this one act, solo ballet with fluttering movements that highlight the essence of every ballerina as well as the dying swan's struggle. The entirety of the poetic ballet is performed en pointe in a seamless, never ending chain of pas de bourrée.

The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Dance describes the work's significance as follows: "Its poignant fluttering movements not only convey the struggles of the dying bird, but also evoke the art of the ballerina, performer of an ephemeral art which 'dies' after every show." The piece has served as a vehicle for some of the world's greatest ballerinas, including Dame Alicia Markova, Galina Ulanova, and Maya Plisetskaya. Marilyn Jones, former artistic director of The Australian Ballet and one of the company's most celebrated ballerinas during the 1960s and 1970s, will coach Ms. Bears in this role.

Ms. Bears will also dance excerpts from Stanton Welch's Tu Tu and Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow.

When asked about Ms. Bears' place in Houston Ballet's history, artistic director Stanton Welch commented: "Barbara Bears is one of Houston Ballet's most valued prima ballerinas. This is shown by the choreographers who choose to work with her: Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Bruce, and Glen Tetley. Much like the prima ballerinas of the Ballets Russes, Barbara was hand picked from the corps at 17 to perform MacMillan's Gloria, which is an example of her remarkable talent. Her theatrical dramatization in a role is like no other."

Commemorating Ms. Bears's life on stage will be a heartfelt video montage of her most memorable roles, narrated by long time friend Roseann Rogers, "The Buzz Lady" from Channel 55 KTBU's The Daily Buzz.

Winner of the silver medal at the 1991 International Ballet Competition, Ms. Bears joined the company in 1988, and immediately caught the eye of the legendary British choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan, who cast her in the leading female role in his Gloria as a 17 year-old member of the corps de ballet. She has displayed a particular affinity for the works of MacMillan, giving memorable interpretations of the leading female roles in his ballets Manon, Solitaire and Elite Syncopations.

She has had numerous roles created for her by such choreographers as Ben Stevenson (Svetlana, the female lead in Dracula in 1997) and Stanton Welch (Indigo in 1999 and the Big Sky and Cline Time sections of his evening-length work Tales of Texas in 2004). She was twice selected "best dancer" in the city of Houston by The Houston Press, first in 2001 and again in 2004. Reviewing her performance in Ben Stevenson's Five Poems, dance critic Lauren Kern observed, "Five Poems is an ensemble piece, but Barbara Bears steals the show. She captures the frustrated passion of Wagner's score, lingering in Stevenson's sad and sensual choreography. You can't buy moments like these."

Another highlight of the program will be an encore performance of William Forsythe's bravura classical showpiece The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, which is quickly becoming a signature work for the company after performances during the company's fall tours to New Orleans and Chicago. Mr. Forsythe alludes to ballet's classical roots by setting The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude to straight classical music, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C Major, dressing the dancers in dish-like tutus, and deriving the choreography from classroom steps. Though this is one of Mr. Forsythe's more conventional ballets, the piece is full of rapid energy, vitality, and tests the limits of the dancers.

Reviewing the company's performances of The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude at the Chicago Dancing Festival on August 22, Chicago Sun Times dance critic Hedy Weiss observed, "It was on to an almost giddy firestorm of bravura technique in William Forsythe's aptly titled ballet, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, a fiendishly difficult work brilliantly performed by members of Houston Ballet. The ballet's title says it all, as three women in hoop like tutus of chartreuse and two men -- shooting stars, all -- moved through choreography of exceptional difficulty and quirkiness at unimaginable speed. The five giddiness-inducing dancers were not just models of perfection, but met every challenge with that sense of sheer fun that comes with sublime skill and buoyant confidence." (August 24, 2009)

Providing a sneak peek at Stanton Welch's new staging of La Bayadère opening in February 2010, soloist Nao Kusuzaki will perform an excerpt from The Kingdom of the Shades, La Bayadère's grand classical showpiece, and first soloist Kelly Myernick will perform Gamzatti's solo excerpt from a pas de dix. Also on the program are excerpts from Mr. Welch's signature pieces: Fingerprints, Falling, The Long and Winding Road, and Brigade as well as company staples by the world's foremost choreographers.

Principals Connor Walsh and Amy Fote will dance the act I pas de deux from Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon; principal Mireille Hassenboehler and first soloist Nicholas Leschke will perform a pas de deux from Antony Tudor's The Leaves are Fading; principals Sara Webb and Simon Ball will perform the If I Loved You pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon's Carousel (A Dance); and retiring principal Barbara Bears, principals Melody Herrera and Connor Walsh, and first soloist Nicholas Leschke will perform an excerpt from Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow.

Age Recommendation: at least 2 years of age. 

Pictured:  Ballet: Tu Tu. Dancers: Nicholas Leschke and Barbara Bears. Photo by: Drew Donovan.