New Orleans Ballet Association Celebrating 40 Years of Bringing Dance to Life New Orleans Native Returns to Perform with Houston Ballet

New Orleans Ballet Association

Celebrating 40 Years of Bringing Dance to Life

New Orleans Native Returns to Perform with Houston Ballet

The New Orleans Ballet Association is proud to announce that New Orleans’ very own Mireille Hassenboehler will once again take the stage with Houston Ballet at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts.  Following last season's triumphant premiere of Marie, the company returns on October 24 at 8pm for a special command performance of works by four of the world's preeminent choreographers.

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the nation’s best ballet companies,” Houston Ballet has a long relationship with New Orleans that began in 1979 when the company first performed here, and this tour marks its third visit to New Orleans since 2005.  Also celebrating its 40^thanniversary this season, Houston Ballet brings an extraordinary program of masterworks by Nacho Duato, Stanton Welch, William Forsythe, and Twyla Tharp.

The evening will begin with Hassenboehler and nine other dancers in Stanton Welch’sFalling. Originally created for the San Francisco Ballet in 2005, Falling is a classical, playful piece for five couples set to Mozart's Salzburg Symphonies. At the premiere, Michael Wade Simpson of the San Francisco Chronicle observed, “The whole work has a fresh sense of direction and musicality….Falling is a delight in shades of pastel, with good ideas and excellent dancing delivered in a joyful, Mozartian spirit.”

Hassenboehler will also dance one of the lead roles in Nacho Duato's poignant Jardí Tancat(1983), set to Catalonian folk tales passionately sung by Spanish vocalist Maria del Mar Bonet. With a sweet, yet fervent melancholy, these folksongs and their dance portrayal tell the story of the people who work the barren land praying for rain that does not come.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (1996), set to Franz Schubert’s Allegro Vivace from hisSympony No. 9 in C Major, is a series of solo variations, pas de deux, pas de trois and ensemble sections for five dancers, two men and three women. One of William Forsythe's more conventional ballets, this dynamic 12-minute work is full of energy and vitality and “is a brilliant outburst of neo-classical style.” (The New York Times)

Having recently added its first piece by Tony Award Winner Twyla Tharp, Houston Ballet closes the evening with her signature work, In The Upper Room.  As one of America’s most celebrated dance makers and director of the Broadway hit Movin’ Out, Tharp has a reputation for merging modern dance and ballet set to a variety of music types. In The Upper Room (1986), is a hard-driving, yet spiritual contemporary work set to music by Phillip Glass. "Legend has it that Tharp named her 1986 opus for a Mahalia Jackson recording that refers to the upper room where Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Last Supper. In Tharp’s view, a dance floor is a similarly exalted space. Her place of reverence is a wide-open stage, with ballerinas in flippy skirts and pointe shoes sharing the spotlight with the other dancers in trousers and sneakers. The effect is not ironic, but harmonious.”  (The Washington Post)

The Houston Ballet performance begins at 8pm; ticket prices range from $20 to $125. Students and seniors (65 and older) receive a $7 discount off the regular ticket prices of $40 and higher. Group discounts also are available. For tickets or information, call the New Orleans Ballet Association Box Office at (504) 522-0996. Tickets may be purchased online through www.nobadance.com, or via Ticketmaster at (504) 522-5555 orwww.ticketmaster.com.

In addition to the performance, Houston Ballet will also conduct two master classes. On Friday, October 23, there will be a community class open to intermediate/advanced dancers ages 16 and older at 6:30pm at Tulane University’s McWilliams Hall. For reservations, call (504) 522-0996 x207 or email ereho@nobadance.com.  Additionally, on Saturday, October 24 at 11am, the company will conduct a ballet master class for the NORD/NOBA Center For Dance, a partnership of NOBA and the New Orleans Recreation Department that provides tuition-free dance classes throughout the community.

This event is sponsored by the Betty S. and James A. Noe Jr. Foundation and the Sheraton Hotel New Orleans.