C.C. Conner helped transform Houston Ballet, serving as its managing director as the company boosted its financial endowment and built its downtown home. Karen Stokes led the University of Houston’s dance program for more than 20 years
Dance artists are shaped by the work they dance, and the relationship between the dancer and the dance-maker is extremely potent when it comes to what we see on stage.
“This is our third year trying to do our 25th year,” says Houston’s unofficial dance ambassador Nancy Henderek, whose annual springtime Dance Salad Festival (for reasons you can probably guess) took an unexpected hiatus in 2020 and again in 2021.
“I mean, I’m exhausted most of the time,” laughs Marlana Doyle, founder and executive/artistic director of Houston Contemporary Dance Company (HCDC), who is also president and CEO of the Institute of Contemporary Dance (ICD).
Stanton Welch framed his new Nutcracker as a coming-of-age story, with a young Clara at the center of his dazzling holiday ballet, now entering its second year.
Cuba's Malpaso Dance Company made a strong impression on me when I saw the company at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival last summer in a program of works by Malpaso artistic director Osnel Delgado and Trey McIntyre, whose Texas roots run deep.
“I think in order to make my best work, I have to fall in love with my subject,” said Karen Stokes when discussing her company’s upcoming production, Sunset at White Oak Bayou, which celebrates the story of Houston’s founding and the city’s original port.
In order to create new work, choreographers need two things: time and space. Most dancemakers have to choose one or the other, resulting in less than fully realized work.