Houston Ballet closes season with productions of ‘Swan Lake’, ‘Divergence’

Houston Ballet to End 2022-2023 Season with Two Final Productions

The Houston Ballet is set to conclude its 2022-2023 season with two final productions: “Divergence,” from May 25th to June 4th, and “Swan Lake,” from June 8th to June 18th. “Divergence” features three ballets by renowned choreographers Aszure Barton, Stanton Welch AM, and Justin Peck. The final production of the season, “Swan Lake” by Stanton Welch, is an iconic love story told through dance offering a new twenty-first-century pace with greater psychological complexity imbued in the main characters.

According to a statement from the ballet company, “Stanton Welch’s opulent production gives the work a twenty-first-century pace.” The Houston Ballet’s highly anticipated season will run its last curtain call showcasing the finest of art and culture during May and June.

“Divergence” is a unique combination of world-class artistic choreography that pays homage to Houston City by incorporating lunar landing and city architecture. Fritz Masten, the costume designer, with Burke Brown’s set design, created transcendent appearances that take the audience out of this world. Furthermore, Mason Bates, with archival recordings from NASA, was commissioned to produce a hybrid orchestral-electronic score. The program also features Stanton Welch’s signature work Divergence, an explosive crowd favorite.

Speaking about the production, artistic director Stanton Welch said, “This work is one of my earliest ballets and still, more than 30 years later, it continues to challenge dancers and, hopefully, excite audiences. It will be an exciting adrenaline rush for everyone.”

Moreover, the production includes a world premiere by Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck, Under the Folding Sky, inspired by James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany Skyspace at Rice University. Renowned composer Philip Glass’ opera “The Photographer” sets the musical stage for designs by Peck’s frequent collaborators, costume design duo Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung of Reid & Harriet, lighting by Brandon Sterling Baker, and stage design by Rice University alum Karl Jensen.

The Houston Ballet’s “Swan Lake” production comes after its heartfelt hometown tour through the Theater District to Jones Hall following Hurricane Harvey in 2018, and its critically acclaimed tour to the famed Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Theater in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2022. Welch concludes the season with “Swan Lake,” one of the world’s greatest love stories, with lavish costumes and set design inspired by Kristian Fredrikson’s John William Waterhouse painting “The Lady of Shalott.”

Houston Ballet enthusiasts can visit houstonballet.org for more information about the final productions of the 2022-2023 season.

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