“From there 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 the Houston Ballet. The ballet's title says it all, as three women in hooplike tutus of chartreuse (Jaquel Andrews, Melody Herrera and Sara Webb) and two men (Connor Walsh and Joseph Walsh) -- 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 wit h sublime skill and buoyant confidence.”
--Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times
"....one of the nation's best ballet companies."
-- Sam Howe Verhovek, The New York Times
"....a strong, reinvigorated company whose male contingent is particularly impressive,
a well-drilled corps and an enviable selection of soloists and principals."
--Hilary Ostlere, The Financial Times, London
".....one of the largest, most successful arts organizations in America....one of America's most vibrant ballet companies."
--Allen Robertson, The Times, London
"Houston Ballet had the grand-finale spot and made the most of it. Performing a throbbing modern score by Michael Torke, choreographer and artistic director Stanton Welch began with a striking set of dark geometric shapes and inventive lighting....The driving rhythms, sheer force of the dancers' athletic prowess and go-for-broke actions of his remarkable corps of male dancers (Where did he get them all?) built to a cumulative climax, a latter-day ‘Bolero.'"
--Jean Battey Lewis, The Washington Times
"One of the first things that hits you about this company is the technical strengths not just of the principals, but throughout the ranks. Watching artistic director Stanton Welch take class on a Sunday morning before a matinee, one could not help but marvel at the multiple turns tossed off by the young women in the corps....The three new works shown in this program will be followed by no fewer than four more Houston premieres. Can any other major ballet company in the world match that? I wonder..."
--Emma Manning, Dance Europe
"Other ballet companies just perform for you. Houston Ballet wants to take you out on a date and then make out with you in the back of the car. The company, which performed a triple bill at the National Arts Centre last night, is seductive, passionate, shamelessly flirtatious, and sexy as hell....The men are particularly dazzling, they all seem to be able to whip out five or six pirouettes on a dime."
--Natasha Gauthier, The Ottawa Citizen
"Houston has become one of the biggest success stories of American ballet - a company that used its generous oil dollar sponsorship to maintain a huge and unusually popular repertory of works"
--The Guardian, London
"Stanton Welch's version of Swan Lake is not only more dramatically interesting than most, it is also a beautiful, contemporary version that should fly high for years, giving Houston Ballet a new full-length classic with which to dazzle audiences."
- Marene Gustin, Dance International
"It (performance of Stanton Welch's Velocity at The Kennedy Center) was a show of strength for the Houston dancers, particularly for the men, to whom Welch gave some sharp, snappy sequences (and it was nice to see true choreography for men, rather than a string of jumps and turns)."
-Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post
"By providing so many solo roles (even the national dances in the ballroom scene have become solos for the princesses auditioning for the prince's hand), Stanton Welch has produced a version (of Swan Lake) reflective of the wealth of talent embraced by the 52 dancers of today's Houston Ballet....with productions such as the new Swan Lake to offer, it is a company the wider world deserves to see."
-William Littler, The Toronto Star
"Artistic director Stanton Welch's new Swan Lake, with spectacular costumes and sets by the late Kristian Fredrikson is a fresh read on a classic story.... this is an emotionally rich, visually stunning, uplifting production."
-- Wendy Perron, Dance Magazine
"The stellar ensemble of Houston Ballet - America's fourth largest ballet company - concluded the evening with the intrepid Velocity (2003), a tour de force created by Stanton Welch as a sequel to his earlier work Divergence. The pace of this piece is conveyed by its title. Danced to a selection of vibrant minimalistic compositions of American composer Michael Torke, Velocity sets the cast in perpetual motion with an exhilarating speed. Here, the choreographer makes the classical ballet steps look not only ultra modern but also highly athletic.
"Welch, the 38-year-old Australian choreographer who became artistic director of Houston Ballet in 2003, compares Velocity with "a butterfly mating ritual, in which only the strongest that can fly highest will mate." His rigorous choreography pushes the dancers to the limits and commands the true virtuosic performers.
--Oksana Khadarina, www.ballet.co.uk
"Houston Ballet in Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances is stunning. And Bruce's choreography is brilliant. It's rare to see the combination of innovative and challenging choreography with technically and emotionally mature dancers. Houston Ballet has the dancers, and Bruce should be a household word. The 30-minute ballet...restored my faith in the power of dance."
-- Kathryn Greenway, The Gazette, Montreal
"First and foremost among its assets is the company's high caliber of dancing. Vitality, clarity and speed seem so prodigiously distributed among the dancers that it is difficult to pick favorites."
-- George Jackson, The Washington Post
