Houston Ballet and Ishida Dance Create Magic Together In a Jubilee of Dance — And 2025 Will Bring More Creative Thrills

Houston Ballet celebrated its storied legacy during the company’s Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance, which featured the world premiere of what i was thinking while i was waltzing by the acclaimed Brett Ishida. Commissioned by Houston Ballet, former ballerina turned choreographer and founder Brett Ishida’s compositions exquisitely brought to life a tough yet realistic storyline, amplified by gorgeous, startling costume design.

Viewers will long remember the tarantella-like intensity of the whirling scarlet skirts that caps the narrative or the intensity maximized by Ishida’s use of appropriately menacing music: Ezio Bosso’s “String Quartet No. 5.” Fittingly, Bosso created the song for a live score of the 1927 Hitchcock film The Lodger.

All these elements fused together to create an iconic piece, including elements of gymnastics and breakdancing that thrilled the audience and gave the piece a contemporary feel. The interesting juxtaposition of the ballgown skirts at the opening, which imply a 19th century cotillion, breathtakingly revealed the narrative. The performance explored the image couples may present to the world in contrast with the desperate reality of loneliness, loathing and suppressed violence that can lurk beneath the surface.

The extended timing for the opening “waltz” was cleverly used to characterize the monotony the couples were experiencing, as well. Much of the audience was on its feet, roaring with approval.

Ishida Dance’s Next Act

Fresh off its Houston Ballet Jubilee of Dance commission, Ishida Dance is set to ring in 2025 with a pair of full-length evenings at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The company has charmed Houston’s dance community with daring, innovative performances since its first Houston season four years ago. Brett Ishida’s creative vision brings together a devoted audience eager to experience contemporary dance, sparked by avant-garde choreography paired with a casting of international dancers.

The upcoming program, titled as long as there is in me, draws inspiration from the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho, celebrated for her emotional love poetry. Headlining the evening is the world premiere of soul-writer, Ishida’s introspective work that journeys through a dream. The dance piece follows a woman who briefly inhabits the past lives of a wife, sister and mother.

“With music by Bertrand Bonello and Philip Glass, soul-writer offers a dramatic invitation to contemplate our unfeigned attachments to women that we unconsciously carry,” Brett Ishida notes.

The program is also set to include the United States premiere of Waltz, created by Barcelona-based choreographer and performance artist Drew Jacoby. Jacoby is known for her fiery technique and bold artistry. Renowned European choreographer and artistic director of SpellBound Mauro Astolfi, who is based in Rome, will finish the program with It’s Happening Now, another world premiere for Ishida Dance.

Ishida Dance Company will perform on Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11 at 7 pm at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. For more information and tickets, go here.