Rock, Roll & Tutus

Brett Ishida is Japanese American and grew up on a citrus farm in California’s Central Valley. Her love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age fifteen when she received a full scholarship to Kirov Academy and later to School of American Ballet in NYC. She danced with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, where she first choreographed, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens performing works by celebrated choreographers Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, and Ohad Naharin, among others. She later graduated from UCLA earning a BA in Literature with emphasis in Poetry. She felt by combining those two worlds from her past, she could become a new voice in contemporary dance and started her own company, ISHIDA, captivating audiences in Austin and Houston. From the onset, ISHIDA’s work has been critically acclaimed: Broadway World described her work as “stunning and compelling…an incredible boon to the Houston art scene.” Dance Magazine named ISHIDA in the venerated ‘25 to Watch’ and The Washington Post’s Pulitzer-prize winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman deemed Ishida’s piece home-coming which “tackled a deeply poignant, poetic theme” to be “remarkable.” ISHIDA’s work was presented at the 10,000 Dreams festival at The Kennedy Center last June featuring works by top Asian Choreographers in the world; Ballet Herald reviewed ISHIDA’s work as “the most memorable and effective piece in this program.”

Ezio Bosso (1971-2020) was an Italian conductor, composer, pianist, and double bassist. At the age of sixteen, he made his debut as a solo pianist and double bassist in Lyon, before completing his studies in composition and conducting at the music academy of Vienna (Wiener Hochschule).

Throughout his career, he collaborated as a composer, soloist, conductor, and member of chamber music ensembles with numerous prestigious musical institutions, including the Royal Festival Hall (London), Sydney Opera House, Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Carnegie Hall (New York), Teatro Regio (Turin), Houston Symphony Orchestra, Perelada Festival, Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa), LAC Lugano, Auditorium Parco Della Musica (Rome), Lietuvos Fhilarmonija, and St Martin in the Fields (London). He composed works commissioned by major opera houses such as the Wiener Staatsoper and Royal Opera House, for ballet companies like Sydney Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, for choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, Edwaard Liang, and Rafael Bonchela, as well as for theatre and film directors.

For his work, Bosso received awards including a Green Room Award – a significant Australian award in the performing arts – and the Syracuse New York Award.

In 2019, Jacquelyn Long was selected by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch to make her choreographic debut at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for her piece It Just Keeps Going, which was initially created at elle émerge, Houston Ballet’s first all-female choreographic workshop. She has since created five other professional works on Houston Ballet, HBII, and Ballet Virginia. Most notably her piece Illuminate premiered at Houston Ballet in 2023 at the Wortham Theater and was performed again in 2024 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. Long balances choreography with being a full time dancer in Houston Ballet. She is currently a Soloist with the Company.

Oliver Davis graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1994 and has since established himself as a preeminent composer for ballet, film & TV, and the concert hall. His albums on Signum Records have consistently charted highly in the UK Classical Charts and achieved regular airplay, notably on Classic FM and New York radio station WQXR.

Davis released his debut album ‘Flight’, recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and soloist Kerenza Peacock, in March 2015 to critical acclaim. Since then, he has released four more albums on Signum Records: ‘Seasons’ (October 2015), which included Anno, Davis’ contemporary take on Vivaldi’s Quattro Stagioni; ‘Dance (2016)’, ‘Liberty’ (2018) and 'Arcadia' (2019), all recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Many of these albums have been Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM. 

Davis’ compositions are in high demand in the ballet world, featuring on the international stage with renowned ballet companies such as New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet at prestigious venues including Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, and London’s Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio.

Since 2017, Davis has collaborated numerous times with prolific choreographer and Ballet Met Artistic Director Edwaard Liang. The Infinite Ocean, their first work together, premiered at San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival in April 2018 with a specially commissioned score by Davis. ‘Constant Light’ was their next collaboration, for Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. In September 2019, they premiered a new work at New York City Ballet’s prestigious Fall Fashion Gala, which featured costumes designed by fashion icon Anna Sui. Davis and Laing are currently collaborating on a new work to be premiered by Pacific Northwest Ballet. In April 2023 Davis collaborated with Celine Gettins, Principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet, to create Jubilate, a new ballet celebrating the coronation of King Charles III. In 2024 Davis’ music was used in over 100 ballet performances and on March 16th his music featured in five ballets across the US and UK.

One of Britain's leading choreographers, with an international reputation, Christopher Bruce trained at the Ballet Rambert School. He joined Ballet Rambert in 1963 where he was acclaimed as one of the most gifted performers of his generation, and remembered particularly for his performances in Glen Tetley's Pierrot Lunaire and in Cruel Garden, a collaboration with Lindsay Kemp. He is recognized as the last major choreographer to have been nurtured by Marie Rambert.

In addition to performing and choreographing, Christopher was Associate Director of Ballet Rambert from 1975 – 1979 and in 1980 became its Associate Choreographer. In 1994 he returned to the Company (later renamed Rambert Dance Company) as Artistic Director until 2002. Works performed by the Company included his Cruel Garden, Ghost Dances, Requiem, Intimate Pages, Sergeant Early’s Dream, Swansong, Rooster, Moonshine and Four Scenes all of which have been televised.

Christopher has choreographed for many companies around the world and has enjoyed close associations with Australian Dance Theatre, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Gulbenkian Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, English National Ballet (where he was Associate Choreographer from 1986-91) and Houston Ballet (where he was Resident Choreographer from 1989-98 and Associate Choreographer from 1998-2021). He has choreographed for musicals, plays, operas, television and videos.

Over the last decades, Houston Ballet has emerged as Bruce's artistic home in America. The Company has 12 works by Bruce in its repertoire. He has staged his Ghost Dances, Grinning in Your Face, Intimate Pages, Swansong, Sergeant Early's Dream, Cruel Garden, Rooster and Land for the Company and has created four original works: Guatama Buddha (1989), Journey (1990), Nature Dances (1992) and Hush (2006). In 1990, Houston Ballet traveled to Denmark to film Ghost Dances and Journey for Danish Television.

His most recent works include Three Songs, Two Voices (2005), A Steel Garden (2005), Hush (2006), Shift (2007), Dance at the Crossroads (2007), Ten Poems (2009), Fur Alina (2011), Dream (2012), Shadows (2014), Morning and Moonlight (2015) and Mya (2016).

His awards include Evening Standard Award, 1974 and 1997; Prix Italia (for Television Production of Cruel Garden), 1982; International Theatre Institute Award for Excellence in International Dance, 1993; De Valois Award for Outstanding Contribution to Dance at Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards, 2003; Rheinische Post Theater Oscar for ‘A Evening of Work by Christopher Bruce’ at Theater Krefeld-Mönchengladbach 2004; Best Choreography, Critics’ Circle Awards, 2009.  Christopher Bruce was awarded a C.B E in 1998; Honorary Doctor of Art from De Montfort University, 2000; Honorary Doctor of Letters from University of Exeter, 2001; Honorary Life Membership of Amnesty International, 2002 and Honorary Visiting Professor, Exeter University 2009.  He was appointed Patron of the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 2022.

Rooster uses eight Rolling Stones’ songs, spanning 1964-1968. During those years, The Rolling Stones rose from up-and-coming London blues enthusiasts to global rock icons. These defining hits—like “Paint It Black” and “Sympathy for the Devil”— cemented The Stones’ reputation as the “bad boys” of the British Invasion and gave voice to a generation in the midst of cultural upheaval. With more than 200 million records sold worldwide, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1989) and the UK Music Hall of Fame (2004), as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Stones remain one of the most enduring and iconic bands in music history.

Stanton Welch AM was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones OBE and Garth Welch AM, two of Australia's most gifted dancers of the 1960s and 1970s.  He joined The Australian Ballet, rising to the rank of leading soloist and performing various principal roles, before serving as Resident Choreographer. During his decades long career, Welch has choreographed over 100 works including audience favorites Madame Butterfly (1995), Clear (2001), and Divergence (1994). His work can be seen in the repertoire of The Australian Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Birmingham Royal Ballet, among others. In July 2003, Welch was appointed Artistic Director of Houston Ballet, America's fourth-largest ballet company. Welch has choreographed more than 40 works for Houston Ballet, including Marie (2009) and spectacular stagings of Swan Lake (2006), La Bayadère (2010), Romeo and Juliet (2015), Giselle (2016), The Nutcracker (2016), Sylvia (2019), and Raymonda (2025). Developing Houston Ballet into a choreographic Eden, Welch has commissioned over 30 works from notable choreographers such as Mark Morris, Aszure Barton, Dwight Rhoden, Trey McIntyre, and Justin Peck, while expanding the company’s repertoire with works from internationally acclaimed choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, John Neumeier, Twyla Tharp, and Jerome Robbins. Under Welch’s leadership, Houston Ballet has appeared across the globe including recent engagements in Tokyo, Dubai, Melbourne, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Welch continues to nurture the next generation of artists through the Houston Ballet Academy, a leading institution in dance education and training. 

Tchaikovsky was a leading Russian composer of the late 19th century, whose works are notable for their melodic inspiration and their orchestration. His works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He is regarded as the master composer for classical ballet, as demonstrated by his scores for Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. Among the most subjective of composers, Tchaikovsky is inseparable from his music. He was a passionate ballet lover.

He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884, by Emperor Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension.