One of our nation’s largest ballet companies, The Houston Ballet, recently announced its 2025 Summer Intensive Program Audition Tour. One of the 13 cities where auditions will be held is Los Angeles on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. In order to audition, dancers must first register. Those accepted will have the opportunity to experience immersive training for 6-8 hours daily, 6 days a week, from June 21 – July 25, 2025. These classes are designed for dancers in levels 5-8 (12+). There is a nontransferable registration fee that must be paid before noon on January 9, 2025. For more information and to register, please click HERE.
Houston Ballet SIP 2024 – Photo by Casey Giltner, courtesy of Houston Ballet.
Some of the illustrious dance faculty that dances will have the opportunity to study with include: internationally renowned choreographer Stanton Welch, ballerina icon Julie Kent, and trailblazer Lauren Anderson, who made history as Houston Ballet’s first black principal ballerina 25 years before Misty Copeland took the stage. In addition, dancers will be able to observe and learn from current company dancers like Harper Watters and Yuriko Kajiya.
Houston Ballet SIP 2024 – Photo by Casey Giltner, courtesy of Houston Ballet.
Audition date and times:
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Ages 12-14
Check-In: 4:00-4:30 PM
Class: 4:30-6:00 PM
Ages 15+
Check-In: 6:15-6:45 PM
Class: 6:45-8:30 PM
Location for the audition:
Debbie Allen Dance Academy
The Rhimes Performing Arts Center
1850 S Manhattan Pl
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Registration: Audition registration will close Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 12:00PM CT. A nonrefundable, nontransferable payment of $50 USD is required to submit this form. If you would like to submit a recorded video audition, please complete your registration through Acceptd. If you experience any issues while submitting the form or completing the payment, please email us at hbacademy@houstonballet.org.
To register, please click HERE.
Houston Ballet SIP 2024 – Photo by Casey Giltner, courtesy of Houston Ballet.
ABOUT HOUSTON BALLET
With over 50 years of rich history, Houston Ballet has evolved into a company with a budget of $37.6 million and an endowment of $97.5 million (as of June 2023), making it the country’s fourth-largest ballet company. Its $46.6 million state-of-the-art performance space, the Houston Ballet Margaret Alkek Williams Center for Dance, opened in April 2011. In addition, Houston Ballet’s reach is global, touring in renowned theaters in Dubai, London, Paris, Moscow, Spain, Montréal, Ottawa, Melbourne, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Tokyo and more.
Beyond its stage presence, Houston Ballet maintains a strong foothold in continuing to foster a love for dance in future generations. Its Education and Community Engagement program reaches more than 85,000 individuals in the Houston area annually. Houston Ballet Academy trains more than 1,000 students every year, producing more than 60 percent of the elite athletes that comprise Houston Ballet’s current Company. For more information on Houston Ballet, visit houstonballet.org.
Houston Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program with Houston Ballet Prinipal Connor Walsh 2013 – Photo by Lawrence Knox, courtesy of Huston Ballet.
ABOUT STATON WELCH
In July 2003, the acclaimed Australian choreographer Stanton Welch assumed the leadership of Houston Ballet, America’s fifth-largest ballet company, as artistic director. Since his arrival, Mr. Welch has transformed Houston Ballet by raising the level of classical technique, infusing the company with new energy, drive and vision; introducing works by distinguished choreographers to the repertoire; and attracting some of the world’s best coaches to Houston to work with the dancers.
He has created works for such prestigious international companies as Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet.
Mr. Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones, O.B.E., and Garth Welch, A.M., two of Australia’s most gifted dancers of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1986 he began his training at the late age of seventeen, quickly winning a scholarship to San Francisco Ballet School. In 1989 he was engaged as a dancer with The Australian Ballet, where he rose to the rank of leading soloist, performing such principal roles as Des Grieux in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Lensky in John Cranko’s Onegin, Camille in Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, and Alan Strang in Equus. He has also worked with internationally acclaimed choreographers such as Jiří Kylían, Nacho Duato, and Maurice Béjart.For his contributions to the world of dance, Mr. Welch was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in June 2015.
Mr. Welch has been extremely active internationally, receiving numerous commissions from the world’s leading companies.
Students of Houston Ballet Academy SIP with Houston Ballet Principal Yuriko Kajiya – Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox , courtesy of Houston Ballet.
ABOUT JULIE KENT
Julie Kent joined Houston Ballet as Artistic Director in July of 2023. The longest serving Ballerina in American Ballet Theatre’s 84-year history, she danced a vast repertoire of classical and neo-classical roles from 1985-2015, working closely with choreographers John Neumeier, Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Stanton Welch AM, Alexei Ratmansky, Mark Morris, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Jorma Elo, Kevin McKenzie and others. From 2016-2023, she was Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet where she brought important classical and contemporary masterworks into the repertoire, commissioning over 26 world premieres.
Ms. Kent also danced as an international Guest Artist with the Mariinsky Theatre, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, Stuttgart Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, Australian Ballet, Houston Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Teatro Colon, Ballet de Santiago and Tokyo Ballet. She won the Prix de Lausanne (1986), Erik Bruhn Prize (1993) and was the first American dancer ever to win the Prix Benois de la Danse (2000). In 2012, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Dance Magazine and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate from American University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2023.
Ms. Kent starred in the films Dancers (1987) and Centerstage (2000).
For more information about The Houston Ballet, please visit their website.
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton based on information from press release by Kayla Patterson, MPS – Giant Noise: Public Relations, Digital Media & Partnerships.
Featured image: Students of Houston Ballet Academy SIP 2023 – Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox, courtesy of Houston Ballet.
