A Night at the Ballet

(1972), Vienna Waltzes (1977), Ballo della Regina (1978), and Mozartiana (1981). His final ballet, a new version of Stravinsky’s Variations for Orchestra, was created in 1982. He also choreographed for films, operas, revues, and musicals. Among his best known dances for the stage is Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, originally created for Broadway’s On Your Toes (1936). The musical was later made into a movie. A major artistic figure of the twentieth century, Balanchine revolutionized the look of classical ballet. Taking classicism as his base, he heightened, quickened, expanded, streamlined, and even inverted the fundamentals of the 400-year-old language of academic dance. This had an inestimable influence on the growth of dance in America. Although at first his style seemed particularly suited to the energy and speed of American dancers, especially those he trained, his ballets are now performed by all the major classical ballet companies throughout the world.

Copyright © 2002 The George Balanchine Foundation. Reprinted by permission.

Leslie Peck, Stager, Allegro Brillante

Leslie Peck is an Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. She was trained by the legendary dancer Andre Eglevsky and the School of American Ballet. At the age of 17, Peck joined the New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. She went on to dance soloist roles with the Pennsylvania Ballet and later became a principal dancer with Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Richmond Ballet and Ballet International in London. She is a recognized authority on Balanchine ballets and one of the few dancers authorized to stage Balanchine ballets by the Balanchine Trust.

Houston Ballet – Artistic Staff

Stanton Welch AM, The Harris Masterson III Artistic Director

In July 2003, Australian Stanton Welch AM assumed leadership of Houston Ballet, America’s fifth-largest classical ballet company. Since he took the helm of the company, Mr. Welch has revitalized Houston Ballet, bringing in new dancers, commissioning new works, and attracting a top-flight artistic staff. Mr. Welch has created works for such prestigious international companies as Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, America Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. Mr. Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones OBE and Garth Welch AM, two of Australia’s most gifted dancers of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989, he was engaged as a dancer with The Australian Ballet, where he rose to the rank of leading soloist, performing various principal roles. He has also worked with internationally acclaimed choreographers such as Jirí Kylián,