Houston Ballet is announcing today that Harper Watters has been promoted to Principal dancer, a move that will delight many of the regular audience members. This was the first promotion of a company member to principal since 2018.
As a First Soloist, Watters increasingly performed several of the lead roles such as Prince in The Nutcracker. As a statement released by Houston Ballet said: ” he performed in the World Premiere of Edwaard Liang’s Murmuration and created roles in Aszure Barton’s Angular Momentum and Come In; Garret Smith’s Return; Justin Peck’s Reflections and Stanton Welch’s Sylvia (Apollo), The Rite of Spring, and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Trumpet).
In a 2023 interview with the Houston Press, Watters talked about his experience with dance and Houston Ballet as he was in rehearsal for the mixed rep program Divergence.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have found Houston Ballet as not just a place for me as a dancer but me as a person. It’s really rare for someone to say they’re been with one company for as long as I have. With that love and support my dancing becomes better and I gain more confidence with what I’m doing and how I present myself on stage.
“I remember when I first was in the second company here as a student training, I had my idea of what I thought a ballet dancer was. I thought it was high legs, a lot of turns and gorgeous, gorgeous feet and of course all those things help make a beautiful dancer.
“But when you see Romeo and Juliet when you see their love, the pas de deaux, you’re not looking for how high her leg is, you’re looking for them to tell a story, for a connection. Those moments don’t just come from the technical aspect, they come from the artistic aspect.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
