Thanks to COVID-related supply chain problems, Houston Ballet has announced it won’t be able to present Madame Butterfly this June as scheduled, and are replacing it with one of the oldest ballets on record.
“Due to the continued impact of global shipping issues and port delays, [Artistic Director] Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly will be replaced with a reprisal of August Bournonville’s La Sylphide—last performed in Houston 14 seasons ago— to close out the 2021-2022 season, June 16 to 26, ” a Houston Ballet statement said.
Fortunately there was some good news in the same announcement. The ballet is adding three more repertory works to its Originals program scheduled for June 2-12: Welch’s Orange, performed with Dance Theatre of Harlem; Welch’s Joplin; and a world premiere by Principal Dancer Connor Walsh.
It will be the first time that Houston Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem perform together.
Tickets for Madame Butterfly will automatically be reissued for performances of La Sylphide, a romantic ballet choreographed in 1836 that tells the story of the doomed love between a spirit and a Scottish farmer.
For more information, visit houstonballet.org.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
