When the world premiere of Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch’s new work Raymonda opens on May 29, Aaron Daniel Sharratt will be dancing the role of the Duke of Vermillion. He’s one of the suitors who ends up married to one of Raymonda’s sisters.
This is a Raymonda unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Welch is no stranger to taking a classic ballet (think Cinderella) and giving it a tweak or two.
In this case, he’s built on the original which focused on Raymonda engaged to Jean de Brienne, a French knight. When he goes away to fight in the Crusades, she is abducted by Abdurrahman, but soon saved by Jean, and they get married. Criticism over the years of the lengthy ballet was three-fold: the title character Raymonda didn’t do all that much and wasn’t really developed, there wasn’t a strong narrative arc and the choreography got mixed reviews depending on the production.
In Welch’s version which incorporates more modern themes, the idea of sisterhood is stressed as Raymonda gets involved in matchmaking for her six sisters. She herself is supposed to marry one man but loves another. A betrayal by the queen’s trusted adviser, the mysterious character Vlad, (Principal Conner Walsh on opening night) also poses a huge threat to her hopes of a happy ending.
“Vlad, the bad guy, arranges the marriages between the dukes and the sisters,” says Sharratt. “After my marriage to the Princess Jasmine, the next in line would be Raymonda. That’s where the struggle of the ballet comes in. Raymonda is in love with one of the army men named Jean. She doesn’t want to marry any of the dukes that Vlad continues to introduce her to.
“But the other sisters are all pretty open to meeting these dukes and marrying them. So Raymonda keeps passing off these dukes that are being introduced to her to her sisters and they’re all very happy about that. She has six sisters; it’s a big family of girls.”
“The duke of Vermillion is a pretty straight forward guy. He’s Introduced very early in the ballet and he’s to Jasmine who ends up being his wife. He falls for her right away; she’s not really into it. They get married; it’s an arranged thing. She ends up warming up to him by the end of the first act.”
All of the three-act ballet is accompanied by music by Alexander Glazunov. Costumes are by Roberta Guidi di Bagno who has worked with Welch before as in Romeo & Juliet. On opening night, Danbi Kim will dance the role of Princess Raymonda and visiting principal dancer Chun Wai Chan will dance the Jean part.
Growing up in Tucson, Sharratt says he first got involved in ballet because of his sister’s interest in the art form. “These small academies they always need boys and they give scholarships. It was something free for my brother and me to do, a good social activity. We all ended up having some talent or it and worked hard at it.
Sharratt and his sister came to Houston looking for more substantial training . He started in Houston Ballet’s summer program when he was 15 and found he really liked it, staying ever since. His sister dances in Omaha now and he has a brother who just retired as a dancer after spending most of his career with the Milwaukee Ballet.
Asked what he likes about ballet, Sharratt laughs and says: “I actually hated ballet when I got into it. I tried to quit ballet so many times. Tap dancing was my favorite; that’s what I started in. I tried to quit so many times.” He changed his mind after years of work and the instruction he got from Houston Ballet. “Now I can say I do love ballet.”
Asked why people should come see this Raymonda, Sharratt says: “A new production is always exciting. And it’s such a different take on Raymonda. The third act is still pretty traditional, but the other two acts are quite different. There are a lot of characters so you get to see a lot of the dancers really showcased.”
“The costumes are stunning,” he says. “The sisters are all very individual. The music, he says, is beautiful. “You kind of get a little bit of everything from it. There’s peppy, happy music. It can get very dramatic at certain points. Very dreamlike in a few sections. The third act music is pretty recognizable, that most people know.”
Performances are scheduled for May 29 through June 8 at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 29, 7:30 p.m. May 31, June 6, and 7; and 2 p.m. June 1 and 8 at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. For more information, call 713-227-2787 or visit houstonballet.org. $25-$159.
