If you’re looking for a dance company dedicated to being approachable and building art within our fair city, look no further than Vitacca Ballet.
“Up until this point, all the works have been developed within Houston city limits, which is extremely inspiring and motivating for us,” says Kelly Ann Vitacca, artistic director and founder of Vitacca Ballet. “We’re building this art here in our home city.”
This weekend, Vitacca Ballet will open their 2023-2024 season at The MATCH with a triple-bill titled SOWN.
According to Vitacca, triple bills offer audiences an opportunity to go on three separate, small journeys throughout the evening. Though each journey will be different, Vitacca believes that the range of movement amongst all three works on the bill is so unique that audiences will be engulfed in the experience.
Vitacca describes the company as “creation-based,” and she says that so far, audiences have responded well to the open dialogue between dancers and choreographers that is becoming a signature of their creative process. She believes this is because such dialogue and communication between artists “leads to building stronger, more honest work.”
“This is my opinion, of course, but I find that the work is more genuine because you have more artistic energy and mind coming together to build it; it’s not just driven with one voice, one mind,” says Vitacca. “You begin to develop work that has facets of many thoughts, many feelings, many emotions, because it’s being drawn from many humans.”
“Lighthouse” by Hélène Simoneau, which will premiere during SOWN, is one such work. It was built specifically for the company.
“It’s a vibrant pointe work,” says Vitacca. “There are undertones in the work, there’s depth, and then there are moments of high jumps, lifts, quite a bit of pas de deux work, dancers in pointe shoes, bright wardrobe…I think the patron will walk away with that idea of ‘light, bright, but dramatic.’”
On the other hand, “Grey Horses” by Robyn Mineko-Williams, which is also on the bill, is a remount of a work originally premiered by Hubbard Street Dance in 2013. Mineko-Williams does, however, have a special connection to Vitacca: As kids, she and Mineko-Williams were pen pals.
“Believe it or not, this was when we actually wrote letters and didn’t text,” says Vitacca. “We would write and a new letter would show up every week, and it just formed this bond that’s quite special.”
Both Vitacca and Mineko-Williams hail from Chicago, and they met during summer dance training when they were around 11 years old. Having watched Mineko-Williams’s career blossom over the years, Vitacca says she considers it an honor to have “Grey Horses” on the program.
“To say I’m honored is an understatement,” adds Vitacca.
But aside from the personal and professional honor, Vitacca says “Grey Horses” was a good fit for the company. And not only does it fit the company’s aesthetic, Vitacca wanted to give their dancers an opportunity to work with Mineko-Williams.
“She’s very, very hands-on, very delicate, very particular, calm, loving in the space,” says Vitacca.
Though a remount, Vitacca says Mineko-Williams “referenced the former dancers very lightly,” instead allowing the company “to take to it on their own.”
“[She] truly came into the room for this remount not as ‘this is what is was and therefore it should be’; she came into the room with ‘this is what is was, now let’s see what you do with it,’” says Vitacca.
During rehearsals with Mineko-Williams, Vitacca learned that the choreographer created “Grey Horses” with Hubbard Street dancers, making it too a creation-based work.
“The movement derives not only from [Mineko-Williams’s] brain, but from the dancers’ bodies too back in 2013,” says Vitacca. “To be able to bring that movement onto other dancers here, from a different state, from a different era – I just think the history is remarkable.”
In regard to the dance itself, Vitacca predicts that audience members will “want to understand the story [and] dig deep into it.”
“There are these fascinating motifs which do perhaps replicate a horse gesture however – behind the scenes information – the piece does not have to do with horses,” says Vitacca with a laugh.
The final work on the program is from Vitacca Ballet’s resident choreographer, Garrett Smith. The company originally premiered the work, “Hypnotic Forces,” in April.
“Last season, [Smith] came in and he had the concept of utilizing a hat,” says Vitacca.
Though a bit unusual, Vitacca adds that the shapes and themes he created with the dancers utilizing the hat were “so innovative” and the experience of working on “Hypnotic Forces” so enjoyable, that Vitacca invited Smith to extend the audience favorite for SOWN.
The version of “Hypnotic Forces” that audiences will see this weekend will include a new second phrase added between the two that originally premiered in the spring.
Not only is Smith’s work “incredible innovative” with high production quality generally, Vitacca says that “Hypnotic Forces” specifically is “a heart-thumping, mesmerizing work that entrances the audience throughout.”
“He’s able to develop shapes unlike any others I’ve ever seen,” says Vitacca. “He always brings in elements that keep the audience on their toes.”
And yes, actual hats will come into play in some parts of the approximately 27-minute-long work.
SOWN is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 20, and Saturday, October 21, at The MATCH, 3400 Main. Following each performance guests are welcome to stay for a post-performance mixer. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit vitaccaballet.org. $25-$40.
