Raymonda is the story of an engaged woman who is almost kidnapped but saved by her fiancé – cue the happy ending.
At least, it was. Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch has completely reimagined the 127-year-old ballet into something fresh, cohesive, and completely different.
In Welch’s Raymonda, our titular heroine is a princess, one of seven daughters to the Queen. Raymonda is secretly in love with Jean, an officer in the royal army, which presents a problem for Vladimir, the Queen’s advisor. Vladimir’s been expending a lot of energy playing royal matchmaker for the sisters, and it’s not out of the goodness of his heart. For Vladimir, each love connection is an opportunity to strengthen his own political agenda and, well, Raymonda’s love for Jean is getting in the way. And it’s making Vladimir a bit murderous. As usual, the course of true love is not without its hiccups.
Now, if you have any familiarity with this particular show, it’s probably clear that this isn’t your daddy’s Raymonda.
Raymonda originally premiered in 1898, on the 80th birthday (per the Julian calendar) of choreographer Marius Petipa, making it the last of Petipa’s full-length, original ballets to cement itself within the classical repertory. Kind of. It took 35 years for the show to be mounted outside of Russia, and has since rarely been staged in its entirety, its three acts of dance-first, plot-last structure a bit too much of an ask for modern audiences.
Welch has brilliantly stepped away from the slight scenario devised by Petipa and librettist Lydia Pashkova. Gone are the Crusades and its medieval setting, along with the original’s exoticism. In their place, we’ve got court intrigue, a hidden romance, more than a dozen delightful characters, and a touch of the supernatural tying each pas de fill-in-the-blank together.
Turns out, it was never an either-or proposition. Welch expertly entwines solidly exciting passages of dance with a stronger narrative and his uncanny knack for character work, which is perfect for the artists at Houston Ballet. Legend has it that acting wasn’t exactly the strong suit of Petipa’s Raymonda, the ballerina Pierina Legnani. But Welch has no such problem. His company can act.
At the heart of the production is Danbi Kim, a Raymonda who is absolutely fizzy with love. She is a sweetheart who cleverly pawns potential suitors off on her sisters, as she only has eyes for Chun Wai Chan’s Jean. The role of Jean was created on Chun Wai Chan, and the current principal with the New York City Ballet returned to Houston for this premiere. Chan imbues him with princely stature and an almost swashbuckling charisma as the show progresses.
Kim and Chan are well-supported by the rest of the cast, and the production is rife with interesting notes for the other characters.
Jessica Collado’s well-meaning Queen is a dignified presence in and around scenes, including an exceptionally stately turn leading off the third act. As her adviser, Vladimir, Connor Walsh brings undeniable Rasputin energy to the role, his bearded bad guy villain-coded from the jump. Speaking of villainy, Naazir Muhammad perfectly captures a shifty sort of charm in his second-act appearance as the Duke of Ash. Luckily, there are other good guys around, like Yuriko Kajiya’s Lady in White, a mysterious but welcome savior in the ballet.
And, of course, there are Raymonda’s sisters, each charming in their own ways. Bridget Allinson-Kuhns buzzes with nervous energy as Princess Jasmine. Jacquelyn Long and Alyssa Springer distinguish Princess Daisy and Princess Lily through their solos. Aoi Fujiwara is playful as the bookish Princess Violet.
Tyler Donatelli’s Princess Heather develops a crush on Harper Watters’s Duke of Umber, a man repeatedly and noticeably let down by Raymonda’s tendency to run away from anyone not named Jean. And finally, the youngest, Sayako Toku’s Princess Rose, who indulges the Young Duke of Marigold, portrayed with adorably regal poise by Brayden Mitchell – which pays off as an audience-tickling reveal when Eric Best takes over the role in the second act.
The genius behind the looks of Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, Roberta Guidi di Bagno, returned to Houston Ballet to design Raymonda and the production is overwhelming in its beauty. The sets are epic in scale and detail, as are the costumes. Everything is bright with color and lush in appearance. Curious are the styles that appear, from the Queen’s little bowler hat to Vladimir’s Eastern European aristocrat attire to Raymonda’s golden tutu, but it’s still an absolute feast to look at under Lisa J. Pinkham’s evocative lighting designs.
Equally gorgeous are the curtains that drape over the set. Automated, they set scenes and move us between them while also providing another canvas for Pinkham, who illuminates them like a mood ring, masterfully going from a blue-tinged dreamscape to the danger suggested by deep reds and golds.
George Balanchine famously said that Alexander Glazunov’s “music for Raymonda contains some of the finest ballet music we have,” and the Houston Ballet Orchestra, under the baton of Simon Thew, played it to perfection. Raymonda is a boast of Welch’s strong sense of musicality, with Welch masterfully balancing the emotional tone with layered depictions of action. Though the production still features the variations you would expect – tackled with precision and grace – it’s the group dances that really captivate through the show, which is then capped off with some can’t-miss gilded classicism during the third act.
All in all, it’s Raymonda like you’ve never seen before, a superb production that is joyful in its reinvention, deeply rich in character, and awe-inspiring in design.
Performances are scheduled through June 8 at 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.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
