STANTON WELCH

by D.L. Groover

DANCING KING

In his first interview since becoming Houston Ballet's artistic director, out and Australian choreographer Stanton Welch talks about new steps forward and making a home for himself and his partner

An era is over at the Houston Ballet, and a new one begins July 1 when Australian choreographer Stanton Welch succeeds Ben Stevenson as artistic director. After 27 years at the helm, years he was primarily responsible for giving HB its international reputation and cachet, Stevenson has been appointed artistic director emeritus and this summer will also take the reins of Fort Worth Dallas Ballet.

The international hunt for Stevenson's successor began last April. Using the head-hunter consulting firm Genovese, Vanderhoof & Associates, the search committee whittled the 100-plus résumés to a manageable most-qualified 8. The finalists flew to Houston to meet the committee and HB dancers and staff members. Poked, prodded, and grilled, the candidates taught class, led rehearsals, and answered the panel's inquiries, all while remaining as charming and professional as possible.

At the January 15 press conference to announce the appointment, Nicholas Swyka, HB Foundation president and search committee member, outlined the committee's two priorities for selection: a director who would continue the Stevenson tradition, and someone who could further develop the company's unique repertoire of classic and modern ballet.

"We reached the decision to both stay the course while building on our strengths to continue to strive to an even higher level," Swyka said. "We found an outstanding candidate who meets our criteria in Stanton Welch. He's an exceptional, dynamic choreographer who's one of the most sought-after dance makers in the world today."

The openly gay Welch, who will be 34 next October, is a major luminary in the ballet world. If you're an HB fan, you have seen his startling good work: the neoclassical whiplash Indigo, the sports-inspired Bruiser, and the sumptuously dramatic retelling of Puccini's Madame Butterfly. In the months ahead, his schedule includes Carmina Burana for NYC's American Ballet Theatre; "a tutu ballet" (as he calls it) set to Ravel's Piano Concerto in G for San Francisco Ballet; a full-length Don Quixote for Ballet Met, the Columbus, Ohio, company where he serves as artistic associate; and a one-acter for Australian Ballet, the company where he started his career and now serves as resident choreographer.

"Nothing much, just a couple of small projects I thought I'd throw together," Welch said with his lilting laugh in a recent interview-his first since his appointment. He is full of boundless energy and sparkling charm, a real ballet baby who breathes and lives dance. Even when talking, he will unconsciously flex his foot or do some port de bras stretch.

Since his appointment was announced, Welch has been on constant go in a stream of meetings with dancers, administrative and production staff, and board members, or he is on the phone, or answering e-mails. When we talked, he had just returned from a costume-buying spree for the photo shoot for next year's season brochure. He loves all the challenge and excitement of his pending job.

"This is very different from choreography, where you're absorbed in your own process. This is constantly answering other people's questions.

"I was not expecting, necessarily, such open conversations so quickly with so many. I am amazed how it seems people really have developed a confidence in speaking their mind, especially young people. That's quite different than how I felt like when I was a kid. I think that's generational-and good. I think any kind of open conversation is a good conversation."

Welch is sensitive to what happens when there is a seismic change in a company's leadership, having lived through a tumultuous time at Australian Ballet while he was a soloist and rising choreographer.

"I'm trying to make sure I keep a very open door for the dancers, which in my experience with it didn't happen. Had it happened, it may have been smoother. I felt that anything that had previously been done was frowned upon. And I'm trying deliberately not to do that. I really want to make sure that I acknowledge and respect the past-and also to allow people to feel that they do have a fresh start. It's a fine balance between those two things."

One of those fresh starts at HB will be Maina Gielgud's role as artistic associate. Welch's former mentor at Australian Ballet, where she nurtured his burgeoning choreographic career and helped make that company an international dance powerhouse, will temper his youth and hone his management skills, as he is the first to admit.

"I think being young helps me and harms me. That's why I wanted to have an artistic team that had someone mature. As long as you have that diversity within your team, then it sorts itself out. Learning to listen and not respond immediately is what I'm learning quickly. People want to talk, let them talk, let them say what they need to say and then go away and think. An immediate reaction is not always going to be the smartest thing, you know. I have energy that people of my age group have and a level of determination and a kind of profile that's different, and maybe I appeal to younger audiences, which can be beneficial. There are definitely pluses and minuses to it."

Putting a distinctive stamp upon HB will be a personal challenge, but he will be helped by his love for both the company and the city.

"It's a great honor for me to become a part of HB and make this my home. Ben's been instrumental to me as a choreographer and been incredibly supportive and has really made me feel welcome. When you pick someone who's new and young and foreign and let them have carte blanche on a ballet, it makes you grow up as a choreographer. I want to thank Ben for that. HB is a unique and special place, and I just hope I live up to everything Ben has done. I look forward to the challenge of that.

"I like Houston, I really do. I feel very comfortable here in the city, with the people. It feels familiar to me. It feels like home in the approach to life, a kind of relaxed 'don't worry, it'll be right, mate.' That's the big Australian saying, and I think Houston has that, too. Here, you'll rush to get things done, but you're never in a panic to do it-because if you do, you'll die from heat exhaustion.

"I hope to continue in the direction Houston Ballet's been going and give it a new life, a new push, but no severe turns. It's an exciting challenge, and it's nice to finally get my teeth into it and start. I'd like to see the company take on a new breadth, a new step forward. They've got great foundations. I look forward to it moving with a new spring in our step."

He also anticipates providing a permanent home for his partner, retired New York City firefighter Gene Walsh, who is currently undergoing intensive physical therapy after he suffered a crippling stroke two years ago.

"When you have someone severely disabled, being able to home care him and get him out of a hospital environment becomes your main drive in life. His whole environment is based on what I can create for him now, and that's very important to me. Have a garden and a dog. To know the people at the shop down the road again. I'm looking forward to growing old."

D.L. Groover is the arts correspondent for this magazine.