Combat Ballet Choreographer Stanton Welch on the bruises of relationships and how Houston arts are like a wide-open prairie field by Craig Thistleton

Stanton Welch, the Australian-born dancer and choreographer, is returning to Houston. After winning local and international notice for his exciting and edgy short piece Indigo, which he created for the Houston Ballet in February last year, Welch is back premiering his muscular work Bruiser. Welch's meteoric rise to international golden-boy status has taken a brief decade and now at a mere 30 he's as hot as, well, the Bayou City in August; the exuberant sensuality of his choreography has definitely piqued interest. As the Advocate wrote last year, "Anybody who has seen dancer-choreographer Stanton Welch at work may have derived the impression that Australia is a continent abounding in exquisitely buffed men and serenely proportioned women with very little in their wardrobes but modesty." I sat down with Welch recently between rehearsals to discuss Bruiser-his latest work for the Houston Ballet-and his life in the world spotlight.

Bruiser, he told me, is about the physicality of his art. He wanted it to appear like the Olympics of ballet-athletic, competitive, and tough. "It's the pain of relationships expressed through dance," he said. Pain of the mind, pain of the body, pain of the spirit, all this is expressed. Dancers are paired off in mock boxing matches, and no one comes away without their share of bruises.

His own dancer's body is sleek as a cat, although he claimed not to be working out, except for peddling his bike around town (from his rented house in Montrose) and training the dancers that will appear in Bruiser. I asked him about all the attention he was getting and he shrugged it off, saying ballet stars don't get the same mass media attention that some performers and entertainers in other art forms receive. Besides, Welch wanted to emphasize that he was a team player and quite humbled by the sense of family at the Houston Ballet, not to mention his sense of awe and wonderment at getting to work with Ben Stevenson.

During our conversation, I found Welch to be relaxed, personable, and unassuming. Considering the professional pressure he's under, I thought that remarkable. He seems fond of Houston and excited to be here. The climate here is similar to his hometown of Melbourne, so even that didn't seem to faze him. The traveling seems to be the hardest part of his demanding schedule. He told me that these three months here in Houston are the longest he's been in one place for many years! Fortunately, his partner, Gene Walsh, has been able to travel here with him. Welch is especially comfortable here, and feels strongly that Houston is a frontier center for the arts. "In some places you feel like a blade of grass trying to grow up through the cracks in a sidewalk," he said, "but here you feel like grass growing high in a big open field."

I got the idea that ballet was his great passion and work but not all he was about. Having a solid relationship, good friends, and a home seem high on his list of priorities. And he said he would consider Houston for that home base sometime in the near future. Believe me, the community would be very fortunate if that came to pass. Bruiser is part of a mixed repertory program that will launch the 31st season of the Houston Ballet. The program plays Thu. & Sat., Sept. 7 & 9, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 10, 2 p.m.; Fri-Sat., Sept. 15-16, 7:30 p.m.; and Sun., Sept. 17, 2 p.m. at the Wortham Theater Center, Texas Ave. at Smith St. Call 713/227-ARTS for tickets, $11.50-$98.50. For more information, visit www.houstonballet.org.