Houston Ballet Announces First-Ever Co-Artistic Director

Houston Ballet Announces First-Ever Co-Artistic Director

Julie Kent (photo by Jayme Thornton, courtesy of The Washington Ballet)

THE BELOVED STANTON Welch of the Houston Ballet officially has a new counterpart in Julie Kent, named the company's first-ever co-artistic director today.


The longest-serving ballerina in American Ballet Theatre, Kent arrives in Houston in July 2023 from DC, where she currently serves as the artistic director of The Washington Ballet. She's been there since 2016, and in that time has commissioned 26 world premieres by 17 different choreographers.

"Not only is Julie Kent ballet royalty and immensely talented—both as a dancer, coach, stager and teacher — but there is no one I would rather have as a partner to bring Houston Ballet into this next chapter,” said Welch in a statement. He previously worked with Kent during her time at American Ballet Theatre, when she danced in his productions Clear and Carmina Burana. “I very much look forward to what will be a highly collaborative experience that will only elevate what Houston Ballet can achieve, both artistically and as an organization.”

Kent and her husband, Victor Barbee, who is The Washington Ballet's Associate Artistic Director, have two children, and have also created important works together. (Their staging of The Sleeping Beauty was described by the New York Times as “one of the world’s finer Sleeping Beauties.”) They will relocate to Houston together next summer.

Art + Entertainment
Meet Brian Boyter, New High-End Residential Broker with an Unique Background

BRIAN BOYTER IS a Houston native with an interesting background in real estate. After an impressive 16-year tenure managing commercial transactions in a Fortune 500 Real Estate Investment Trust, he recently made the shift to high-end residential brokerage. The experience left him uniquely suited to thrive in the sometimes-emotional world of buying or selling a home.

Keep Reading Show less

What year was your organization launched? Founded in Houston in 1947, as the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, the organization provided services to individuals with disabilities living in Houston and Harris County. In 1989, the organization changed its name and greatly expanded its services to meet the needs of its clientele. Today as Easter Seals Greater Houston, the organization provides multiple outstanding service programs to children, adults, veterans, and service members with all types of disabilities and their families in Harris and sixteen surrounding counties.

Keep Reading Show less

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

Keep Reading Show less