Since I came to Houston, I have been attending the Houston Ballet performances. Going to watch Ballet has been a good reminder for me that there are worlds outside of graduate school and that your work is only a part of your world. While this seems obvious, it is good to have such reminders when you spend so many hours thinking about your readings, problem sets, and papers. I also recently started taking adult ballet classes at the Houston Ballet as a beginner. I want to share my experience here with those of you who might also be interested.
1) Watching Ballet
Each season, Houston Ballet creates productions of classics and contemporary pieces. I love both genres. While the regular price of tickets could be expensive when you are on a student budget, you can take advantage of two types of discounts. I personally prefer getting the student rush tickets because, from my personal experience, I get better seats.
- Student rush tickets: These are sold at $15, beginning 90 minutes before the start of the performance. There are specific days when student rush tickets are available. These usually include daytime performances on the weekends.
- Under 30 tickets: These are sold at $17 for one ticket or $30 for two tickets. There are specific days when these tickets are sold, and with these you gain entry toFriday evening performances.
While there are no official dress codes, people often dress nicely at the Houston Ballet. From my experience, people dress nicer for evening performances compared to daytime performances. I usually wear a casual dress or pants with a somewhat fancier top.
2) Doing Ballet
Before taking classes at the Houston Ballet, I had no prior ballet experience. Therefore, before I started, I was intimidated by the idea of taking classes, worrying about not being flexible enough, “scary” ballet teachers, and not knowing what to wear. However, once I got the courage to go to the first class, all my worries disappeared. The class environment was very friendly, and I had a great time! What I love about the Houston Ballet classes is that there is a grand piano in the dance studio, and we have a pianist play live music while we dance.
The Houston Ballet offers two types of classes for adults: the multi-week series and drop-in classes. For a multi-week series, you pay a set amount in the beginning and go once a week for 8 weeks. For drop-in classes, you reserve a spot on an app and take classes with availability. There is a student discount for the drop-in classes – the regular prices are $20, you can take the class for $10 with the student discount!
Since I am a complete beginner, I started by taking “Intro to Ballet I” and “Intro to Ballet II,” which are multi-week series classes. These classes teach you the absolute basics of Ballet and prepare you for “Beginner Ballet” classes, which are drop-in. In these classes, people wear all kinds of attire. I started with t-shirts and leggings, and as I felt more comfortable and committed to continuing learning Ballet, I bought a leotard and ballet tights.
Houston Ballet is a great place to enjoy the performance and take lessons! I hope you can enjoy it as much as I have!
About the author:
Asahi Obata is from Japan and is a current Ph.D. student in Political Science. Read more.
Further Reading:
A Graduate Student's Guide to Harmonizing Academia and Art
Exploring Historic Houses in Houston
How a Club Sport Helped My Transition to Rice