Bayou City Dances

The Pilot Dance Project is excited to present its newest community-driven endeavor, Bayou City Dances. This invitational dance festival brings together Houston’s most prolific and celebrated dance companies spanning a diverse spectrum of movement traditions. Bayou City Dances is made possible by a grant from the Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board.

Houston Contemporary Dance and Open Dance Project team up for the world premiere of Annie Arnoult’s Butterfly Effect. Arnoult digs into the unique strengths of these powerhouse performers while tackling the topic of personal development. “Butterfly Effect” puts the dancers into a series of challenging physical and social situations that send the dancers alternately into “discover” and “defend” modes. Sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes humorous, the piece, set to a contemporary music score by Michael Wall, asks how and why people handle tough situations so differently.

NobleMotion Dance (Andy and Dionne Sparkman Noble) will present an excerpt from its latest evening-length work, Stalactites. Throughout time, the cave has been a mystical place, an opening into earth where humans have found shelter, given birth, performed rituals and burial rites, and told stories. Set in a futuristic primal society, Stalactites draws inspiration from Plato’s allegory of the cave as a response to
current advances in AI technology. Set to a new music score by Travis Lake, Stalactites haunts and renders beautiful a hollow world full of possibility and showcases NobleMotion’s trademark physicality.

Host company The Pilot Dance Project will bring to the stage Executive and Artistic Director Adam Castan͂eda’s Purple Bromeliads. Inspired by the science-fiction work of Octavia E. Butler and the stunning shapes of the popular bromeliad houseplant, Purple Bromeliads. The dance explores the interactions and mood of a community under threat, and the beautiful, yet devastating reactions of the natural world to human activity. Purple Bromeliads features an original live score by Anthony Almendarez, costume design by Ashley Horn, and animation by Ceci Norman.

The artists of Kelly Ann Vitacca’s Vitacca Ballet will perform Resident Choreographer Garret Smith’s Somewhat Closer. Smith built the work to showcase Vitacca Ballet’s diverse artistic voice and powerful movement quality. Smith began his career in Houston and used the creation period of Somewhat Closer to connect once more with the vibrant city. “Something about being back in Houston and creating under the roof of Kelly Ann Vitacca with so many familiar faces and past connections felt like a return to family for me. It made me think about the past, present, and future all at the same time,” says Smith.

Nao Kusuzaki, Artistic Director of Creative Minds Collaborative, will reimagine a selection of The House for the Miller Outdoor Theatre stage. The creation originally premiered in February 2024 as an immersive dance work and presents an exploration of two iconic figures – Houston native Barbara Jordan and acclaimed author Harper Lee. For this occasion, some of its final scenes will be restaged and
performed by artists of Houston Contemporary Dance Company.

Mezclada Dance Company will premiere Artistic Director Joel Aguilera’s Alma Enérgica. This work celebrates Houston’s melting pot through the inclusion of diverse cultural influences, including breaking, jazz, modern, and Latin performance aesthetics, rhythms, and vibrancy. SonKiss’d Dance Concepts will bring D.N.A., a dynamic and upbeat piece that pays homage to Jack Yates and the first Juneteenth celebration documented in Houston. House music and house movement will bring to life an underground dance party to the grant Miller Outdoor Theatre stage.

This wonderful evening of dance will also include classical Indian dance by Sunanda’s Performing Arts Center and salsa by the Texas Salsa Congress.