Houston Ballet II - The Lyric Theatre
The Houston Ballet has more than 50 years of rich history. Now the fourth-largest ballet company in the United States, legend says that the first efforts to establish a resident ballet company in Houston began in the 1930s, when the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo spent several Christmas seasons in the city. The leading dancers were given accommodations at the Rice Hotel, while lesser lights found quarters with friends they made among audience members. Still, the city wanted a resident company, and when Tatiana Semenova, a former Ballet Russe dancer, brought her American Youth Ballet Company to perform in 1955, residents gathered support to bring her company to Houston permanently. In 1955, leaders obtained a state charter for a Foundation of Ballet and the Houston Ballet was born. Since 2004, Houston Ballet II has been an important part of the Houston Ballet family.
