ISHIDA Dance Company presents an evening of thought-provoking premieres in contemporary dance: new works based on personal poetic narratives that invite existential questions by ISHIDA, a new creation by former Batsheva dancer and USC Professor Bret Easterling, and a work by Australian native Danielle Rowe, former principal with Houston Ballet and Netherlands Dans Theater (NDT) who has created works on San Francisco Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet and NDT dancers.

ISHIDA is a new world-class contemporary dance company performing in Houston and Austin, featuring venerated dancers from top companies in the world (Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet BC, Hubbard Street, Les Grands Ballets, Batsheva, and NDT). ISHIDA blends contemporary dance with theatrical elements while retaining the physicality and beauty of the human form from traditional ballet. ISHIDA presents unique narratives relevant to a modern audience that explore archetypal themes and invite existential questions: Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? Such works enable audiences to gather meaning and emotional connection. ISHIDA’s poetic narratives intuitively prompt introspection to lead to greater kindness towards oneself and otherness.

Artistic Director Brett Ishida is Japanese American and grew up on a citrus ranch in California’s Central Valley.  Brett’s love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age fifteen when she received a full scholarship to the Kirov Academy and later to the School of American Ballet. She then danced with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, where she debuted her first choreographic work on the company, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal where she toured around the world. At Les Grands Ballets, she collaborated in new creations with choreographers and performed principal and soloist roles in repertoire by Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, and Ohad Naharin, among others. 

Brett launched ISHIDA in the Spring of 2019 to fulfill her dream of a world-class contemporary dance company that presents new creations based on her poetic narratives which investigate universal desires and motives in imitation of Life’s enigma.