Schedule

Thursday, June 12, 2025
8 p.m. Program

Friday, June 13, 2025
8 p.m. Program

Saturday, June 14, 2025
8 p.m. Program

Sunday, June 15, 2025
3 p.m. Program

Asia Society Texas presents ISHIDA Dance Company's world premiere of inside my walls with critically acclaimed dancers and choreography by Brett Ishida and guest choreographers Stephen Shropshire and Andonis Foniadakis.

Inspired by internationally renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami, inside my walls is a poetic narrative that uses magical realism to tell the story of an introvert dictated by routine, hoarding newpapers around his apartment, believing it protects him from harm — until he encounters a mysterious visitor living inside his walls, with whom he finds companionship and solace. 

The program also includes ISHIDA's beloved when shall we three meet again, inspired by Macbeth's three weird sisters. A highly anticipated world premiere by guest choreographer Shropshire, former artistic director of Noord Nederlandse Dans who has received awards and honors for his choreography in Europe will complement the bill, and Greek choreographer Foniadakis — whose work is well known in the European dance community commissioned by many of the top European dance companies over the past two decades — returns with his memorable work Horizons.

About the Artists

Artistic Director Brett Ishida is Japanese American and grew up on a citrus farm in California’s Central Valley. Her love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age fifteen when she received a full scholarship to Kirov Academy and later to School of American Ballet in NYC. She danced with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, where she first choreographed, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens performing works by celebrated choreographers Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, and Ohad Naharin, among others. She later graduated from UCLA earning a BA in Literature with emphasis in Poetry. She felt by combining these two worlds from her past, she could become a new voice in contemporary dance and started her own company, ISHIDA, captivating audiences in Houston and Austin. 

From the onset, ISHIDA’s work has been critically acclaimed: Broadway World described her work as “stunning and compelling…an incredible boon to the Houston art scene.” Dance Magazine named ISHIDA in the venerated ‘25 to Watch’ and The Washington Post’s Pulitzer-prize winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman deemed ISHIDA’s piece home-coming which “tackled a deeply poignant, poetic theme” to be “remarkable.” ISHIDA’s work was presented at the 10,000 Dreams festival at The Kennedy Center in June 2024 featuring works by top Asian Choreographers around the world; Ballet Herald reviewed ISHIDA’s work as “the most memorable and effective piece in this program.”

Stephen Shropshire is a choreographer, curator and dance researcher who has created new choreographic works for companies such as Ballet BC, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Danish Dance Theater, New Zealand Dance Company, and Hong Kong Ballet as well as for prestigious festivals across the globe. He ran his own company Noord Nederlandse Dans and was artistic coordinator of the Nederlandse Dansdagen dansMusem. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City, holds a MA from the University of Maastricht, and is a doctoral candidate at PhDArts, Leiden University Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

Greek-born choreographer Andonis Foniadakis began his career as a professional dancer with the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon (1996–2002), where he worked with such leading choreographers as Maguy Marin and Ji?í Kylián. He founded his own company, Apotosoma, in 2003. He has choreographed for many companies, including the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Ballett Theater Basel, Sydney Dance Company, National Dance Company of Wales, Manheim National Theatre, and Ballets Jazz Montreal. From 2016 to 2018 he was the director of the Greek National Opera Ballet. He has created the choreography for three French operas, collaborated with Darren Aronofsky on the film “Noah”, and worked with Palais de Tokyo on the exhibition Prec(ar)ious Collectives in Athens. In 2012, he received the Danza Award for Best Choreography for “Les Noces” created for the MaggioDanza ballet company in Italy.

About ISHIDA Dance Company

ISHIDA is a world-class contemporary dance company based in Houston and was the only company in the U.S. to be nationally recognized in Dance Magazine’s prestigious “25 to watch” list for 2023. ISHIDA features venerated dancers from many of the top companies in the world (Houston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, English National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Juilliard, Ballet BC, Netherlands Dance Theater, GöteborgsOperan, tanzmainz, Les Ballets Jazz Montreal and others).  Brett Ishida’s work home-coming will be part of 10,000 Dreams: A Celebration of Asian Choreography at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in June.  

Performing Arts and Culture programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Syamal and Susmita Poddar. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, The Brown Foundation, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, The Clayton Fund, Houston Endowment Inc. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Wortham Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming to Asia Society Texas.

Performing Arts and Culture Presenting Sponsors

Syamal and Susmita Poddar

Performing Arts and Culture Program Sponsors

Japan Series Sponsor

Program Partner

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.

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