WORKSHOP
Date: January 19
Time: 1pm
Location: The DeLuxe Theater
Join Houston Ballet, Frame Dance, and Houston Cinema Arts Society for a FREE multi-generational dance workshop at the DeLUXE Theater! Perfect for all ages and experience levels, this workshop is a fun way to get moving with friends and family. Led by Steven Melendez (New York Theatre Ballet) with support from Jennifer Sommers (Houston Ballet) and Lydia Hance (Frame Dance), participants will enjoy live piano accompaniment while exploring the joy of dance. Whether you’re a seasoned dancer or trying it for the first time, this engaging experience promises creativity, connection, and movement for everyone.
FILM SCREENING
Date: January 19
Time: 3pm
Location: The DeLuxe Theater
Join Houston Ballet, Frame Dance, and Houston Cinema Arts Society following the dance workshop for a special screening of LIFT. Filmed over ten years, this inspiring documentary tells the story of ballet dancer Steven Melendez as he returns to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to mentor young homeless and home-insecure dancers. Through their shared journey, LIFT highlights the transformative power of dance, exploring themes of resilience, community, and healing.
The screening will be followed by an Q&A session with Steven Melendez, the film’s subject and acclaimed ballet dancer. Both events are free to attend and held at the historic DeLUXE Theater.
Come on out for an unforgettable day of movement, storytelling, and conversation!
LIFT | Trailer
LIFT | About
Filmed over ten years, LIFT shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of a group of young homeless and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City. After performing all over the world, ballet dancer Steven Melendez returns to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to give back to his community, offering a New York Theatre Ballet workshop to children. His traumatic reaction to the shelter from his childhood sends him on an unexpected journey with three kids to reckon with a past he had escaped from through ballet. As young dance students, Victor, Yolanssie and Sharia face the same chasm of home insecurity that long separated Steven from his audience and makes the arts inaccessible to so many kids who share his background. The children he mentors offer him insight into turning a hidden trauma into dance, and together they make an aristocratic art form into an expression all their own.