By Allison Bellucci, Contributing Writer

On Sept. 23 at 7 p.m, the Houston Ballet II will be preforming in the Johnson Theatre in the Paul Creative Arts Center.

The Houston Ballet II is a company of young professional dancers who preform not only classical ballet pieces, but a wide array of dance styles. This year, the company will be preforming “A Dance in the Garden of Mirth,” by Stanton Welch; “Calling,” choreographed by Mia Cong; “Molto Espressivo,” by Ilya Kozadayev; and “Raymonda Act III,” staged by Claudio Munoz after Marius Petipa.

The Houston Ballet II is a secondary company to the Houston Ballet. They focus on traveling to perform for smaller communities. They also focus on making the arts more accessible to the thousands of school students in the Houston community who would have little to no exposure to the arts.

Dancers from all over the world congregate at the Houston Ballet to develop their technical skills and artistry. Consisting of 17 dancers, a mix of Limon, Cunningham, Graham and Evans styles of movement are practiced accompanied by a live percussion, even in practices.

David Watters, an English professor at the University of New Hampshire, has a son, Harper, who had previously preformed in the Houston Ballet Company. Watters highly suggested seeing the performance.

“Houston Ballet II is an opportunity to see the next dynamic generation of dancers perform in a mixed repertory of works, some of which have been made famous by Houston Ballet,” Watters said. “Houston Ballet II is among the top ‘second companies’ in dance and one of the few to have a national and international touring program. It promises to be an exhilarating evening of dance. … People who saw Houston Ballet II a few years ago won’t want to miss this show.”

Student tickets are $10, General admission is $30. Tickets can be purchased online at www.unharts.com or by calling (603)-862-7222. To learn more about the Houston Ballet II visit http://www.houstonballet.org/Academy/Houston-Ballet-II/.